So I've been in the process of swapping my Whirlwind playfield for the last 3+ years and with the recent weather, I've finally committed. I have torn down the old PF and am in the process of cleaning, rebuilding mechs, etc. As for the new PF, I am in the process of re-drilling all of the holes and installing the new T-Nuts on the new PF.

So my question is once I am ready - is it better to populate the top first? Or is it better to populate the bottom first?

I'd think it would be better to do the bottom first to ensure switch/mech alignment, but I have seen other restorations where they have done the top first.

Anyways, any advice or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated as this is my first PF swap and I have a very nice HSA playfield that I'd prefer not to screw up

Awesome, thanks for the responses.

My next step is to get some tracing paper to map the original dimples and verify the new PF dimples. Then I will start with the underside as I too do not have a rotisserie yet.

Thanks Travish! I'm traveling until late next week - so let me get back home and assess if I think I will need it.

Yes, you are so correct on this.

Unfortunately I don't think I have enough pictures. I actually started this about 3 or 4 years ago and took a lot of "general pictures", but I kept on procrastinating on doing it and everything just sat in boxes waiting for me to commit. Now years later, I don't really remember my disassembly and I didn't take any notes or detailed pictures of the wires at xyz location.

In the years since, I have learned how to properly take pictures for a tear down.

With my MB and TOTAN, both were filthy and I learned to take 3 pictures for every step (what it looks like, taking it off, what it looks like after). It's a lot of pictures, but when it came to reassembly - it was extremely easy. With my WW, I don't have that, so I've been grabbing pictures from other members and downloading HEP's pictures to help as reference.

Hopefully I can get this back together - otherwise I may have to bite the bullet and have one of the pro's finish it for me.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/whirlwind-face-lift -Here is my original thread of redoing the cab

Here are some picts of where I'm at.......

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