Among all the high end restorations I see on the forums, there is a place for low end player condition machines. I remember reading this thread (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/is-it-worth-restoring-a-bally-lost-world), and figured I would document my "low end restoration" to possibly inspire newer people in the hobby, and remind them you don't have to go all-in fixing up a game. Case in point, my Bally Lost World.

Initial prognosis is, game doesn't boot, the PF hasn't been touched in probably 25 years, and the cabinet bottom isn't supported in the front of the machine.

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I generally split this type of project into three phases which can be tackled in parallel. A) Backbox boards and displays, B) Playfield top and bottom, and C) Cabinet and hardware. I'll start posting the top side breakdown pictures, which hopefully will help others when they take apart their Lost Worlds.
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Agreed. I took the battery off (I think it had a date on with from '93), but didn’t take 100% pics during that phase. Hopefully I have just enough pics to document the repairs, and get some newer pinheads motivated to tackle similar projects.

Maybe it's obvious to most, but I find it very helpful to breakup the PF topside into zones, and disassemble those "zones" individually. Each zone gets its own ziplock bag (labeled!), which helps me remember which small parts go where. I also throw the old rubbers in the ziplock to help match the correct size when installing the new rubbers.

The only problem with this method is, it prevents me from dumping all the parts into the tumbler at once, and really kills my efficiency. Anyone have any tips/suggestions in this area?

I appreciate the different prospectives. I never know when something might just "click" for me, so I'm always down for hearing different methods.

Once the topside was mostly torn down, I brought it down into my basement shop and threw it into my bicycle stand rotisserie. I started scrubbing with a magic eraser + naphtha, and novis 1 + 2. Again, the purpose here is not to "restore", but to get a 100% playing pin that presents as best as it can be in its current condition. At this point in the overhaul, I have spent zero dollars.

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Once it's cleaned up, I take a tally of everything I need to order. So far I've identified the pop caps are wrong, pop skirts are chipped, flippers will be rebuilt, a handful of star posts are chipped, and that's about it for the PF. In addition to the repairs, this machine will get titan rubbers, and comet retro leds (warm white).

What to do while parts come in.... check out the cab!

The bottom lip that holds the cabinet bottom in place was chipped off in a few spots. The portion of the cabinet bottom closest to the player was sagging pretty bad.

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My solution was to cut new backing blocks and glue/screw them into the cabinet interior. This would give me something to anchor the bottom to.

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For the bottom I cut up some plywood strips and screwed those through the bottom into those new blocks. I made sure the plywood thickness does not protrude below the cabinet sides. All screw heads were countersunk to ensure the cab could be slid in/out of the back of a vehicle.

I don't love how this looks when the machine is tipped up, but the repair is completely hidden from view when setup. It is also incredibly sturdy now.

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Getting inside the backbox, the first thing I pulled was the rectifier board. At $35 shipped (from @barakandl) for a brand new kit, I didn't see the point in fixing my old one. The panavise came in handy for this task. I didn't have my crimping tools on me at this point, but that female molex was replace later (no picture).

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As for the MPU, the board had some moderate corrosion damage. I did a pretty routine repair (not really documented with pictures. The paint (nail polish) I had matched my Stern MPU pretty well, but Bally's green, not so much.

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After the board (affected area only) was stripped, I cleaned with abrasives to get to the bare conductors / traces, then neutralized with toilet bowl cleaner, than rinsed with iso propyl. I had a couple small traces which needed to be built up with hookup wire, but overall not a tough repair.

If anyone is hesitant about dropping the money on a Hakko desoldering gun, DO IT! That thing makes board repair VERY simple, and has probably saved me at least $600 in new boards across a few games.

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Well at least they had it jacked up to an aggressive slope!

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Here's an easy tip. While the legs are off, throw the leg bolts in your drill, and buff them with scotchbrite. They look good and $FREE.99

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SDB was rebuilt. I like the Big Daddy Enterprise kits because it simplifies the purchase, I really hope he opens back up. I bought his 5V and HV kit. I also picked up the sound board cap kit while I was there.

When I reinstalled the sound board there was lots of static/background noise. After a quick search, I isolate the board from the board mounts with some electrical tape and it went away.

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The backglass had flaking on the bottom edge and along one of the score displays. I tried out the super-glue method to lock the flakes back down and it went ok. At one point I got glue on my finger and glued a small piece of the art to my finger

My GF (non-pinhead) thought the BG came out awesome. It helps that Lost World has some incredible art to distract the eye. Also, the backbox now has comet retro 1 SMD leds (warm white). They provide good output, great color, and decreased heat.
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