Complete BALLY 1979 HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS ON TOUR.

[new forest pinball]

Recently required this hgot in hundreds of bits. Cabinet has been masked and sprayed. Terrible job. Also think the playfield needs a bit of attention.
Intend to do the following....but not for a while.............
Cpr playfield . Cpr backglass and plastics. Some custom painting. Cabinet refurbishment. Restencil. Seven digit score conversion. Comets.
Titans. Watch this space. But don’t hold your breath.....Stay safe......Keef.

 

[Moonraker]

Intend to do the following....but not for a while.............
Cpr playfield . Cpr backglass and plastics. Some custom painting. Cabinet refurbishment. Restencil. Seven digit score conversion. Comets.
Titans. Watch this space. But don’t hold your breath.....Stay safe......Keef.

Only because you've seen how Nitro has turned out...!

 

[AlanJ]

Thank you to @new forest pinball for giving me the opportunity to take over this project. I’ll keep this shop log going and update it with progress. Currently homeward bound with the boxes of parts!

 

[AlanJ]

Got the machine out of the car just now (too tired yesterday after a 10 hour round trip).


Also not pictured is a new CPR playfield and a new set of CPR plastics. I also got the unused decals. The prev owner used the blue cab rhs decal but it all needs redoing - gonna strip out the cab, repair and resand, repaint from scratch

 

[Spandangler]

Can’t wait to see how it turns out mate

 

[AlanJ]

So day 1 of getting to grips with this. Take out the playfield then strip out everything from the cabinet and pull off the side rails. Give the cab a good clean and wash inside and out:

Cab needs repairing and filling then sanding off.

Tomorrow’s job.

Got to get some new side rails. i managed to get one off ok, but the other was nailed and stuck down fast. bent the thing trying to prise the nails out.

 

[AlanJ]

Next job is to do the same with the back box, again it’s not been repaired or prepped properly, so i will strip it all out and redo it.

Again gave it a wash and clean. years of crap behind the transformer but all clean now.

Ill mask off the remaining innards prior to sanding and repainting. I could remove the earth liner but these can tear and thus one looks rather good condition with all paper instructions still nicely attached.

 

[AlanJ]

This morning it’s too cold in my garage to do any cab work, so on with the playfield, strip the underside :

3.5 hours. took plenty of photos. I am leaving the old lamp sockets as they are rusty and many have been hacked to work, no point in putting these on a new pf.

whilst stripping thus i noticed a couple of missing metal posts. need to check a photo of a populated pf to confirm

got a ton of parts to order. ordering parts is another time consuming job!!!

next to get some of the metal into the tumbler!

 

[DRD]

Kitchen table repairs - motorbike engines, chainsaws, pinball playfields .... proper old school gaffer stuff

What happened to that miserable playfield ?

@new forest pinball - globetrotters next to a Paragon. Those games are blood brothers IMHO

 

[AlanJ]

swapped over all the tnuts. nice to have space to lay both playfields out. Then hammered in the thumper bumper nail-screws. hate hammering into the front of a brand new playfield.

 

[AlanJ]

Kitchen table repairs - motorbike engines, chainsaws, pinball playfields .... proper old school gaffer stuff

What happened to that miserable playfield ?

@new forest pinball - globetrotters next to a Paragon. Those games are blood brothers IMHO

The playfield was stripped by the previous owner before @new forest pinball . i guess he was planning an overlay.

 

[AlanJ]

Boring grit your teeth day today. cleaning , scrubbing, ultra sounding, sanding, rust removing, polishing metal

 

[ronsplooter]

Boring grit your teeth day today. cleaning , scrubbing, ultra sounding, sanding, rust removing, polishing metal

Got a few days like that coming up with Lucky Strike, struggling to find the motivation to tackle the big box of dirty crap that's sat on the desk in my office

 

[AlanJ]

Im having a rest from cleaning and prep - really need to get sanding the cab - but need a clear dry day as I'll do it outside - no chance at the moment.

Also waiting for parts to re-build the playfield.

So today is a day off!

 

[AlanJ]

I lied in the above post. decided to fill in some of the dents knocks and scrapes in the woodwork.


I’ve used the 2 part ronseal stuff. you gotta work fast with it.

 

[AlanJ]

These metal posts are sort of riveted into the clear plastic. In the past i’ve struggled to get these off, but thanks to Keef @new forest pinball ‘s tip this is now much easier. Soaking the plastic for several hours or overnight in water makes the plastic more flexible and it’s possible to pop them out without any damage to the metal or the plastic !



Some of these are really rusty , so a scrub to get the crusty rust off then into the tumbler for the lot. My tumbler is working 24 X 7 at the mo!

 

[AlanJ]

Next job is to start on the coin door, some stickers and glue to remove, rusty parts and some rust on the crinkled chrome, bits of chrome finish missing.

rusty bits to sort out



stripped it down and started cleaning

cleaned off all the crusty rust from the door hinge


a first clean to get the crud and rust off

next to get the stickers and glue off using one of my favourite chemicals:

It’s fantastic for getting labels and adhesives off

 

[AlanJ]

All sorts of jobs today.

first polish the coin door, touch up the missing chrome, put it back together. Use old plastic to make the coin door slots look nicer as per @new forest pinball would do (it’s such a cool idea btw)

Then onto another stunt in the garage filling in the woodwork. Cabinet has been sanded round on the front corners - i want it square so trying to build up with 2-part filler. had to key into the wood to try make it stick hard enough. no pics yet sorry.

then onto this:



bent side support of the in line drops

got the big hammer out:


Not 100% but at least the drips work now. they were sticking before. I’ll set this aside and clean and refurb later. ordered new drop targets.

cleaned all the parts of the ball out hole kicker. tested it on the bench. nice and strong.

it was sticking because it was full of “pinball jam”.

then onto :

i hate these thumper bumper lamp holders. but i decided to clean and adjust them. they hold a bulb well now and work 100%. i think the ones that don’t work have corroded and or bent open so don’t grip the bulb firmly enough .

final job:

I tested all these mechs, coils all test out and put some power to each with a plunger in to test they are smooth action. a couple need some attention.

 

[Judderman]

Is that Sid the Sexist getting drenched?

 

[AlanJ]

Ha ha nearly. it’s the referee off the top left plastic

 

[DRD]

I love these 1970s drop targets. Ridiculously over engineered

 

[AlanJ]

Started the playfield rebuild.
for me lamp holders first. careful to ensure wiring won’t interfere with other stuff that goes on later.


now waiting for more lamp holders to arrive. wrong ones were delivered so a bit of a delay now whilst they are swapped for the correct ones.

 

[replicas]

Go Alan, you're a machine.

 

[AlanJ]

Not a lot of progress this week. Still waiting for some lamp holders to arrive! Hopefully they turn up tomorrow

In the background ive had the tumbler running with various metal parts in and out for about three weeks solid.


Some of this needs a hand polish to finish it off.

 

[AlanJ]

Had a good day. lots of progress on the playfield , almost got it all back together. just the drop targets to refurb and put in. taken a good day to get most of the stuff on and soldered up. flippers rebuilt.

Found a use for the old flipper bats. just to hold the pawls in place temporarily.

 

[AlanJ]

This mornings job: clean and refurb the in line drop target mechanism, plus install the new targets











Installed on the playfield and wiredup. the underside of the playfield 99% there.

Time to put it to one side and get on the the cab





So onto the cab. first sanding. get the paint off












Used the belt sander - needed to be brutal to get the ****ty paint off - clogged plenty of belts up though.

Will use the orbital for the next 3 rounds of sanding smooth. More filling to do to.

 

[AlanJ]

square ing off the corners. doesn’t always stay on, but find making a hole or two in the corner helps the plastic wood key in




rain forecast tomorrow but might get a chance to sand again.

 

[AlanJ]

Rain stops play - really wanted to get outside and finish the sanding of the cabinet and backbox, but rain for next few days in not so sunny Leeds.

Whilst I'm waiting, I am just checking got all the spray paints I need. Ive also got the playfield wooden parts to sand and re-paint. Plus things like the transformer grill etc to de-rust and repaint. So a few little indoor jobs I can get on with.

 

[AlanJ]

got a bit of sunshine in yorkshire last two days so on with the cab and back box

decided the “neck” will be white rather than the traditional black.

 

[new forest pinball]

decided the “neck” will be white rather than the traditional black.

Alan,
Always white on Harlem globetrotters doode. Just cheap skate operators that bodge it black.
Great progress, stencils landing Monday! K.