Fathom Cabinet

This page will list details of what I have done during the Fathom Restoration Project to the:

	Cabinet
	Backbox
	Legs
	Coin Door/Mechs
	Making the Stencils
	Painting the Cabinet / Backbox
	Pictures Showing "Before vs. After"

Along with textual descriptions, I will show pictures of the items before and after the procedures. I performed a total restoration so this page, as well as others related to this topic on my site can be quite extensive.

Cabinet

The Cabinet has been reconditioned. I created stencils for both sides and the front of the Cabinet. Fathom consists of three colors: Blue, Yellow & Teal.

Blue is the base color and goes on first. Next color to be applied is Yellow. Last color to be applied is Teal.

To read a detail description and see some pictures about how I reconditioned the Cabinet (as well as the Backbox) to to the Stencil page and the Painting page.

To see a whole bunch of detail pictures of the Before, During and After process go to the BEFORE-and-AFTER page.

Everything was removed from the Cabinet and cleaned. This included the Coin Door, Legs, Wiring Harness, Speaker & Tilt mechanism. The Cabinet "Neck" (where the Backbox connects to the Cabinet) was repainted. The interior of the Cabinet that is visible above the Playfield was repainted. All of the chrome was cleaned and buffed to a shine.

I have created a DVD that shows the entire process on how to repaint a pinball cabinet, specifically FATHOM. Its approximately 2 Hours of video on how to create the Stencils, Match the Paint, and Paint the Cabinet. If you're interested then here is the link to the Cabinet Painting DVD.

Here are two pictures showing a side of the cabinet before it was restored and after it was repainted.

Before	*(PICTURE HAS BEEN REMOVED)*
After

Backbox

The Backbox has been reconditioned. I created stencils for both sides of the Backbox. Fathom consists of three colors: Blue, Yellow & Teal.

Blue is the base color and goes on first. Next color to be applied is Yellow. Last color to be applied is Teal.

To read a detail description and see some pictures about how I reconditioned the Backbox (as well as the Cabinet) to to the Stencil page and the Painting page.

To see a whole bunch of detail pictures of the Before, During and After process go to the BEFORE-and-AFTER page.

Everything was removed from the Backbox and cleaned. This included the White Score Display board, Circuit Boards, Wiring Harness, & Hinges. The interior of the Backbox was cleaned - it was filthy.

Here are two pictures showing a side of the backbox before it was restored and after it was repainted.

Before	*(PICTURE HAS BEEN REMOVED)*
After

Legs

	Here's a picture of my legs before any work is done on them. Its hard to tell from this pic, but believe me there are nicks, scratches and plenty of rust on these suckers - heck, the leg-levelers are suppose to be CHROME! NOTE: Legs for Fathom are suppose to be dark grey instead of chrome.
	The first step is to remove the rust from the legs. I removed the leg levelers - vice grips come in handy! I gave the legs an "acid bath". I used the product Lightening Rust Remover - it is recommended by several pinball enthusiast (Clay, Chris Munson) and works magic. The product is reusable, so its a good value ($26 per gallon).
*(PICTURE HAS BEEN REMOVED)*	Here's a little closer picture. The tub came from Wal-Mart ($10). I've set it at roughly a 45 degree angle (to pool the product). The bricks are in front to prevent the tub from slipping - the back is resting on a brace on my workbench. The product color is pink - it will begin to turn dark brown over many, many, many uses.
	After the "acid bath" the legs are sanded down with 240 grit paper and a light coat of primer is applied. The legs were then painted with Dupli-Color Import Auto Spray #88-00954 Phantom Grey ($3.75 can, I used 2 cans).
	A new set of chrome leg levelers ($2.50) are installed along with new chrome leg bolts ($4.00) and they now look brand new.

Coin Door/Mechs

I removed the entire Coin Door, including its frame, from the Cabinet.

I wasn't 100% for sure I could get that nasty ding out of the door (located on the lower-left of the lock). This part of the project had me concerned. Once I got the Coin Door totally apart, I took the Coin Door skin to my work bench. Using some metal working skills I acquired by watching too much of TLC and the Discovery Channel, I proceeded to heat the door skin with my Heat Gun and then bound the dent flush against a flat surface. I heated the door skin up until it got red-hot and then started pounding away. I did this about four times and I ended up with a pretty smooth surface. The key to this is HEAT, a good flat-headed hammer and a good flat surface (large anvil) to bound against.

The rest of the door wasn't an issue. I removed all of the metal pieces and cleaned them in Mean Green first and then gave them an acid bath in Lightening Rust Remover. The parts were then tumbled for 24 hours in my parts tumbler. Finally, I polished them with NevrDull.

I cleaned the coin slots and the coin slot plastics. This stuff was filthy, along with the coin return area. It actually stank!!! Besides making the pin look better, the cleaning processed removed all of the orders.

I finally applied a Bally Coin Door sticker (purchased from Steve Young @The Pinball Resource). It should have had the Susan B. Anthony coin door sticker, but I think they are ugly so I put on the regular Bally coin door sticker. The Coin Door did come with a working Susan B. Anthony mech. As a matter of fact, an SBA dollar was stuck in it. I gave it to one of my boys who thought it was "very cool". The pin also came with the complete set of Coin Slot plastics - I think its like 12 different pieces.

I took the entire Coin Door apart - every nut & bolt! I was only able to attempt this with confidence that I could put it back together because I had the Coin Door to my Eight Ball as a reference AND an "explosion" chart showing how the parts of a Coin Door go together. Anyone with a Bally from the 1980s should download this file and keep it for reference:

Bally Coin Door Explosion Chart

Before
Coin Door torn apart for cleaning. Can Scotty put Humpty Dumpty back together again ?!?1 Note: You can see the dent is still in the coin door.
After Note: This is the old Fathom door skin on my Eight Ball. The Fathom door skin didn't come out "perfect" - the dent to the lower-left of the lock is barely visible. I swapped the door skin with a coin door skin from an Eight Ball I had.
After the "Skin" was swapped and the Coin Door installed onto Fathom.	*(PICTURE HAS BEEN REMOVED)*

This page was last updated on 09/04/04