Thanks to another member here I've recently picked myself up a Project Fathom. He didn't have time to restore it and probably had better use for the space it was filling. I'd sort of been passively looking for the last 18 months and picking up bits and pieces for a restoration along the way. The only real requirement I had of the machine was that it needed to me complete, other than that I didn't really mind what sort of shape it was going to be in as the goal for me was going to be a complete restoration anyway.
 When the machine turned up I was pretty happy as the cabinet was structurally in very good shape, no need to do any more than patch and re stencil. I try to do as much of the restoration myself as I can but I will be out sourcing the cabinet re spray as I don't want to ruin an otherwise decent job with my appalling painting skills so HRP are doing the cabinet paint job.

Here's the cabinet. The paint actually looks better in the flesh than the picture but it is showing its age none the less.





Apart from the structure of the cabinet there isn't much to write home about. I was really keen to turn it on to seen what worked so checked the fuses first, all but 2 were wrong value with over rated fuses and then checked the coils with a three of those needing replacing as they wrong and the drive pins which go into the coil were actually jammed in because the stern coils used were to small to fit property. Anyway the big moment and I'm about to plug it in and the end of the lead falls off.   Probably lucky it didn't quite make it to the power point.



After I replaced the power lead I find that I have power to a couple of lights and that's about it so next thing was the boards and connectors. While the  boards were away for repairs I replaced all of the .100 and .156 connectors in the game and started cleaning every thing up.

The Playfield is absolutely shot but I was lucky enough to get on the list for the most recent run of 20 playfields CPR did so it's getting a new playfield anyway.



And the winner for the best use of black texta goes to.....

The back box display panel was next.

Before pictures. Again not terrible, just tired.





Stripping down and patching





After pics, all new connectors and Jady's great new light shrouds make all the difference.    All metal has been re-zinced also.

the levels of restoration from members on this forum,is outstanding.The bar has been raised,well done.

very nice work  , loved the coin door came out minty fresh as well as the backbox light board.

Fathom is an amazing title that Bally produced, and in 1981 they produced some other great titles.  They were really hitting the mark, and had enjoyed a fantastic run for the previous 5+ years.  Sadly it seems from 1982 onwards, the great decline began.

I remember when I first saw this machine on ipdb.org (as at that point I had never seen one in the flesh), my first reaction was "nope, not for me".  But it was a resto thread by Nino on this forum which shifted my thinking, and I have never looked back.  A very hard machine to get to join your collection, but finding one makes it worth the while.  The more I play it, the more I enjoy it.  Gameplay, artwork, and sound - really great package!

Very nice work so far, and seeing that it is going for a respray and new playfield, this will end up being a very coveted machine.  The playfield swap will probably be an intensive one – looking at the back side of the Fathom PF, that is one busy PF.  Hard to see much timber on the back as you know.  This also contributes to its weight – it’s probably one of the heaviest playfields for a Bally of that era.

The Playfield is absolutely shot but I was lucky enough to get on the list for the most recent run of 20 playfields CPR did so it's getting a new playfield anyway.

Speaking of playfields, the following is an image I received from Kevin at CPR showing the differences between the 2004 (Halifax) and 2009 (CPR) runs of Fathom.  The more desired one is the 2009 run.  However, seeing that you have sourced the most recent run from CPR, it would be interesting to see how that one compares to the 2009 run.  I had owned a 2009 version, but I wasn’t impressed really at all with the lack of density in the inserts (both green and blue), particularly the blue ones.  I had read that this was a complaint with the 2004 run, and was meant to be improved with the 2009 run.  It would be interesting to see if the latest run has further improved on this.





Note that another quick way to spot the difference between the 2004 and 2009 run is that the 2009 run did not have any dimples or holes drilled for the 2 top screws for the lane guides in the rollover area, whereas the 2004 run did.

NOS Fathom playfields are even rarer, and I know of a guy in the US that has one.  Below is an image he sent me comparing the NOS one (on the left) with the 2009 CPR (on the right).  Huge shift in colour for the NOS one from blue to green over time.  Looking at the flyer on ipdb.org, you can see the blues in the original playfield.





Very much looking forward to the updates on this one.

Thanks for all of the kind comments guys, it's been great fun so far.

  But it was a resto thread by Nino on this forum which shifted my thinking, and I have never looked back.  A very hard machine to get to join your collection, but finding one makes it worth the while.  The more I play it, the more I enjoy it.  Gameplay, artwork, and sound - really great

 it’s probably one of the heaviest playfields for a Bally of that era.


NOS Fathom playfields are even rarer, and I know of a guy in the US that has one.  Below is an image he sent me comparing the NOS one (on the left) with the 2009 CPR (on the right).  Huge shift in colour for the NOS one from blue to green over time.  Looking at the flyer on ipdb.org, you can see the blues in the original

Reading Nino's Fathom restorations had me hooked on this machine also. I actually brought a CPR backglass for it when they first became available because I always thought "I have to get one of those machines some day".

Your not wrong on the playfield weight either Steve and it's probably made worse by the way Bally mounted the thing in the cabinet. There is no timber rails in the cabinet to slide it on so you basically have to just dead lift it straight of the brackets. This is the main reason I wanted to make sure everything on the playfield was 100% working before I had the cab re-sprayed because I think it would be very difficult to get the playfield in and out by myself without scratching the inside of the cabinet. It's getting going in next week so I don't have long to sort the pop bumper issue and get it all striped out.

My playfield is in wraps at the moment so I can't compare it to the pictures of the 2004 and 2009 photos but it is blue like the 2009 version. I don't know if they made any other improvements over that run. It does look beautiful though and HRP are going to re-clear it for me as well which I'm sure will add even greater depth to it just like the work they did to my Xenon playfield.

Great Work ..


All of you guy's on this forum that do these Highend Restorations just blow my mind ..

It is a credit to all that have the passion to take on a project back from the grave ...
 

Some very nice looking work there.

It always pay to check fuses and power plugs before powering on.  You've shown why.

I think Adam likes to produce his own light shows every now and then by putting multimeter leads in places they're not meant etc etc