# SDTM Cary Hardy: Saving Swords Of Fury Part 7

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-12-14  
**Duration:** 12m 33s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBguXWR3Jy8

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy continues restoration of a Swords of Fury pinball machine, focusing on cabinet assembly, electrical systems, and back box components. He systematically cleans and installs the transformer, lockdown receiver, coin door, wire harnesses, and circuit boards, addressing corrosion and replacing aging components like capacitors and fuse holders. With the cabinet now complete, he is ready to move on to playfield restoration.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Having a second identical Swords of Fury machine nearby significantly expedites restoration by allowing direct comparison of component placement and assembly. — _Cary explicitly states he can 'just swap out with my machine over there' to confirm placement, saving time versus relying on pictures alone._
- [HIGH] The original Gilligan's Island connector on the cabinet harness was unreliable and needed replacement with a new 12-pin connector. — _Cary describes the connector as 'nasty' and states 'This simply will not do, so we're going to be upgrading to brand new connector and pins.'_
- [HIGH] Circuit boards had been stored in boxes for approximately seven months before being cleaned and inspected during restoration. — _Cary states 'taking one board at a time out of the box that they've been in for I don't know seven months or something like that.'_
- [HIGH] A capacitor needed replacement on one of the back box boards during restoration. — _Cary confirms 'I know I had to replace the capacitor on this board, so that's all said and done.'_
- [HIGH] Cary replaced multiple aging electrical components including fuse holders, a ribbon cable, and the power plug to improve reliability. — _He details installing 'a new ribbon cable,' 'new fuse holders,' and 'a plug that actually has a ground on it' to address deterioration and safety concerns._

### Notable Quotes

> "luckily for me for this process I have another Swords of Fury just over there, so little things like this I can just swap out with my machine over there just to make this process a little bit easier."
> — **Cary Hardy**, early in video
> _Demonstrates the practical value of having reference machines during restoration work._

> "This simply will not do, so we're going to be upgrading to brand new connector and pins."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-video
> _Shows his quality standards regarding electrical safety and reliability; repeated phrasing indicates a personal principle about what he will accept._

> "I've got to get a new fuse holder and everything right here. This is not, I don't like this. That looks bad. It's crit, it's not very sturdy."
> — **Cary Hardy**, late-video
> _Illustrates his systematic approach to identifying and replacing questionable components to prevent future issues._

> "I believe this is all ready... I believe the cabinet is officially done."
> — **Cary Hardy**, end of video
> _Marks the completion of a major restoration milestone, enabling transition to playfield work._

> "You do not want to try to put this on when it's festered with rusting and stuff like that. It won't stick, and then you'll be disappointed."
> — **Cary Hardy**, mid-late video
> _Provides practical restoration advice about surface preparation before applying cosmetic upgrades._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | Pinball restoration hobbyist and content creator restoring a Swords of Fury machine; hosts/appears on Straight Down the Middle channel. |
| Swords of Fury | game | Classic pinball machine being restored by Cary Hardy; he has two identical machines to reference during work. |
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | YouTube video series featuring pinball gameplay, reviews, and restoration content; Cary Hardy appears as featured restorer. |
| Gilligan's Island | game | Classic pinball machine referenced in context of electrical connector terminology; the 'Gilligan's Island connector' is an unreliable old connector type Cary replaced. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Vintage pinball restoration, Electrical systems and component replacement, Cabinet assembly and wire harness installation, Circuit board cleaning and inspection
- **Secondary:** Cosmetic upgrade and finishing touches

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Cary displays satisfaction with progress and completion milestones. Minor frustrations with corroded/aged components are quickly resolved with practical solutions. Optimistic tone about readiness for next restoration phase.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Cary Hardy demonstrates systematic, detail-oriented restoration methodology: multi-step board cleaning, component-by-component inspection, preventive replacement of questionable parts, and high standards for electrical safety and visual appeal. (confidence: high) — He refuses substandard electrical connections ('This simply will not do'), proactively replaces components he doesn't trust despite apparent functionality, and emphasizes proper surface preparation before cosmetic upgrades.
- **[product_concern]** Multiple electrical components on Swords of Fury exhibited age-related deterioration: corroded connectors, missing fuses, faulty fuse holders, and aging ribbon cables requiring replacement to restore reliability. (confidence: high) — Cary identifies and replaces the Gilligan's Island connector, adds missing fuses, replaces fuse holders ('This is not, I don't like this. That looks bad'), and upgrades the ribbon cable due to distrust of its condition.

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## Transcript

[Music] all right getting things put in here and lo and behold i'm missing the ground great you gotta be kidding me oh and we are getting things in here a little about a little got the grounding wire run where it needs to go uh power cords in here speakers in here uh luckily for me for this process i have another swords of fury just over there so little things like this i can just swap out with my machine over there just to make this uh process a little bit easier and it's really good just to be able to walk five feet just to confirm where certain items go that's been really nice so i have to keep looking at pictures um so where we are at now is that i need to get this transformer all cleaned up this thing is looking pretty raggedy so we're going to get it all disassembled get it cleaned up painted and then we're going to slide her into place down here grinding cables all in place ready for it all right this thing's been sitting overnight already looks a lot better so let's get it all unwrapped and get her back in the machine see what we got now that we've got the transformer all cleaned up and installed i'm going to start working on the lockdown receiver and coin door i was lucky enough to be able to get this cleaned up there's a lot of rust on here i was able to grind it all off that's going to be good enough i will eventually get the titan sticker to go across this so it'll be a little more visually appealing and it'll work but i've currently got this mounted and i'm gonna get the rest of it mounted up now but that's where i'm at now on this all right more things are in position now got the uh tilt bobber on finished doing the lockdown receiver it's fully functional i've got the playfield lift bar right there i started getting the wire harness hangers in place i believe i'm ready to start working on the coin door right here this is gonna need some work so we're gonna get this all stripped down and see if we can make it look uh at least better than this all right all installed i mean it's not like you know high quality restoration but it's perfectly suitable for a working and still aesthetically pleasing machine all right beginning work on the cabinet harness and it's time to take care of this nasty gi connector this simply will not do so we're going to be upgrading to brand new connector and pins of course this is a 12 pin so i need to chew off about three pins i want to say this should be about nine eight nine yeah so i'll show off the extra holes and then get this all rewired so we don't have to worry about having any gi issues and here we have the cabinet wire harness is officially installed in this bad baby so technically this cabinet should be ready to rock and roll when it comes to making sure everything has got connections to the backbox everything's wired up hanging out right here so this means the only thing i need to do is get the hinges on get this backbox mounted up there and then majority of the cabinets complete besides like you know the side rails and some flipper buttons it's got a head we have got the backbox mounted so this makes the cabinet completely assembled now wiring should all be in here and done uh this just needs to be run up to the backbox but that's where i'm going to do it now now i'm going to build all the backbox up with the boards and go through the boards to make sure that everything's all good and get this backbox back to being only basically once his back boxes all together then all i'm gonna be missing is the play field and that's whenever i can begin doing that all right so this is what we're doing taking one board at a time out of the box that they've been in for i don't know seven months or something like that getting them a good wash and then going through one by one to make sure you know i say good wash but this is not good at all what the fudge okay it's not dirt it's just the discoloring of the material i thought that was like dust i was like what the hell uh anyways um so i got a couple of new fuses on here because i was missing a couple of them i'm pretty sure at one point in time i needed some five amp slow blows so i borrowed them from this board but i got their every connector and to make sure everything's all nice and solid it's all cleaned up and then this one should go right here at the bottom so we'll start doing this one board at a time and see what all we got to get all right we now have all the boards cleaned up and installed let's see i know i had to replace the capacitor on this board so that's all said and done the only thing that i need to do on these boards is get rid of this this is no bueno but i'm not ordering just this by itself when i know i'm going to have to order a whole bunch of stuff here in the near future so i'm going to go ahead and install everything i'm just going to leave this board disconnected until i get this result because this is no point no other than that the backbox boards should all be here now i'm going to start working on getting the knocker and start working on the wire harness and all that stuff and junk all right i think i'm going to call it a night but i've got more of the wiring all hooked up capacitor here bridge rectifier some of the fuse i i've got to get a new fuse holder and everything right here this is not i don't like this that looks bad it's it's crit it's not very sturdy i'm going to get a new one of those and i think i'm out while i'm at i got a whole new one up here as well it's when i started building up my marco cart is whenever i'm putting everything back together again if only i did it while i was taking that apart but it is what it is all right and we have all of the cables attached except for what is going to the play field obviously but just the cabinet connectors are installed now i've added a new ribbon cable to my cart there's a split down here that i don't quite trust it looks like it's still got continuity and everything but i don't like it i'd rather spend the nine bucks just to make sure there's no worrisome about that causing any issues down the road other than that i believe this is all ready these all go to the display and these go to the speakers uh well not this all right i got some of the things in them in the mail that i need to do so a plug that actually has a ground on it a ribbon cable and uh fuses that i was needing and other little stuff that i've got in so now i'm going to get those on here but first i'm going to make this lockdown receiver just a little bit more attractive using the titan uh lockdown receiver decal which i just dropped so this is easy to place on here guys it really is you can remove these leveling screws a lot of the times and that way they're not in your way uh i don't think i'm gonna need to for this particular machine it's just as simple as removing the adhesive on the back placing it down on a clean lock down bar receiver you do not want to try to put this on when it's festered with rusting and stuff like that it won't stick and then you'll be disappointed get this thing sandblasted or cleaned up the best you possibly can before you attempt doing this i put these things on many times in my other videos so i'm not going to bother trying to record me doing it for this but by all means it is definitely a product that i highly recommend just to give that extra little snazz to it nope this simply will not do i'm gonna change out this plug right here for one that is grounded [Music] all right i have installed the upgrades that i just got and i believe that the cabinet is officially done so got the backbox look at this i've already gained dust to clean this thing up so we got a new ribbon cable that i did not trust we have got a new battery holder installed to make sure that there's no issues with that new fuse holders for these things that way there's no worrisome about those being flaky man so time to get this all back together again then slide it back into the home position over here and i believe ladies and gentlemen we can start working on the playfield

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 3bd22775-3a4b-430f-a025-0073bb1ba899*