Ok, im at a point where im happy that i can get a working game from this.
So its time to start dismantling the machine.
I had this game completely dismantled in 2hrs. Great thing about EM games is that the whole bottom panel can be lifted out as can the scoring mechanism panel in the backbox. This makes working on them much easier as they can be put on a bench and worked on in comfort.
Once all the cabinet has been stripped, the original colours can be viewed where metal rails etc have been taken off.
The machine is meant to be a lovely turquoise colour - the blues, yellows and reds are very vibrant and much brighter than i thought they would be. Once these original colours are exposed, i can colour match with a Pantone colour chart.
The difference in colour can be seen here
Cabinet and back box are put aside to be rubbed back later.
First i want to clean up the PF and see where the restoration needs to be. PF is filthy
PF is completely stripped, all protruding leaf switches are unscrewed and allowed to hang underneath.
Grime on this game was pretty thick in places. First thing i do is get a few rags, some old towels that have been ripped into strips and some methylated spirits. A good wipeover gets all the heavy crap off.
Ball swirl is quite heavy also, so i attacked this with Nino's "magic Eraser" tip. Im not really a big fan of these unless im prepared to touch up the PF beforehand. On these older games the magic eraser can eat through the paint before you know it, if you feel any drag on the eraser, its because the paint is now being worn away.
I ALWAYS use these with some caution.
First i use the eraser with a some warm water and a drip of washing liquid - eats dirt and grease - just what i want.
Then i go over it again with the eraser and meths. The dirt was embedded into the cracking that had occurred. With the metho application, i move along the line of the cracks. Takes about 30 secs to lift the dirt
Ball swirl etc was heaviest in the centre of the PF. It looks like a square of Mylar had been removed from here, but the glue never was, so its baked on and dug deep. Ive got most of it out.
After an hours work, ive got a pretty good Playfield. There is some cracking and flaking to the paint on the right hand side. Extensive cracking through the centre.
This will have to all be restored and then protected with CC, but all in all, its not in bad shape.
I can get this PF to shine again. Im not going for the NIB look witht this. Im not repainting it, im restoring it. So much of the original paint is in good shape, that its largely a touch up job. Ill be leaving whole sections untouched.
It looks like beer or some sticky drink was spilt down the PF at some point. It settled under the apron and soaked in. This will need to be sanded back to smooth again. Its probably what lead to the cracking in the PF also.
But here it is.... cleaning almost complete ( i ran out of Magic E). Even at this early stage, it looks a million times better
