My wife told me i could have a Twilight Zone for my 40th birthday, but luckily for me, Tony from The Pinball Shed came to the rescue and i got my 40th present 8 years early!!
I am by no means a professional restorer and will not go close to matching some of the workmanship that some of the guys on here have showed. I really enjoy pulling these machines to pieces and my goal for this one was to clean the machine without rushing, and try to eliminate all sources of the evil black dust, so that it will stay in good nick for the longest possible time. I also have to stick to a pretty lean budget, so at this stage purchasing new ramps/plastics is out of the equation. Also, i plan to do a cabinet redecal sometime in the future - i guess its nice always to save a project for the future.
I have no time limit for this project and am happy to just poke along at my own pace - that said i might get all keen and hook right in as well. (This has been going for about 3 weeks now, i've just been too lazy to post). I haven't got many before photos either, but here goes....
This is an example of the dirt and crud some of these machines come straight out of the container (i have had a couple of examples that are the opposite and almost spotless)
Here, most things have been stripped off the playfield, ready for a good clean
You can see, there is a fair bit of dirt, desperately needing to be removed
Finally, all the bits are off, and in a big pile on the pool table, awaiting cleaning