10/3/06: Restoration begins:
First, I removed the back box, and totally gutted it and the cabinet of all parts. I then traced the stencilled designs so I could reproduce these later. Then I totally stripped all of the old paint off using paint stripper and a scraper, after which I cleaned it up using methylated spirits. There were a few minor scratches and dings to repair so these were filled automotive body filler where needed.
After this was done I then sanded the whole thing back with 120-grit sandpaper followed by 220-grit. It was then dusted off thoroughly and then sprayed in enamel undercoat. After the undercoat had dried I sanded it back with 400-grit sandpaper and wiped it down with a rag and Prepsol wax and grease remover. Then I sprayed the front area where the backglass fits in and the front edges with black enamel and let it dry. I then masked this off and sprayed the blue/green basecoat colour. I had to have this colour custom mixed, I had a mate of mine who works in an automotive paint shop mix this colour in enamel spray cans for me. This game had silver speckling paint over the base coat so I redid this using thinned silver enamel and the old toothbrush trick… dipping the brush into the paint and flicking the bristles with my fingernail (after testing it on cardboard first of course!)
Next the stencils were made by laying the tracings made earlier over sheets of white cardboard, and cutting out the shapes. These were then laid over the sides (one side at a time), weighed down with sockets and sprayed using three light coats of each colour, given 10 – 15 minutes between coats and allowed to dry. It was left over night between spraying each colour.