Gulfstream Restoration

[Creech]

Geez how lucky are you? How good can this hobby be when a bit of luck like that falls your way. Thumbs up to SPURR.  Well done mate.

[Retropin]

I gotta agree - thats an awesome gesture from Spurr, but i cant help wincing when you are talking about completely respraying the PF - from what ive seen, it doesnt need it.

Heres an offer;

How well does the paint on the spare PF match that of the one you want to keep? Depending on what condition the pin was kept in - the finish on it will be a slightly different shade of yellowing ( due to linseed based finishes).

If the match is good - chip  a piece off the spare, send it to me and ill post you a small Humbrol type tin of the matched colour. That way you can do the touch ups necessary and retain what looks to me like a very nice PF anyway

[pinnies4me]

Geez, nice offer Gavin!

If I send you a chip off a playfield, can you just send me a whole playfield back?   

[Ford Fairlane]

I gotta agree - thats an awesome gesture from Spurr, but i cant help wincing when you are talking about completely respraying the PF - from what ive seen, it doesnt need it.

Heres an offer;

How well does the paint on the spare PF match that of the one you want to keep? Depending on what condition the pin was kept in - the finish on it will be a slightly different shade of yellowing ( due to linseed based finishes).

If the match is good - chip  a piece off the spare, send it to me and ill post you a small Humbrol type tin of the matched colour. That way you can do the touch ups necessary and retain what looks to me like a very nice PF anyway

When i say a restore, i dont want to strip all the paint and start again. But it will give me an opportunity to practice some techniques that i read about in your resto threads. Cleaning, filling touching up etc. There are a few spots besides the obvious wear that i can work on. Like for instance around the inserts where they have been bashed out and its taken wood splinters/chunks with it.

And Gav what a great offer!!!! the insert chipping away is a perfect opportunity to send some over as the colour matches look good so far. Will know better when i clean all the gunk off the new playfield.

Thanks Guys!!!

[Retropin]

LOL- is no problem really - will take 10 mins to match the colour by hand - there will be no more than 3 base colours to it. Ill match it to my Pantones, buy some Humbrol tins and mix them all together to the correct shade.
if its a touch up then my trick with the hole in the paper and spray Poly/thane will fix the paint solid and youll never notice it.

There is nothing better ( as a restorer) than having mates round and playing "spot the touch up" on a PF - if they cant find it - you did a good job

[Ford Fairlane]

hold on a sec  , i thought i read more than ive read in a lifetime but i dont know what you mean by "my trick with the hole in the paper and spray Poly/thane" thing. Ive gotta find that one.. By the way i tried color matching myself using acrylics  and of course got it close only to find that it dried darker ( i was warned but persisted anyway). lot of green here, little blue there, little white here etc. Haven't tried with enamels but maybe with a little patience i might be able to get it. at least it wont darken on me

I'm one of those strange bastards that begs for help and then insist on trying it myself. So apologies for the mixed signals when i say yeeehhaaa to a small colour matched tin and then wanting to try it myself as well..

[Retropin]

Ok - send me the chip of paint and ill tell you how much of one colour to how much of another to mix together.
 The FINAL amount is done by eye - i could only guide you with this.
But if  i gave you the 2 colours either side of your colour ( pantone always works like this) then youd get a good idea of where you need to be with the mixing.


And yes - acrylics suck for matching and will take you ages to get right - enamels will not darken as they dry

Ok - the hole in the paper trick.

You have a small area of PF that you have touched up - you need to seal and protect this.
Gloss polyurathane works a treat - is hard wearing, comes in a spray can for $7 and is slightly yellowing - so adds to the authenticity of the restore.

Allow paint to dry and then a quick wipe over with meths to remove any grease etc. If the touch up area is about 20mm or so cut this size hole in a piece of paper.
 get your can of spray in one hand ready to fire. Hold the paper approx 60 -100mm above the pf directly over the restored area.
Now LIGHTLY spray the paper where the hole is in short squirts- do not concentrate on the hole in it, pretend its not there.
What happens is the spray goes through the hole and diffuses out blending perfectly to the rest of the pf.
Very light sprays are the go - maybe several of them.
it saves all the masking off etc and leaves no lines whatsoever where the polyurathane has met the PF.
 Guarantee that you will not see your new finish against the old.

REALLY simple and bloody effective!

[millsy]

Hi Ford Fairlane,
I know its off the subject but hows youre Pro Football tilt problem going or are you concentrating on your Gulfsream resto.
Millsy

[Ford Fairlane]

no longer a tilt issue fortunately. my only issue beside score reel which i need to throw a coil on, is the lack of scoring until i hit the vari-target. Checked switches on the motor which wasnt closing right as well as having a "fiddle" with s and tilt relays and that got me passed the tilt issue.

I know you had a tilt issue and i assume you checked the opening and closing of all switches, especially motor ? Especially motor as i found this to be badly pitted (1c inner most on mine)

[millsy]

Worked out someone had bypassed the tilt relay I think with a resistor -replaced & ok -everything works now except game over/ball number illumination flickers on & off - tapp relay with stick & flickers so removed relay & it fell apart so I am looking for a new one (refer marco post) This relay is the same as the tilt relay so will solve both problems.
As you are probably aware now,these problems help us to see how these old ems work-amazing.
Millsy

[Ford Fairlane]

Hi there! Hopefully a quick question. On my gulfstream i have never been able to light the pop bumpers for 1000 points. When i take the glass off and i hit the yellow targets near the bumpers, it lights the bumpers but when i let go of the switch, the lights go out. I would have thought that it should stay on for a while to give me an opportunity to hit some 1000 pointers.

Any advice on what sequence etc i need to get the light to stay on for a while?

Cheers!

[Retropin]

Had a similar problem on my APOLLO. There are 4 bumpers and they alternate in pairs as to what is lit. I had to follow the wires from the bumper lights to find the relay to get any of them to light up