Gottlieb Surf Champ Restoration

[Strangeways]

Should come up really nice Nino. The BG looks in amazing condition 

Will you be doing any touchup work around the inserts that have wear around them?
The PF looks like it'll come up nice too 

I think I will attempt the outhole wear and the insert wear. The plan is to mylar the playfield, so I'll do my best. I'm a few days ahead - the inserts are all removed !

[millsy]

Top job getting that ball swirl out Nino.
Noticed you use alcohol with the eraser, do you prefer it compared to novus ?
When you say alcohol, is it Isopropyl alcohol ?

[Strangeways]

Top job getting that ball swirl out Nino.
Noticed you use alcohol with the eraser, do you prefer it compared to novus ?
When you say alcohol, is it Isopropyl alcohol ?

Yes Kev - Isopropyl alcohol, Magic Eraser and lots of patience.

Cleaning the ball swirl is a process I do after I've cleaned the dirt with Nifti. I then move to Novus 3 and then Novus 2. At this point I can see anything I have missed. I then clean again with Metho so I can prep for painting.

[Steve2010]

Surfer/Surf Champ is a really nice EM.  The colours on this one are still very much alive, and Nino really nice job on getting that ball swirl out from the PF.  Just looking at how much of it there was (especially around the right hand side slingshot area) and what it looks like now - alot of work, but the results speak for themselves.  The "old" PF is on its way back again.

I think the theme has a lot to do with it, but the layout with the Drop Targets in a difficult space next to the Pop Bumpers makes it a challenging game. A direct flipper hit to the topmost DT will be obscured so you need to use the pop bumpers.

I did own a Surf Champ, it was a challenging player (getting all the DTs down in one ball).  Like you said above, the top DT is impossible to hit directly - that "blasted" spinner was in the way.  That was my only gripe about the game - just my 2c worth, but I thought the spinner didn't really add any value (it could only be lit for 100 at best), and was in the way of the top DTs.  Other than that (which is minor gripe I suppose), a really fun and challenging game.

[Flipball]

Beautiful old game Nino. Where there any of these sold new in Australia in the 1970's?

[Flipball]

What makes this title so collectible ? Is it the theme or ?
This one should turn out really well by the looks of it .

Theme is the MAIN reason for me as I love my oldskool surfing and memorabilia and also it plays like a demon too! definitely one of the better EM's out there IMO and also one of the last as it was manufactured in 1976 if I remember rightly. EVERYBODY needs at least one old girl in there collection, I have 3 soon to be 4!
There are also very few surfing themed pinball out there that I am aware of
SURFER which is the same GTB but 2 player and IMO a much better back glass
SURFING by  SEGA very rare and only a few made in Japan would like to play and own
and also a 1967 SURFERS by BALLY , bloody ugly and a pig to play IMO but hey you never know I might get one?

Thankfully it looks like the short board revolution of 67 still hadn't hit the Gottlieb factory in 77. Long live the traditional longboard!
Congrats on the new Munoz btw. "The Mongoose" is/was a great shaper.
Cheers, Ben

[Strangeways]

Beautiful old game Nino. Where there any of these sold new in Australia in the 1970's?

Back in the 70's pinballs were purely for operators. They were not sold to the public as they are today. When my father was an operator, he flew to the GTB factory and picked out the latest titles. They were NIB EMs that were imported in containers. He did the same for Bally SS games.

When I was a child, we had a few Surf Champs. I remember them well as Dad gave one to a school friend of mine to use for his Dad's beach house.

[Flipball]

Great story and info- such different times. I wonder how many of them are still around? I can imagine that surf champ sitting in a beach house- perfect place for it.

[Thasaman]

Great pics and explanations. Love these types of posts.

Ta
Thasaman

[oldskool1969]

Any new pics of the progress Nino?
I had to read this thread again and noticed that quite a few people have read and would love some more info
 

[Crashramp]

Any new pics of the progress Nino?
I had to read this thread again and noticed that quite a few people have read and would love some more info
 

+1 Great looking game, I'm also looking forward to updates.

[Strangeways]

The mylar has arrived and I'm still in the process of removing the inserts and commencing the touch up work. Nothing too exciting at the moment, but I'll do a big update soon.

[Strangeways]

Cabinet repairs

Disassembly of the internals





The lower cabinet is stripped completely and as I was cleaning it, I noticed that the bottom timber sections had separated on the left side. So I had to glue, clamp and then staple back together. It took a while, but it had to be done.








All the assemblies are removed and checked to see if there are any damaged or worn parts. If they are good, they are cleaned and thrown in the tumbler








Here is the Chime unit looking a little "furry" !





.. and here it is after a rebuild.





The lower section is fully rebuilt, all I have to do is drop in the baseboard and also the rebuilt door (forgot to take pictures !).

[oldskool1969]

aaaahhhhhhhh those sweet sweet chimes!
loving the original cabinet, sometimes you just have to leave things alone

[visionman]

love these em's 

great work !