Gottlieb Genie Restoration

[Strangeways]

I'm really fortunate to be working on my favorite SYS1 Machines that is popular with collectors. This is the third game I've owned, the second went to Mitch and the First one was restored for a Collector 10 years ago. This is the worst of the three, and my intention was to save it as a "High End" Restoration, because that's what is needed to get this game going.

Condition Report

Cabinet - 5/10 - Original paint work is ok, but it has gouges and scratches all over it. The front panel is a mess. The backglass is VERY faded and will be replaced (more on that later).

Playfield - 4/10 - Looks ok, but is suffering from severe planking. This will be replaced with a spare I traded from Ken years ago.

Electrical / Electronic - 1/10 - Boards won't be an issue. A PASCAL 4 in 1 has arrived and will be installed. Lots of re pinning, but no board repairs.


BEFORE pictures

Absolutely everything will be done to this game. As from the pictures, it NEEDS all the work ! Ironically, I think this is a bit of a "basket case" with huge potential, but lesser games are being sold on eBay ! More on that later..


Backglass is in storage, and will be replaced, so I didn't bother removing it for the pictures.








On legs - Barely ! It needs cabinet repairs !





That's half a lock down bar !





Filthy !





Stripped and cleaned prior to the paint strip..











Original playfield with the HUGE crack from the "same player shoots again" insert. It looks much better in the photo. Artwork is ok, but this issue is also on the upper playfield section.





Replacement Playfield

A few years ago, I obtained a better playfield from Ken (Skybeaux). I think we basically swapped a "Far Out" playfield for this Genie playfield. So thanks to Ken, this machine will have a nice playfield.





It looks rough, but it is workable. The plan is to clearcoat the playfield and touch up the areas that need to be addressed. I partially removed the contact and it was a touch job as paint did lift, and I have the residue to contend with. But this is a much better playfield.


I have a decal for this wear area, but I might try to touch it up first ;




Here's the playfield without the adhesive residue and some areas had paint lifted. I'll deal with this later, but the priority for now is removing and flattening the inserts, and then clearing the playfield to seal in the existing artwork prior to the touch up work.





The backside of the playfield is sanded and then repainted while the inserts are out.





At this point the playfield is prepped for the "seal" coat of clear to lock in the playfield.


Plating

I get asked a lot about the plating process that I do. I do small parts because professional platers have a habit of losing small parts. It is expensive to set up, and it takes a lot of patience to learn the process. After 3 years of working with the process, I can obtain some good results. As the bath deteriorates, I replate legbolts and headbolts. You can't get original Bally or Gottlieb legbolts anymore. They are just generic Williams style. So I pulled out the 100's of original Bally bolts and plated around 50 of them to use up the already deteriorating bath.

Once I mix a new "brew" of electrolyte and new anodes, I get really good results. It IS time consuming, but cheaper than professional plating and I have not lost a part yet. I actually enjoy this process.


In the below picture of the coin door parts, the top coin plate is original. That's the original zinc plating after 40 years. I've plated the exact part below. The tilt bracket is also plated. The headbolts were also done.





Here's the 4Ltr bath for small parts. There's a larger 20Ltr bath for big parts, or big sessions with lots of parts.





The bath itself doing it's magic !





Next update will be start of painting the cabinet or the clearing of the playfield.

[Crashramp]

Very cool, looking forward to the updates 

[Mr Pinbologist]

+1, Looking forward to seeing how this comes up Nino  

BTW your second genie went to Ian (howzat), but i did the majority of the restoration on it.
Also he now has another backglass with nice reds to go into his Genie   I just need to seal it for him and do a few small touchups on it.

[howzat]

Im glad you sent me the p/f with out the crack

Your plating process seems to work well    I guess its like any thing new  it  takes time to learn

I love my Genie      Howzat 

[Strangeways]

Im glad you sent me the p/f with out the crack

Your plating process seems to work well    I guess its like any thing new  it  takes time to learn

I love my Genie      Howzat 

I'll post pictures of the cracks. Not a pleasant sight !

+1, Looking forward to seeing how this comes up Nino 

BTW your second genie went to Ian (howzat), but i did the majority of the restoration on it.
Also he now has another backglass with nice reds to go into his Genie  I just need to seal it for him and do a few small touchups on it.

The REDs really fade on this title, which is a shame as the artwork is absolutely amazing. I'm having a repro made for me for this restoration. The existing glass is too far gone !

[oldskool1969]

Great game, love the skill/luck required to keep ball from draining on the outlines. Another good thread to watch 

[Strangeways]

The restoration is basically split into two concurrent stages - the playfield restoration and the cabinet repaint.

The playfield stage requires a clear to "seal" the current artwork from further deterioration. There's no way I can do any repainting until I have a stable and flat playfield. The inserts are flattened and then installed back in the playfield. Then the first of several clears are applied. The pictures below are of the first coat of clear so that I can start work on repainting. I will do half the required touch ups and have it sealed again before finishing the touch ups and then finally the last applications of the clear. It is only a couple of pictures, but there is already a lot of hours to get to this point.







After 3 days, it is ready to rough up and commence the touch ups.

[Pintoxicated]

Jeez Genie has a sweet looking playfield.  Looking forward to seeing this one completed.  It's going to be a sweet machine.

[Strangeways]

This cabinet may be the second last or last gone "outside" in my garage. I've certainly saved the best until last.

The headbox had some perfect original paint and finish so I had it matched. Turned out the "orange" backglass frame is exactly the same color as the "red" on the cabinet. Only a professional can pick this up. The frame had the paint sprayed directly on the timber. No base color. The red / orange on the cabinet was sprayed on the yellow base. This gave it a different look. So I only needed one color.

After purchasing the paint, I stripped the cabinet and spent time addressing the divots and names scratched into the side on the lower cabinet. I also re enforced the corners of the cabinet with some staples as per the original factory, but I went all the way up the brackets.

Here is the stripped and prepped cabinet. More time goes into this process than the painting ;








I mask off everything that shouldn't be painted !





Here's the primer / undercoat. I'll leave this dry and then sand it smooth. if there are any imperfections, I will attend to them before the basecoat.





The basecoat goes on thin for the first pass, and then 2-3 heavier passes. This gives it good coverage and a consistent finish. I painted the inside before the outside, so I don't smudge the outside.








I paint in the shade and quickly move the head into the sun. The paint is dry to touch in 2-3 minutes.





Within an hour, the paint has dried enough to pick the cabinet up and move it. I try not to handle the cabinet at all until the next day, when I give it a quick wipedown and then plan the first colour stencil from Flipperescue (Gav). I've used his stencils a few times, and they are easily the best on the market and the most accurate. Ironically, I'm spending 203 days doing something that took minutes in the factory assembly line !

Here's the "splatter" effect on the cabinet. This has to be done before the first stencil color is applied.




The Genie stencil for the sides needs to be hung from the bottom edge, as there is a parallel line in both colored stencils. So hanging from the top is not going to work. The first colour is green. Here's a picture of the game "upside down" and the stencil on top of the game as I tackle it. The front is already in place.





A thin layer of paint, just enough to obtain an even color and finish. Maybe two or three thin coats. As soon as i see uniform color, I stop.





Front and side done ;





Within 10 minutes, I rub any edges off the painted areas to prevent bleed from the next color, and also to get rid of any "ridge". But the paint is so thin, you can't feel the edge.

The next day, the Orange / Red is applied. This is the hard part. You have to line up any features from the previous colour. Rushing this will cause big problems.





Finished red / orange. This had to go on slightly thicker to cover the green areas or it would be too dark. This is a very fine line as if I go too thick with the red / orange, it will cause an edge to appear, or far worse, lift some of the green area. Enough coverage to have an even color - even though this was not achieved in the factory.





In between coats, the frame needs to be done, and the finish IS different. It does look like a slightly darker color.





Red / Orange is done on the sides. I'm REALLY pleased at this stage !





Note the bottom line is 100% parallel with the bottom edge.





Head detail





Completed cabinet. VERY pleased with the result. But the real achievement is the even coverage and texture.





Next - The playfield !

[Crashramp]

Gorgeous 

Your neighbours are going to miss out on all the beautiful art rolling out your garage door once you move Nino.

[pinnies4me]

Absolutely beautiful mate! Miss my System 1's sometimes.... 

[riverinapinball]

Looks really good. Someone is going to very happy with that game , once it is done.

I know on the original Gottliebs they had a speckle over spray on the cabinet art. Have you ever tried to replicate it.

[Steve2010]

Looking very, very nice indeed.  Cab reprays are alot of work, but if done right with patience and thinking it through, the result is really satisfying and worth it.

The splatter effect - I think I have read it somewhere in the past that you use (if memory serves correctly) an old toothbrush dipped in black paint, and you use your finger and effectively run it through the brush so that it flicks the paint onto the cabinet.  Share what you can here Nino, I am very interested and elaborate as much as you can, as the next machine to get a respray will be my Gottlieb Buccaneer.

Also, as you do the splatter before the secondary colours are applied (which of course is correct order), do you have any issues with the black dots being noticeable in any way through the secondary colours?  Thanks.

[Pintoxicated]

Wow...bloody awesome work Nino. 

[Strangeways]

Looks really good. Someone is going to very happy with that game , once it is done.

I know on the original Gottliebs they had a speckle over spray on the cabinet art. Have you ever tried to replicate it.

Some cabs have "webbing" - mostly EMs. This is done by not thinning out the paint and dropping the air pressure on the gun. Instant webbing.

"Splatter" - I think you are referring to, is the use of thick paint and a toothbrush, but I've used a different method described below ;

Looking very, very nice indeed.  Cab reprays are alot of work, but if done right with patience and thinking it through, the result is really satisfying and worth it.

The splatter effect - I think I have read it somewhere in the past that you use (if memory serves correctly) an old toothbrush dipped in black paint, and you use your finger and effectively run it through the brush so that it flicks the paint onto the cabinet.  Share what you can here Nino, I am very interested and elaborate as much as you can, as the next machine to get a respray will be my Gottlieb Buccaneer.

Also, as you do the splatter before the secondary colours are applied (which of course is correct order), do you have any issues with the black dots being noticeable in any way through the secondary colours?  Thanks.

I used to use a stiff toothbrush and no thinners. This was messy and I could not get it right. I did note that the "blobs" of paint on my test piece of wood did not look right. So I used my airgun, with the paint thinned 50/50 and dropped the air pressure right down and it produced the perfect splatter effect. The splatter was flat. I just moved the air gun in fast sweeps from left to right. The air pressure was enough to "throw" the paint off the tip. You need to clear the tip of the gun after each panel, or you might get a big splatter when you start the next panel. This process must be done after the base coat and BEFORE the secondary colors. In almost all cases, the secondary colors cover the splatter. I don't intentionally cover the splatter, I'm more interested in observing the amount of paint I'm using so that it is as thin as possible. You want the paint to be even in the least amount of paint.

This cabinet is easily the best I've done. Not as difficult as Fathom (NOTHING is as hard as that) and the colors on the Genie really "pop".