SUPER STRAIGHT ? whats that

[elkor-alish]

Hopefully when soldering I don't burn the paint/wood too much-any tips?

If you use a flux (Baker's soldering fluid is my fave) you should only need minimal heat and so shouldn't burn anything.
Alternatively you could solder before you attach them to the board. 

[oldskool1969]

Just a wee update. The braid Ralph offered was and earth braid which I unfortunately couldn't utilise, so, being an ex sparky I used some old, now illegal, 1mm solid SDI and stripped it too suit the purpose of creating ( train tracks ) wires in parallel.
Pretty happy with myself I then started to solder and fix the components and wires.This sucked as my hands are now very soft and stripping cotton braided wires is a real Bxxxxxd! Blisters to prove it. 
Once again i can say that, this is a truly fantastic hobby to annoy yourself and also feel a sense of achievement as you bring these old girls a new lease on life and hopefully one day get to take her around the block a few times and share with your mates.
Still a long long way to go 

[ralph67]

  nice work Andy , Will you repaint the front white? Ps don't drop it again . I suppose it was only a matter of time before the chipboard failed anyway ...

[oldskool1969]

nice work Andy , Will you repaint the front white? Ps don't drop it again . I suppose it was only a matter of time before the chipboard failed anyway ...

Yeah Dude. still have to build the wooden light concentrators ( if thats what you call them ) then paint white and fit the dummy zeros to make you think you are a pinball champ by scoring big! 
true about the chipboard, but believe me this was the most SOLID part of the original machine. really didn't want to do this.
BTW I actually fixed Surf Champs 3rd player hiccup for next weekend's IOPA meet.