Page last modified on: 01/22/2002
There are already some terrific pinball restoration & repair guides available on the Internet. There is no point in me trying to replicate what's already been done. My favorite site is located at http://www.marvin3m.com/fix.htm . Others can be found in the "Restoration and Repair" section on my Pinball Links web page. What I offer here are some restoration/repair tips and advice that might add to the pool of existing knowledge and experience.
My pinball repair & restoration philosophy
My number one concern when repairing or restoring a game is to get it working 100%. Every playfield feature, lamp, switch, bumper, score reel, etc must work flawlessly. This concern seems to be shared by everyone who has this hobby.
Beyond this common goal, their seems to be an area of some debate among pinball collectors.
There are those folks who will completely recondition and restore a game to as close to new, or showroom condition as possible. They will replace parts that show even normal use wear. They will use New-Old-Stock (NOS) or remanufactured parts whenever possible. They will undertake playfield or back glass artwork touchups for even minor blemishes.
Another camp of folks will stop any restoration effort beyond getting the game working perfectly and cleaned up and waxed. They prefer the game to show it's years of natural use.
I find my restoration efforts to fall somewhere between these two camps. I want my games to look as original as possible, but I'm not going to any great lengths to hide normal signs of wear and tear.
Things I will do:
- replace rusted legs and coin doors.
- replace all the plastic playfield posts with NOS or remanufactured parts.
- repaint a game cabinet to the original paint scheme only if the original artwork has been painted over or heavily damaged.
- reproduce broken or cracked playfield plastics whenever possible. http://members.home.net/thekingofpayne/
- I will take steps to prevent further deteriation of the games artwork. This includes; coating back glass with Krylon's Triple Thick to prevent ink delaminating from the glass, I use spot mylar's on playfield in high wear areas like slingshot kickers, or kick out holes. I use acrylic washers on playfield plastics mounting posts to prevent breakage.
Things I don't normally do:
- repair (touch-up) playfield wear marks unless they affect the play of the game in some way.
- repair (touch-up) back glass artwork.
Workshop tips
There are some things I've learned from my woodworking hobby that have translated well to my work on pinball machines. My early forays into furniture building often ended in a disappointing result. My understanding of woodworking techniques and finishing were good, but I was having difficulty achieving the level of consistent craftsmanship that made me happy. I sought out the advice of a local fellow whose projects were always very well executed. He invited me to spend some time working with him in his home wood shop. Two things he did made a strong impression on me.
#1 Make your work area a joy to work in. The work shop was very well thought out and very comfortable. He had converted his two car garage into a very nice place to work. Excellent lighting and heating. Rubber mats over the concrete floor to help alleviate back & foot strain. Every tool had a storage place and were kept in excellent condition. The idea was to be able to walk out into the shop and begin work whenever it was convenient with a minimum of fuss
#2 Recognize that true craftsmanship takes time. Careful concentration is important to maintain your best effort. People have different abilities to maintain the proper concentration. Some people can work at the highest level for many hours. Most of us mere mortals can really apply themselves for just 2-3 hours at best. Approaching a project with a "gotta get this done now" attitude is a recipe for sub standard work. Plan your work session in such a way that you save your less "focused" time on shop clean-up, ordering parts, etc.
Powered buffer with wire wheel
Restoring a pinball machine is mostly about cleaning and polishing. I've been using this buffer from Grizzly Industries with great success. This is an 8" model G7300 that retails for $70. Unlike a similarly sized grinder, this buffer has plenty of room around the wheels for maneuvering large parts into contact with the wheels. The wire wheel (left side) is terrific at removing corrosion and dirt from metal parts. The buffer wheel does a great job at applying a deep polish to metal. Most higher end (expensive) buffers will turn at about 1750 RPM's. This unit turns at 3450 RPM which can cause overheating of the metal parts when buffing if you are not careful. It also has a tendency to shed the applied jewelers rouge from the buffer wheel more quickly than a slower speed buffer. Despite the higher speed, I've found the performance of this unit to be very acceptable. At approximately 1/2 the price of higher end models, it's money well spent.
Pinball maintenance cart
The Pinball Maintenance Cart came about from my need to make my repair and restoration work on pinball machines more efficient and handy. I wanted a mobile work center that could be wheeled up right next to a pinball machine. It needed to hold my inventory of pinball parts and most of the smaller tools and test instruments used for pinball machine repair. It also needed to provide a small amount of horizontal work space for handling game sub-assemblies. Check out these web pages for detailed instructions on building one for yourself.
Clear paste wax
I'm a proponent of using paste wax to protect your pinball machines playfield and make the game play its best. The most commonly used brand of paste wax by those in the pinball collector community seems to be Johnson's Paste Wax. I suspect this is because Johnson's is widely available in grocery or home centers. It's not because it's necessarily the best quality of paste wax available. I recommend Staples brand Crystal Clear Paste Wax. The chief reason being that Staples is a CLEAR wax. Conversely, Johnson's Paste Wax has a yellow tint added to the mix. Do yourself a favor sometime and spread some Johnson's on a piece of white paper, let it dry, and buff it out as usual. You will immediately notice a yellow cast has been imparted to the paper where the wax was placed. It's no stretch of the imagination to see that this is precisely the same thing that is happening to your precious pinball playfield. One of my other hobbies is furniture woodworking. Paste wax is widely used in a number of fine finish techniques for furniture. You won't find many serious wood workers that are using Johnson's Paste Wax in their projects. It's not even for sale in most wood working or refinishing supply store. The application of Staples Crystal Clear Paste Wax is the same as Johnson's. It covers about the same and seems about the same hardness and buffs out to a similar sheen (just clearer) . The cost for Staples (or similar quality) clear paste wax is more than Johnson's (about 2X), but how many can's of wax do you go through in a year anyway ?. You will have to go to a wood working specialty store or refinishers supply store to find this brand of wax. - OR - Try www.woodcraft.com for mail order.
Rock tumbler/polisher
These devices are great for cleaning and polishing small metal parts. The rock tumbler is the first stop for all the playfield metal pieces and leg bolts after they have been removed from the pinball machine. I use crushed walnut shells or corn cob as the tumbler media. I'll also put a 1/4 cup of Novus #3 in with each charge. I'll typically run the tumbler for 36-48 hours.
Ultrasonic cleaner
Ultrasonic cleaning is a fantastic way to remove dirt and grease from parts. This little cleaner is designed for cleaning eye glasses, but it does a great job on the plastic and metal parts from your pinball machine as well. This is often the 2nd stop for parts after they come out of the rock tumbler. The ultrasonic action will free the tumbler media residue from the parts very easily. This unit was about $100 mail order. You need to order some cleaner concentrate as well.
Bloxygen
Okay, this is definitely an odd one.
Bloxygen is a product used by furniture refinishers to prevent the deteriation of left-over liquid finishing materials (shellaq, urethane, paint, varnish, etc) after the can has been opened and exposed to air. A 2-3 second aerosol blast of Bloxygen will displace the air in the opened finish can with a layer of inert gasses. The layer of inert gasses (nitrogen & argon) prevents the reaction with oxygen of the finish liquid and the formation of a "skin" layer on the surface of the liquid.
So how/why do I use Bloxygen in pinball restoration and repair ?
I've been using the stuff to help preserve my supply of rubber rings. I'll place the rings in a zip lock bag, shoot in the Bloxygen, and then seal the bag to keep out air. I've been experimenting with this for the last several years by conducting a test with several dozen rings that were all purchased from the same source at the same time. One set (the control) is stored in a un-sealed plastic bag. The other set is stored in a zip lock bag with the Bloxygen. Both bags are exposed to normal incandescent light. Conclusive evidence is not yet in, but I have begin to notice that the Bloxygen stored rings seem a bit more "lively" this year. Stay tuned...
Cigarette Smoke
Pinball machines that have lived in smoky bars are often coated with a yellowish, varnish like residue that is really hard to get cleaned off the cabinet. It's got to be removed, or the pinball game will stink like an ashtray and thus won't be allowed in the house. I've tried naphtha, lighter fluid, alcohol, etc to try to clean it away without much success. The best solution I've found so far is Castrol's Super Clean. This stuff is somewhat caustic so you need to be careful using it. Wear protective garments and safety glasses. Spray the Super Clean on a test area first to make sure it won't wreck the whole cabinet finish. Spray small sections of the cabinet at a time. Leave the stuff on for no more than a couple of minutes. Neutralize with water.
Febreze
Years of use in smoky bars can also leave a pinball smelling pretty "funky" to say the least. Febreze is the brand name of a spray on product used in the institutional and janitorial industry as a fabric refresher or deodorizer. I spray Febreze on the inside and outside of the pinball cabinet. I'm not sure if the stuff actually removes the offending odors or if it justs masks them. In any case, it works pretty well.