Gold Record playfield restoration

shirkle

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I have another post about a 1975 Chicago Coin pinball machine called "Gold Record". I bought it for $95 and began restoring the playfield. I probably put about $40 into the playfield with paints, clearcoat, sandpaper, new inserts, and new bumper caps.

I'm just finishing up the clearcoat and polishing, so the "after" pictures will be posted soon. My restoration is not perfect. Someone tried to redo the insert circles with magic marker, and it bled through my clearcoat/paint a little. They also had a couple terrible touchups in the blue spaces. I didn't think it would until I had actually sprayed the clear. There were so many colors and straight lines to do that it was really difficult. Also, the wood was literally chipped away in several places around inserts. Inserts were actually falling out on their own when I was moving the cabinet around.

Anyway, here are some before pictures.

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I did a total resto, and I swore to myself I would never do it again. Seeing your pics and knowing finished products are coming though...it gets the desire stirring....

....I hate you. :D

can't wait to see more pics.
 
BTW, what kind of clearcoat are you using? I did the spray can Polycrylic clear. It came out nice, but took FOREVER to cure. If I did for some reason do this again, I would do the automotive clears I have heard so much about.
 
I'm also using spray Polycrylic gloss. It dries enough to sand it within several hours, but you're right about curing. It will be a week or two before I put the parts back on.

I'd love to have it done with automotive clears, but I don't have the means to do it. I live in a townhouse with no garage, so space is an issue and with how toxic those clears are, it's just not possible.

This job took about 5 good coats of clear and plenty of sanding. I'm still sanding, so finished pictures may be up later today. The parts where the wood was chipped away (not just visible, literally chipped away by the inserts) took tons of paint and clear to get it level. It's still not 100% level, but I wasn't really shooting for perfection on this restoration. I was looking to get it to play well and prevent further wear.

I restored a Black Hole a few years ago and cleared it with spray can Varathane. It's super smooth and glossy. Plays great. It was worn to the wood all around all three bumpers. Check these out while waiting for the new ones :)

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That Funhouse is more work than I ever want to take on. Yikes.

Here's one quick shot of the Gold Record as it is right now. The only part I'm upset with is the center insert in the white area. That's where a previous owner used magic marker to trace some letters and the circle. I covered it with paint, but when I clear coated it thee marker bled through and looks kind of crappy.

The flash on the camera makes some of the colors look unmatched, but they are dead on in person.
More and better pictures soon, I hope.

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That Funhouse is more work than I ever want to take on. Yikes.

Here's one quick shot of the Gold Record as it is right now. The only part I'm upset with is the center insert in the white area. That's where a previous owner used magic marker to trace some letters and the circle. I covered it with paint, but when I clear coated it thee marker bled through and looks kind of crappy.

The flash on the camera makes some of the colors look unmatched, but they are dead on in person.
More and better pictures soon, I hope.

DSCN8249.jpg

Good thing I got the Funhouse playfield for free :)

Shirkle, your playfield looks AWESOME! Excellent job.

Here is a good question. On a lot of these older pins you can see where the flippers were in the bare wood areas. Has anyone tried sanding that down and re-staining it?
 
links and info to pf resto jobs? im picking up a spare mars gow, cuz i need parts and back glass for mine, and im gonna have a spare pf i wanna try some resto work on!
i dont understand how u do it really? brush and stencil paint b4 clearing? i dunno? expl plz? appreciate it!
 
links and info to pf resto jobs? im picking up a spare mars gow, cuz i need parts and back glass for mine, and im gonna have a spare pf i wanna try some resto work on!
i dont understand how u do it really? brush and stencil paint b4 clearing? i dunno? expl plz? appreciate it!

Patience, young grasshopper. Knowledge only comes to those who...bust their ass reading and practicing. ;)

http://www.pinrepair.com/
 
I may hit you up for some color codes because I have a Williams OXO that I want to restore and several of those colors are the same as what I have on my playfield.
 
Answers to a few questions...

I actually sanded the flipper area quite a bit and put some natural color stain there. It took care of some of the unevenness, but after a while, I figured it's just getting covered with flippers again anyway, especially closer to the hole. I also evened out the line up on the top a little, but it's like I just feathered it out instead of really getting rid of it. Both are still really noticeable, but much improved.

As far as paint codes....I have none. We mixed these colors by hand.

I think the best part of this restoration was just that I had fun doing it and it made getting the machine worthwhile. I will probably restore the cabinet too, but not until next week or later.

The toughest part of the restoration was redoing the yellow/black circles around the bumper areas. There were mylar circles around each bumper, and when I removed those it took the majority of the paint and some wood with it. So, those areas are probably 80% completely repainted. Circles are not easy.
 
Answers to a few questions...

I actually sanded the flipper area quite a bit and put some natural color stain there. It took care of some of the unevenness, but after a while, I figured it's just getting covered with flippers again anyway, especially closer to the hole. I also evened out the line up on the top a little, but it's like I just feathered it out instead of really getting rid of it. Both are still really noticeable, but much improved.

As far as paint codes....I have none. We mixed these colors by hand.

I think the best part of this restoration was just that I had fun doing it and it made getting the machine worthwhile. I will probably restore the cabinet too, but not until next week or later.

The toughest part of the restoration was redoing the yellow/black circles around the bumper areas. There were mylar circles around each bumper, and when I removed those it took the majority of the paint and some wood with it. So, those areas are probably 80% completely repainted. Circles are not easy.

Did you put mylar circles back or leave just the paint I have a em I just picked up and the rings are off and they left the paint behind thank god after I clear it should I reinstall the rings. Also what brand of paint did you use for the touch up? Thanks
 
We just used cheap craft acrylics for the paints. Since it gets clearcoated, it makes no difference. They are readily available and only cost $1. The biggest advantage to those cheapies is that they come in a wide variety of colors, which means minimal mixing to get the colors you need. There were a couple colors (orange and yellow) that were were able to use right out of the container with no mixing at all.

I decided to put the mylar circles back on. I don't really have a god reason for this except the added protection and the fact that they were originally there. I have a hard time putting on mylar...it goes on well but has tiny little pockets, not even air bubbles, just tiny parts where you can tell it didn't quite adhere all the way. Of course, that's what I see as I hover over it and look for imperfections. From a where you stand when playing, you'd never notice.
 
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