Lethal Weapon 3 semi-restoration

[shardian]

I started tinkering with cleaning the playfield just now. The playfield is not mylared, but it has a mylar style haze to it in the main traffice areas. Whatever the finish is, it is pretty damn durable. Anyways, I've been experimenting with Novus and polishing compound, and I just can't get it to shine up to the level I want without a backbreaking amount of scrubbing. Even then it still doesn't pop and shine.I even use a polishing wheel in my drill for the polish compount - it did better than the novus and rag. I'm pondering whether I should order a Treasure cove kit, or just settle for 'clean but still hazy' look.

 

[metahugh]

The TC kit is awesome. I have found that the only way I can remove haze from a playfield like you describe is to take some rubbing compound and a machine buffer and buff the surface and then wax it. Novus does good cleaning up playfields but it doesn't shine up worn playfields that well.

The TC kit does about the same but in a more manageable size. I only use my rotary buffer when I have taken a playfield completely out of the game.

 

[shardian]

Eh, I went ahead and ordered the treasure cove kit. If it really does only take 15 minutes like everyone says, then it will pay for itself on the first use. I talked to Allen at treasure cove and he said it should be here on Monday.

 

[shardian]

I'm not stripping this down 100%, so my big buffer is out of the question. I did experiment with rubbing compound on a rag. It did get a bit of the more ground in stuff out in the heavy traffic paths (ball launch path). Using rubbing compound and then Novus or polish = I'll be at this a LONG time still without the results I want.

You know what they say - time is money.

 

[metahugh]

I'm not stripping this down 100%, so my big buffer is out of the question. I did experiment with rubbing compound on a rag. It did get a bit of the more ground in stuff out in the heavy traffic paths (ball launch path). Using rubbing compound and then Novus or polish = I'll be at this a LONG time still without the results I want.

You know what they say - time is money.

Yup, part of the reason rubbing compounds get it so clean is because of the heat generated, so doing it by hand won't get the same result.

You will like the TC kit... be sure to mask things off though, it will fling the compound everywhere

 

[WadeLanham]

I'm not stripping this down 100%, so my big buffer is out of the question. I did experiment with rubbing compound on a rag. It did get a bit of the more ground in stuff out in the heavy traffic paths (ball launch path). Using rubbing compound and then Novus or polish = I'll be at this a LONG time still without the results I want.

You know what they say - time is money.

You've never said that before, and you have more time now than ever!! Funny!

I'm really surprised you bought the TC kit, especially since other vendors sell the same basic kit for much less $$. I'm also surprised you bothered with a polishing kit at all... I mean, you're selling the game at an already agreed price - I could understand if it were your favorite game and a keeper!! It can be hard to stop though once you start cleaning/polishing things... the guy who bought my Whitewater got that shop job for free...

BTW, if you decide to go to town on the Who Dunnit, I wouldn't recommend trying to remove the mylar... I suspect it will take the insert paint with it. I wouldn't risk it.

Wade

 

[shardian]

Yes I've agreed on a price - a very high end price that requires I do a good job. If I agreed on a run of the mill price, I would have just wiped down the machine without taking anything off!

The cabinet restoration is much more fun than the playfield shop I have to say. Not very fun at all standing on my feet the whole time!

 

[Angry_Radish]

I built a rotisserie like Edward Cheung's, you can sit down AND get at all the parts on the PF for around $20-$30 in parts, totally worth it!

Yes I've agreed on a price - a very high end price that requires I do a good job. If I agreed on a run of the mill price, I would have just wiped down the machine without taking anything off!

The cabinet restoration is much more fun than the playfield shop I have to say. Not very fun at all standing on my feet the whole time!

 

[shardian]

The problem with a rotisserie is that you have an extra large chunk of work removing the playfield from the cabinet. I'd REALLY rather not do that.

 

[metahugh]

The problem with a rotisserie is that you have an extra large chunk of work removing the playfield from the cabinet. I'd REALLY rather not do that.

Save that for a game that you really care for

 

[shardian]

Got the treasure cove kit in today, so I prepped the table for polishing in the morning.

Believe it or not, Treasure Cove uses Bleache White to clean their playfields. I LOVE Bleache White, so of course I cracked it out. I cleaned the playfield thoroughly, then masked it off. Included are pics of final prep, my parts staging area, and a sample pic of the dirty state of the playfield.

As for the staging area, the box idea did work well. It wasn't quite big enough, so I did the last few chunks of posts in the back via labeled baggie method. I also decided not to remove everything...mainly because it wasn't necessary. There were a few through bolt posts I did remove that I wish I wouldn't have. It was just more work I didn't need to do. Lesson learned I suppose.

The weather has been sucky lately, which is why I switched to playfield work. The weather is supposed to get really good starting Wednesday, so I will be done with the PF and back on cabinet duty by Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[ixtlann]

not sure how much you got to play this machine, but it is a reeeealy good one.

thanks for the info picked up some cleaning methods i need to try on this other machine i got with ground in ball swirls like crazeeee

 

[Deadly]

That is one dirty SOAB! I would love to see how this Treasure Cove cleaning kit works for you. Like yourself I have a table that has some fairly deep ground in dirt and would like to clean it up.
Your picture shows the blue pop bumper and under it a white area .... that will be a spot I'd like to see after you "go to town" on it

 

[shardian]

I just finished up the playfield polish. As for the treasure cove kit - it is EVERYTHING the reviewers say it is. It took some getting used to at first with the high speed drill, but I was really cracking about halfway through. Took about 1.5 hours from cracking the box to removing the mask, wipe down polishing, and total finished product. I'll take some pictures later. It has a great shine to it now. I'm sure I could have done an extra pass of each for an even better finish, but I just went one pass with each compound.

 

[shardian]

Here are some pictures of the playfield after polishing. Like I said, I could get it even more shined up if I wanted to, but this was good enough.

 

[Deadly]

Wow dude bravo. Pic #3 shows just how glassy she looks and that white area looks very clean indeed.

 

[Angry_Radish]

That looks great!

 

[brypten]

Pretty big difference from dirty to polished jpg pics. You seem pretty impressed with this treasure cove, is it that much better then magic eraser and alcohol?

Just asking because I use the magic eraser. Is the difference in the finish shine?

As a side note, to anyone looking for the definition of a shopped game, this thread should do it.

 

[shardian]

Pretty big difference from dirty to polished jpg pics. You seem pretty impressed with this treasure cove, is it that much better then magic eraser and alcohol?

Just asking because I use the magic eraser. Is the difference in the finish shine?

As a side note, to anyone looking for the definition of a shopped game, this thread should do it.

Tell you what, you do a pass with your magic eraser, two passes with Novus, and a pass of wax. How long does that take?

I went over the entire playfield 100% three times. Each of those passes is actually several passes in one. All of that including vacumming and wiping in between passes and a final rub down with a clean rag to remove the #1 residue in about an hour. Next time will be even faster because I have experience.

I've done the Novus+rag thing. This blows it out of the water in overall finish, and the time investment is about 5-10% of what I would have invested for comparable Novus/rag results.

Oh, and it did make the mylar circles look very good. I didn't invest too much time into them either.

 

[WadeLanham]

That's looking really nice!! I wish I'd get a chance to play it before it hits the road, but I doubt that's gonna happen. :/

Wade