Salvaging / Restoring an original backglass….any ideas?

billund

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Salvaging / Restoring an original backglass….any ideas?

Greetings All,

I am in the process of restoring a Mr. & Mrs. Pac-Man pinball. My first pinball restoration. It is in rough shape, but I am confident I can bring it back to its former glory.

I am wondering if there is anything I can do to salvage the original backglass. Here is what I am dealing with:

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The biggest issue is the brown "Hershey Chocolate Syrup" streaks on the big white dot.

I was fortunate enough to buy a Translite from TheMonarch4 but I am wondering if the original is salvageable in any way.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
If that's not a translite as well, I'm wondering how it would've gotten that kind of damage in the first place...

Frankly, I'd probably just ignore it if it's an actual screened backglass and the brown crud isn't on the front of the glass....the rest of it looks nice enough.
 
First, do NOT wipe down the back of that backglass. There's a possibility that any moisture on it will cause the silk screening to delaminate. You're better off simply stabilizing the backglass and keeping future damage from happening. The most widely-recognized way of doing this is by using Krylon Triple Thick.

For more details see this tutorial: http://pinballhelp.com/protecting_and_sealing_backglasses/

EDIT: It is possible you could try to get some of that black crud off, but I would not even try personally if it's on the silk screened underside. I've seen some backglasses completely fall apart after they were wiped down with a liquid. The best thing to do is cover it with several light coats of Triple Thick and this should protect it from future damage.
 
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Hey quses,

Thanks for the post. Any idea how to get the bottom metal channel off?

Thanks so much.
 
the only thing you could do, and i dont reccmend this unless you are really good with painting, is to make a table with bright lights underneath. Set the backglass face down on this table. You could then LIGHTLY and CAREFULLY scrape away at the white paint area, and repaint it. Id make the white part a little bigger and after scraping and cleaning that section of glass with qtips or something, i would lay down a nice thin black pinstripe, let dry, then repaint the white part. Id reccomend brush painting all of that. Once done, i would clearcoat the hell out of it to prevent the art from peeling more in the future. Id live with the other more minor defects. I have two backglasses that need some tlc myself but ive been putting it off because im scared i will ruin it/make it worse.

I wouldnt even try to remove that metal channel unless you really really have to. Youll need to have somebody hold the glass by the sides while you whack it with a wood block and a hammer. If you hold it b the art you risk peeling that off during the process.

EDIT: i see you got a translite. Well, nows your chance to practice saving a backglass i guess. WOrst case it sucks, strip or replace the glass and install translite. tada.
 
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