Restoring arcade and pinball games

The CV is definately the top-end of the vibrating polishers. Both the Berry and the Dillion Precision CV models have a large capacity bowl, big enough to polish an entire ball plunger assembly. The Dillion CV will polish multiple shooter rods at one time and just about any odd sized or large pinball part you have! Which is Better, Rotating or Vibrating? Frankly, I am not sure it matters! Most tumblers today are the vibrating design, but this is probably because there are less moving parts needed for a vibrating tumbler, so it can be manufactured for less.

The vibrating style is more aggressive than the tumbling style. But vibrating models make more noise too. Really the best tumbler is the one that can be bought cheapest and easiest, and that is big enough to fit the parts that need tumbling.

Metal Tumbling Polishing Media. The local hobby shop where I bought my tumbler only had material to polish rocks.

Go to a gun shop to buy the metal polishing media gun owners use a rock tumbler to polish brass cartridge casings. There are two types of media: "corn cob" and "crushed walnut shells". Pet shops sell walnut shell media too. It is used for lining bird cages, and it is generally inexpensive at a "Pet Mart" type store. Corn cob media is just that; ground up corn cobs, and some polishing compound added to it. Walnut shells are the same, ground up walnut shells.

Walnut shell media is a bit harder than corn cob, and will tumble badly corroded metals better. It is also less messy and tumbles a bit better than corn cob. For this reason I have stopped using corn cob media, and have switched to walnut shells.

Corn cob media does put a better "final finish" on metal parts though. I hear there is also ceramic polishing media, but it is very expensive. The advantage to the ceramic media is there's no pieces of corn cob or walnut shells to pick out of screw slots.

Also the ceramic media should last forever. Walnut shells and corn cobb do have a limited life - I change the media when it turns a dark color.

Often walnut shell media does not have any polish added to it unlike corn cob media. To polish better, just put a squirt of Novus3 in the walnut shells. This works really well. Just squirt some in the bowl before turning it on. There are also commercial products that do the same thing like "Flitz".

Personally I just use Novus3 as I already have the Novus. Tumble Dry. This is unlike tumbling rocks, which you tumble "wet". Just fill the quart sized rubber tumbler jar up to half way full of metal parts. Then put in the walnut shell media so it fills the jar just over half full.

Add a squirt of Novus3 too. How long do you Tumble? Most metal parts just tumble overnight or even 24 hours.

If something is really corroded or gross, the longest I've ever tumbled was three days. Run the tumbler constantly in this time. Just turn it on, and walk away.

If using a decent tumbler, it will run fairly quiet. The cheap ones make tons of noise. Tumblers are designed for this constant use. For example, when tumbling rocks, they run constantly for weeks at a time.

The only downside to Tumbling. Tumbling parts is great; I just strip a pinball playfield of all metal parts posts, screws, etc , and dump them in the tumbler, turn it on, and walk away.

After a day or so, all the parts are new and shiney. The only problem is the slots in the heads of the screws. The media will get caught in these slots that the screw drivers goes in to , and must be cleaned out before using them.

It takes a couple of minutes to clean out all the screw heads with a metal dental pick or screw driver. But that is the only downside to tumbling metal parts. It is so much easier and safer than using a buffing wheel. The Cabinet: Replacing the Bottom Panel If a game was stored in a web environment, often the bottom plywood panel in the game has warped, rotted, delaminated, and is in bad condition. If there is water damage, often this panel can just plain smell bad too.

Since this is the bottom of the cabinet, this panel is not really seen, and doesn't have any artwork on it. It's an easy thing to replace. Here are the steps in replacing the bottom panel on a 's Gottlieb "wedgehead" game. Remove the coin door, coin entrance panel, and the shooter. Basically you need to remove all the hardware from the front panel of the game. Remove the playfield and the bottom panel with all the relays attached from the cabinet. If the game is set up, remove the head from the game, and remove the legs.

Lay the cabinet on the ground, with the bottom panel "down". Using a hammer, from the inside of the game, knock the back panel out of the game. It should come right out with just a few mild blows. Using a radial hand saw, cut the bottom panel down the middle. Left: With the back panel removed, use a radial hand saw to cut the bottom panel right down the middle. Do not cut too deep or you will cut the lower cross struts in the cabinet. Notice how the bottom panel has delaminated, and the water damage at the back panel.

Right: After the bottom panel is cut and removed. Note there are two staples through the bottom panel on the cross strut by the coin box. After the bottom panel is cut, it can easily be lifted from the center and removed. Get a piece of "Lauan" from the local Home Depot store. Lauan is a type of inexpensive plywood with smooth sanded bottom and top.

Home Depot cut the Lauan for me at no charge. Prepare the cabinet for gluing. Sand the coin box area cross strut and the triangle supports to remove any old glue. Clean the dirt out of any of the bottom panel channels. Test fit the new Lauan bottom panel.

Putting glue in the front and side chanels, and siding the new Lauan bottom panel in place. Using yellow carpenter's glue, put glue on the coin box cross strut and all the triangle supports.

Also put glue in the front and side bottom panel channels. Slide the new Lauan panel into place. Clamp the cabinet from the sides, if possible. Using weights and clamps to set the new bottom panel while the glue dries. This is done after the back panel has been re-installed.

Put two short dry wall screws through the bottom panel and into the coin box cross strut. I also added a short dry wall screw to the two rear-most triangle supports, and two screws into the center cross support. Now immediately set the cabinet up vertically on the front coin door panel. Clean back panel channels and put glue in the channels. Replace the back panel. It may require a hammer to gently get it in place. Set the cabinet back down, with the bottom panel up, and let the glue dry.

If you are lucky, the paint will be latex. Latex paint is very easy to remove using "Goof Off" available at hardware stores. Lay the cabinet on its side, and soak an area with Goof Off.

Let the Goof Off sit for a minute or two, then try and scrap the Latex paint off with a plastic paint scraper. Often you will be rewarded with the original finish beneath the Latex paint job. Several more coats of Goof Off and a rag will be required to get all the Latex paint off. Note Goof Off is also available in a 'generic' form called Xylene.

This is available at any hardware, and is much less expensive than Goof Off. But Xylene does not work as well as Goof Off. There are some additional ingredients in Goof Off Methanol and Ethanol that make Goof Off much more affective at removing old paint than straight Xylene. This Flipper Parade cabinet was painted in a sick green Latex paint.

I got it all off except for the front panel around the coin door, which was painted with an Enamel. To repaint the front area, Kyrlon Antique White was used to match the original yellowed cabinet paint on the sides.

The wire brush hanging from the ball loader was used to apply the splatter paint. Flipper Parade has no stencil designs on the front, luckily.

This has happened to me several times. I buy a game that has a repainted cabinet and get it for a good price because, well, it's repainted! This has saved me from having to completely strip and repaint the cabinet. Original cabinet paint is a must for any "keeper" game for me, regardless of its condition.

If the cabinet was not repainted with Latex paint, the Goof Off won't have any effect on Enamel or Lacquer paints. Sometimes using a heat gun and a paint scraper can get these finishes off the cabinet.

But often the paint is just stuck too well to the cabinet, and won't come off without destroying the original finish beneath it, if it's even there. I've also had some luck using "whimpy" paint strippers. The more organic and water-safe paint stripper will sometimes take off a top coat of consumer applied paint, and leave the original factory finish largely untouched underneath. It doesn't always works, but often it does enough where you can at least see the original paint designs, and make tracings of them for a re-paint.

The Cabinet: Repainting a Cabinet. Last Resort. Repainting a cabinet is an ugly, big job. But if someone already stripped all the original paint off the cabinet, there isn't much choice.

If there is any way to save the original finish, I always try. To me, a scratched, original cabinet is better than a mint, perfectly refinished one.

Because original is original - once originality is gone, the time capsule of history is gone and there's no going back a repainted cabinet can always be repainted again. A common thing to see is a partial repaint. Often, the front of the cabinet where the coin door is mounted is the only part repainted. This is good and bad news; many Gottlieb games don't have any stencil designs here, so repainting this area alone is pretty easy. What is the "Webbing" or "Splatter" on Cabinets all about?

Press Play and contact us today. Arcades are on the Rise. Since adding games to our establishment customers stay longer and have a great time! Big John. Contact Us. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. Call to request service today.

We do all of the same work that we do for our service and repair clients to get your machine functioning at percent, and then we begin the cosmetic improvements. Call us at or request service online. Call Now. Contact Us. Our restoration and cosmetic improvements include the following and more: Strip the playfield of plastic and then clean, wax, and polish it until it is as smooth as possible.

Fix the legacy marks swirls in the wood of older machines and the Mylar sheets in newer machines that have become hazy.