ATARI pinball mch. How to restore paint

[MBfreak]

Hi guys.
Restoring a 1977 pinball machine. All works now but in places there is paint damage on the playing field.
Any ideas how to repair?. I am klutzy with paint jobs, so please keep it as basic as you can.
The game works OK, have spent a lot of time on corroded lampholders and broken plastic parts in the Bumper Thumpers.

Cool machine.

Best regards

Ola

 

[38 Dodge Coupe]

Most big box paint stores here have paint matching capacity and even will mix small paint samples ( for a reasonable price) which is what you would need for this project. Take a really clear picture of your machine and have them match the the paint to the colors you need. If you are just going to touch up the bad spots you can even use a small artist brush and some painters tape to mask each work area. Good luck. I wish my projects were this fun.

 

[altersaddle]

Some machines have mylar rings around the pop bumpers to reduce the damage caused by the bumper popping the ball. You may want to look into those. My machine has non-adhesive rings around the three bumpers.

It's more important where you have two bumpers facing each other - they can really get going.

I bought some Createx water-borne airbrush paints for use on my machine. It's crazy expensive compared to craft store paint, but goes on with one coat instead of three, and won't fade. You can also clean it off easily - it cures with a heat gun, so if you mess it up, you can wipe it off and try again.

I suggest buying some cheap craft paints and getting some practice on scrap wood to get some skill, then go ahead and fix it up.

 

[ilovevocs]

What's your skill set and what are you willing to spend? What level of finish are you looking for?


Personally and I say that because I know nothing of pinball. If I was looking for a quick fix I would break out some fine line and some one shot. A red, yellow, white and magenta. Depends on how picky you want to be. Big you wanted to be real cheap some model paint.

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

Check some pinball sites. They have vinyl fields for some machines that look great and last. A touch up repaint will look bad and kill the value.

 

[kkroger]

Also you can check on Ebay to see if there is a machine parting out with a decent playfield.

 

[sberry]

Keep the fun in it by sanding and painting some common enamel or 1 shot as someone said. It can always be sanded and refinished of it has insane collector value, other wise there are others that do this too, its likely not that rare, put some color on it.

 

[sberry]

Check some pinball sites. They have vinyl fields for some machines that look great and last. A touch up repaint will look bad and kill the value.

I am interested. What would the value be as is, what with some minor paint and how much would it be worth to restore?

 

[MBfreak]

Iron Iceberg,
Thanks a lot for the tip . Using a " stick on" vinyl field would be great, but I have not been able to find it anywhere. But I am klutzy trawling! Maybe you can help me out?

I am into restoring the microswitches, solenoids and lampholders.
The microswitches are Honeywell, all in perfect condition.
The linear solenoids and the Bumper Thumper plastics were a bit off, but epoxiglue, sleeves in bearings and some new steel pins and all is well.
The circular motion solenoids are works of art. Incredible quality. Just lubricated them very carefully with hoof oil as used by watch makers a long time ago. Never oxidizes, ever.
The lampholders are basketcases, all around 80 of them. Have found decent replacements. Great job to replace. And as usual my head will tick away and calculate how many percent remaining and how long time it will take to complete. Wish I could drop that stupid attitude.
I found a place ,Marco Specialties, that sells cpl rubber ring kits , will get them in abt 2 weeks.
As to the value, could be fun to know. But the game is a feature of a friends garage that houses other goodies ( Pantera with 427 and 550hp and a Porsche Cup real racer). When we get stuck wrenching we drink beer and play ATARI.

Ola

 

[Warrenator]

I used to restore the machines also. Had an F-14 Tomcat, a Williams Flash, a Pacman junior which was a combo video game and pinball, and I think one other.... Gorgar maybe. Long time ago. Anyway, just two points, 1 there is a playfield cleaner/wax for pinball machines that works wonders, 2 carefully check the pinball itself, if it is rusty or has sharp chrome it will damage the paint badly in no time.

As for the paint I think just leave it and call it patina. Anything painted on would be subject to a lot of stress, wouldn't look good.

Great hobby by the way. I learned so much fixing these machines.

 

[Craptain]

I used to be in the vending business fixing and restoring them for a living years ago. The one thing I could never get down was the paint. Most pinball decks are printed rather than painted. This means a much thinner layer of color than you can easily get with paint. Any paint you apply will stand a little high of the surrounding area and will likely flake off or just look wrong. Now I am not saying it cannot be done, just that I never had any success.
If it is just for fun I would leave it, or get the protectors. You have a grip on the rest so just get it back in service and enjoy it.

 

[sberry]

I am still curious as to how much its worth?

 

[altersaddle]

A '70s electronic pinball is worth anywhere from $300 to $2000 (and up) depending on the game.

I'd guess that a perfect paint restoration would up the value by about $50-100. It tends to be less important than what the game actually is. Unless the paint is flaking and causing issues with game play, it doesn't really matter.

Like tool boxes, some owners prefer "original patina and age" over "as original look".

To think of it another way, a reproduction playfield (brand new wood, silkscreened) is about $700 US. If you consider your machine to be worth more than that, you can make it look brand new!

A brand new game, with all the latest electronic gizmos, is around $4000 US.

I have a 1979 Solar Ride. It is probably worth $500 in its current state. I paid a lot less for it, and have spent many enjoyable hours tracking down a ton of electronic glitches.

 

[MBfreak]

The Atari Airborne Avenger 1977 I am fixing up was fairly free from "electronic" problems. A shorted out coil driver, a bunch of electrolytic caps and a NAND gate that had failed was all. Took less than $10 to repair.
The around 90 lampholders is the real problem, they are all corroded beyond repair and I am in the process of replacing all. Tedious.

Then I will start cleaning the play field carefully and try to touch up the paint. All rubber rings will be replaced at the same time.

Ola

 

[Iron-Iceberg]

http://homepinballrepair.com/pinballrestore.html
Or how to paint if you have plenty of time on your hands.
http://papa.org/learning-center/collector-resources/playfield-restoration/

 

[MBfreak]

Iron Iceberg.
Thanks a lot for the files.
The people there are fantastic craftsmen and really skilled paint restorers. Way above my skills.
I build soidbody electric guitars from scratch as a hobby, and do all the work at home with mostly handtools. But the painting I farm out to a friendly auto painter who still knows how to use nitrocellulose.

The replacement playfield seems to me the realistic way forward for me. I will proceed to try to locate one. The disassembly required and subsequent assembly is well within my capability.

Again , thanks a lot.

Ola

Ola