Prologue: First Things First

And for my final restoration thread, I'll be crapping all over the EM side of the forum while I struggle to restore a Jacks Open back to its better-than-original glory. I'm calling this thread a Wiki because since this is my first EM restoration I'll have questions that many noobs would have and they can use this thread as a reference. (And a lot of my questions will be REALLY stupid...just check out the second post in this thread for proof.) I'm asking anybody and everybody with knowledge about EMs to chime in and contribute. That's the only way I'll learn!

But first things first: My apologies to purists. A while back, I asked about doing a full restoration on EMs vs. doing touchups and trying to keep original paint. There were valid and passionate arguments for each side, but with this game, I fear I have to do a full restoration on everything, which you'll understand when you see the condition of the cabinet. There's a hole in the side with a dowel jammed in there that has to be knocked out and filled with fiberglass, tons of deep scratches everywhere, and a corner of the backbox that's mangled.

I'll be asking A LOT of questions along the way so as to avoid unnecessary f**k ups, and again it's my fervent hope that others that come after me get a lot of questions answered in their first restoration and get turned on to EMs the way I've been. Many thanks to Nico Volta, Boilerman, and Steve at PBR for their offers of advice, support and help. I'll need it!

Here are pictures of the game as it stands now, and the first stupid questions will follow shortly:

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Here are some playfield shots:

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...and now for some stupid questions before I rip this thing apart:

1. There are a lot of labels stapled in various places around this game. Is there anybody who makes reproductions of these like they do for DMD machines? Or do I have to try to restore the original paper and restaple it back where it was?

2. Are there any other parts of the machine that are absolutely not replaceable that I have to be extremely careful in handling?

The tear-down will commence in about 10 days and the cabinet should move pretty quickly from that point.

I'm about to learn a whole lot about how this s**t is put together...and I'm keeping a fire extinguisher nearby at all times.

(I know...no steel wool and no wet contact cleaner when you turn it on. Any other cautions or fire hazards?)

Yes...in a self-deprecating way. At least I know when I'm a moron.

I might be in the wrong place, then...but I do self-censor, at least. And thanks for the well wishes!

My last thread about a restoration, not my last restoration. I'll need the help of the EM community to get through this one and learn about all the moving parts, but posting restoration threads does kind of take the fun out of doing them. There's too much pressure for updates and I'm a really busy guy - I'd rather just do them on my own schedule and for enjoyment.

Stalker.

I'll have to look...not sure it's glued. The problem is (as you can see in the picture with the chimes...it's right above them), the dowel is sticking out into the inside of the cabinet about a 1/2-3/4". I'll have to either hacksaw it off or knock it out, cut it to size, and glue it back in.

I have U-Pol Fibral Lite fiberglass filler. I was going to drill small holes around the inside of that circle for the paste to grip, then fill it up and flatten it out. Not a good idea?

Same principal when I fix the crapped up corner of the backbox, which is what I've done on past restorations.

Nah...I respect others' right to have a relatively clean thread. I'll try to keep it clean in here, although I AM a foul-mouthed little pecker.

Oops! There I go again...

Besides, I really WILL need the help of the EM community on this one, so I'm not out to piss anybody off.

I don't really understand it, though: O-din is one of the biggest personalities here on the EM side...and also one of the most offensive. (But hilarious!)

The vernacular. That's in the testicles, isn't it?

You know...eventually this restoration thread will get off the ground. I just have to get back from vacation first!

Chapter One: The Tear-Down

Okay, so the tear-down is never the most interesting part of any restoration thread, but you've gotta do it in order to get to the interesting stuff. This took me a leisurely 3 hours (much shorter than doing a DMD game!), and here's what I love about working with EMs already: just take out a couple of screws, and the guts just lift out of the back box and cabinet. (After detaching a few other things first.) Here's what I hate about EMs: slotted screws. When you're not used to using them, your hand keeps slipping out of the slot and makes you feel like a complete moron. And I don't need any help with that.

I also spent a few hours yesterday driving up to Pinball Resource in Poughkeepsie to get a bunch of parts from Steve Young and pick his brain on a few things. Great guy, and I'm grateful for the time he gave me.

And now to the good stuff. Short, boring, but let's get it over with.

All screws and hardware were bagged and tagged. Labels were removed carefully with a industrial staple remover so that they can be reattached or reproduced faithfully. (I haven't decided which, yet!)

Here's the cabinet before being gutted:

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Here's the worst mushrooming I've ever seen on a shooter rod:

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I'll have to regrain and de-scuzz the lockdown bar and lockdown receiver, but I decided to replace the yucky side rails. So I didn't have to be too careful about removing them, but I found that with a chisel or staple remover to lift the nail up slightly, it was easy to use a pair of Vampliers to twist the nail out once you could get some purchase on them. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Vampliers are worth every penny and essential at some point in every restoration.

Here's the stripped cabinet, ready for sanding:

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One more thing before I sign off on this step - I noticed one area that I needed to measure because it doesn't fall under the auspices of stenciling for this game. If you're going to restore a JO, you have to make sure you know the measurement on this painted section beneath the back box. And if you forget, I just did it for you!:

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Hey...it just occurred to me...maybe I should just call this thread "A JO Restores a JO." Fitting, no?

Before my next update, a word about cabinet color. This was asked about in another thread, and I'll copy this info over there. I sprayed some Rustoleum 2x Heirloom White (satin) on a bare piece of wood and let it dry. I then held it up against various spots that had been protected by large parts for nearly 40 years, so there was no fading or discoloration. I took pictures in sunlight and in shade. I think you can see that the match is nearly spot on, so that's the color I'm going with.

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And now for a question for the EM masses:

My research has found that Krylon Banner Red is the preferred red color for a Jacks Open cabinet. But that color only seems to come in gloss. I'm spaying the cabinet in satin, and I originally wanted to do all the colors in satin. Is this wrong? Now I'm thinking that doing gloss stencils over the top of a satin base will actually make it look almost like it's decaled, which could be pretty cool.

What's are people's thoughts on this? Is there another red I should use instead, and should I stick with satin or go with gloss?

Thanks in advance...

I didn't know you lived up that way. Everything in New York is just ... New York. I'm jealous that you live so close to PBR...you should probably get into EMs more.

I never had any interest in EMs until recently. My first machine was WOZ, and I've been working my way backward through pinball history. I'm up to 1977 now, and I don't see any stopping in my retrogression.

Here's the great thing about EMs: The newer faster games are great until you've had a few too many drinks (which I don't do, but my wife has to be married to me, so she likes to drink). Then, the slower pace is perfect! It's also great not to have a ruleset that reads like a novel.

Any recommendation on brand for satin clear coat? Just go with Rustoleum?

EM owners are a product of their time. (i.e.: they're oooooold... )

PS - I'm 51, so I could go any day myself.

Chapter Two: The Cabinet
Part One: Cabinet repair and paint base coat

Doing at least one restoration a year (two this year), I spent the money on a Festool, which made stripping the cabinet a breeze (I also took note of the serial number before starting: 08144). I used 80 grit paper to do this:

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Once the cabinet was stripped, it was time to start repairing stuff. I glued all delaminated plywood and even had to replace one strip of wood on the underside which was beat to hell:

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To rebuild corners, I used U-Pol Fibral. I drilled small holes so that the Fibral could "grip" the wood better. There were notches cut out of the corner pieces at the front of the cabinet; these were rebuilt with fiberglass as well, then smoothed over with U-Pol Fantastic (which I like better than Bondo). Every nick and dent was Bondo'ed flat, both inside and outside the cabinet.

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Everything got sanded smooth, first with 120 grit paper, then 220 grit paper (again, the Festool is a monster in helping you do this quickly!). Once it was smooth like buttah, I sealed the entire cabinet with Zinsser Seal Coat, then sanded smooth again with 220 grit paper. (Thanks, Nico Volta!!! )

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Finally, it was ready for painting. I used Rustoleum 2x Heirloom White (which looks plenty white in the last picture, regardless of people's concerns over it being too almond - it all depends on the lighting!). I used at least 3 coats, and went through 5 cans of paint.

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Next up: I fire up the HVLP sprayer to paint the black spatter, and get ready for some stenciling (after at least 5 days of curing!).

I learned my "Soup Nazi" lesson during my phone call to him. I told him I would pick up the parts so I could meet him in person so he could put a face to the name. I think that's important in doing business with people and with this hobby. So I went into the one parts room, and looked through the door into the other parts room. Just a bunch of shelves with brown boxes full of parts.

Sorry you had to stand in the parking lot.

Well...that's a problem. I used Rustoleum for the white, but am using Krylon for the stencil colors.

Crap.

Good point, and thanks for bringing it up. The Festool is hooked up to a HEPA vacuum, but for further safety, I do wear a sanding mask. (And a respirator when painting.)

I also want to thank everybody who has given input in this thread so far. It's already one of the most informative threads I've done, and we haven't even gotten started yet! And that's the best part of Pinside, IMO...

Haven't done it yet. I'll let you know when I do it.

Okay...you must not realize you're talking to a total anal retentive when we're talking about pinball. So after reading this, I went back and re-Bondo'ed again, then resanded and repainted.

Thanks a lot.

I hope to do the spatter in tomorrow's heat wave.

Chapter Two: The Cabinet
Part Two: Splatter Time!

Finished the black splatter, and I'm really happy with the way it came out. As promised, here are all the details of how I did it:

I used Rustoleum Satin Black paint (see the picture below) in an HVLP sprayer without thinning it at all. It's oil-based, by the way, not the latex stuff.

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I turned the compressor up to between 20 and 25 (I didn't really care where in that range it was since I knew I would be controlling the air flow at the nozzle, which was much less than that). I used a 1.4mm tip and opened the paint flow knob almost all the way, then turned the air flow knob down almost all the way.

Now, here's the tricky part: You really need to experiment with this before shooting the stuff on your cabinet. I had tons of cardboard lying around to practice on, and I only had to adjust the air flow to get it where it wasn't atomizing, but splattering...and not too much and not dripping! Here are two important things to remember:

1. If you're shooting with the paint gun pointing down (if you're standing above the cabinet), the paint will come out differently than if you're shooting it perpendicular to the surface you're painting. Be sure to test-paint your cardboard (or whatever) using the same angle you'll be shooting the real thing at.

2. Since you have to flash the paint for 10 minutes or so before moving the cabinet and painting another surface, you have to test the gun every single time before you begin painting again. Why? I'm guessing the paint begins to clog in the nozzle a bit, so I found that each time I was going to start painting again, I had to open the air flow a tiny bit more to achieve the same spatter effect I had 10 or 15 minutes (or less) earlier. ALWAYS test before shooting - better to screw up the cardboard than the cabinet.

The preparation and caution in doing it properly takes some time. The spraying, of course, takes seconds (and the cleanup sucks). WAY better than the toothbrush or splatter brush method, and far less messy.

And there you have it - here are the pics, and now I get to wait a week before stenciling.

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In preparation for doing the stenciling, I did a bit of research and learned that Krylon Banner Red is the preferred red-of-choice for a Jacks Open. Unfortunately, I did the white and splatter using Rustoleum, and there are a bunch of web pages crying the blues about the bad things that can happen when you mix them. So I figured I'd experiment first.

I sprayed a wood piece with the Rustoleum Heirloom White first. Then put Rustoleum Satin Black on the right side, Krylon Banner Red in the middle, then Krylon Black on the left. The Krylons will be used for stenciling, and the satin black was used to paint around the top part of the cabinet where the back box sits.

Then I clearcoated everything on the wood piece with Krylon satin clear (which I plan to do after stenciling). The good news is that everything "took" nicely with no bubbling, cracking, etc. The bad news is that the Banner Red looks way brighter (even pinker!) than the nice red on the cap. Now, I understand that there was a bunch of dirt, etc. on the original which would make it look darker (even the white looks almost brown on the original), but I wanted to know everybody's thoughts on this red or should I go with a Rustoleum Heritage Red which is a little darker?

I've attached pictures in shade, in the sun, and a swatch of the original red.

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That's a good idea, but I won't have that option when stenciling. You have to remove the stencils within 10 minutes of spraying, so there's no chance of a second coat.

I'll look into the Montana colors, although I don't think I can get them around by me. I might have to look into Rustoleum or just go with the Krylon.

Rustoleum sunrise red is it. Deeper red and not as pink.

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I even PM'ed you since I bought the machine from you.

Glad you found it!

Pretty darned close. The problem is that all the red and white was discolored from age and dirt...even a thorough scrubbing didn't get rid of the color change. So while it's slightly lighter than the original color...even under the legs...it's a darker red than that banner red stuff. With the black, it looks great, and like the original.

Just popping in with a brief update. It's been like swimming in a vat of hot urine here in Jersey lately ("How's that different from any other day?" I hear you saying...), so it's been way too humid to paint. It's just backing off today, so I can resume stenciling.

The nice thing about this machine is that Pinball Pimp created the stencils from this very machine, so this is like Son of Jacks Open. Or something. Anyway, the red is almost done. Here's where it stands...and I think the Rustoleum sunrise red looks perfect. Let me know if you disagree...

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Stenciling is done. Going to touch up a couple spots, let it cure for a few days, and hit it with some satin clear to knock down the gloss of the stencils (although I do think the "decal effect" of the gloss on top of satin looks pretty cool). Time to clean, tumble, and polish the cabinet hardware for repopulation. More on that next...

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Thank you. And btw...I know I have to resand the bottom of the cabinet. I masked all of that when I painted the white, but that spray gets EVERYWHERE. A little light sanding will get it back to normal.

I just want to do a decent enough job that the Vector boys would have me in their club if I lived in Texas.

Speaking of which, can anybody (and Nico Volta in particular) remind me of what cleaning agent you use to clean up the wires and contacts? I know it's a toothbrush and (maybe?) simple green?

Does anything have to be desoldered and completely removed to be properly cleaned/adjusted and/or repaired?

Very easy to apply. Just look at Jeff's (Pinball Pimp) instructional video:

BTW...I just shot a coat of satin clear on the cabinet, and it looks SO much better (and more natural/original) with the stencil paint matching the sheen of the base coat. NOW it looks finished. Assembled pics will go up tomorrow.

Well, sort of. It got rid of the gloss, so the entire cabinet is satin, which is more natural looking. But the stenciled areas are, of course, raised higher than the rest of the cabinet (as are the splatter dots). Only way defeat that is to use really thinned out paint (especially on the splatters)...but I don't want to do that, and I'm happy with the way it looks. The design looks more robust than factory, as it should, since Gottlieb just slapped a metal stencil down (I think) and gave it a quick once over with the spray.

Once you decide to go the full restoration route, you commit to making the machine better than factory, which means it doesn't necessarily have to look like it came out of the Gottlieb factory, IMO.

Quick update:

The heat and humidity here in Jersey this summer has really slowed me down on this restoration, but there's been some progress over the last couple of weeks.

The cabinet is nearly rebuilt. I still need to regrain the lockdown bar and clean up the coin door. Also have to repopulate the inside with the chime box, knocker, and internal hardware...much of which has significant rust. You can get the rust out and buff all you want, but without a rechrome, it'll never look new. And I ain't paying for chrome on a $400 machine. Smaller parts were in the tumbler overnight, and larger parts were buffed with my new bench buffer (and I still have my fingers, thank God!).

The back panel had some significant corrosion as well, and even after sanding, there is still discoloration. I might just get a whole new panel from PBR on my next order.

Back glass is from BGResto, by the way - incredible work!

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Chapter Three: The Playfield
Part One: The Teardown

My favorite part of EM playfields is the easy teardown. The worst part? All the GD staples you have to pull out of the bottom.

Playfield stripped and ready to be shipped to HSA for restoration. I originally was going to do it myself, but I just don't have the time.

One question: The operator sticker on the apron...would you leave it, or remove it? And what would you remove it with? I'm afraid to mess up the apron, which is in pretty good condition at this point.

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Yep...I always take tons. With the DMD games, though, I desolder everything and separate the harnesses. With this, I've got all the playfield components in approximately the same position on the plywood board. When the playfield comes back, and after a thorough cleaning of all the parts, I'll be able to reconstruct the underside pretty easily.

The cabinet's done. Spent a few hours disassembling, cleaning, and polishing the coin door. Have a few things to screw into the interior (chime box, knocker, playfield supports, etc.), but that can wait for when I put the guts back in. And man, that's a complete train wreck...

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No. I was talking about after I'm done with it.

But seriously, for a first timer, lifting all of that and redoing it section by section is melting my brain. And there's no way I'm going to get all the metal parts to look "as built" because of the corrosion on it. I'll do my best, though...

I don't know how to save the brown paper labels. Someone told me to put them back and leave the originals. But the guy doing Centigrade 37 put repros in and they looked nice. I'll probably put the originals back in, though.

Right! That was Docquest! Thanks for the help, buddy!

He hasn't asked and I haven't decided. I'll probably go gloss, though...I really liked the look of your machines at TPF, and they played beautifully.