I was looking for a project last year and bought this off pinside solely because I liked the theme. Never played one before, but I have a soft spot for space and/or robot themes.
It’s a simple game and very relaxing to play.
So after playing it for a couple of months it was time for the real fun=restoration.
The good: mechanically everything works. Playfield looks fantastic for a 50 yo. Simple art work on the cab to reproduce. All plastics are intact.
The bad: nicotine stained cab with flaking paint, rusted coin door, massive insert cupping. Backglass missing a lot of paint.
This is my first EM restoration and I’m learning a lot. I’m posting this restoration because restorations are my favorite part of pinside. I enjoy following other people’s restorations and appreciate the time it takes to document things. I’m always thankful when others post helpful restoration tips/wisdom. But be warned there will be no restoration wisdom imparted here, as I have none.
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The breakdown went pretty quick. Previous owner took good care of the mechanics as nothing was especially dirty or corroded save the rusted coin door.

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Once everything was off the playfield I was going to tackle leveling the inserts/clear coat.
I quickly realized that was above my skill set so off to CaptainNeo it went.

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Once everything was off the playfield I was going to tackle leveling the inserts/clear coat.
I quickly realized that was above my skill set so off to CaptainNeo it went.

Got the playfield back in a very reasonable amount of time.
Looks brand new! Perfectly level smooth surface.
Some before and after:

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It was in the $400 range not including shipping. Reasonable given the amount of work it took to get everything level. Good communication throughout the process. Would definitely use CaptainNeo again.

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The coin door wasn’t in the best shape. Initially I was going to buy a new one from PBR but then I decided to take up the challenge.
I soaked it in EvapoRust for 24 hours then wet sanded up to a grit of 2000. It’s not perfect, as you can still see some pitting from the rust, but overall looks much better.

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Yep, that is going to take some work! I was really lucky with this one as it wasn’t missing any paint.

Ordered new lamp sockets, chime rebuild kit, flipper rebuild kit , flipper bats, new post, and various switches from PBR.

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Took the chime box apart and put everything through the ultrasonic. I use a 50/50 mixture of purple power and water.

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Thanks for the tip. I’ll watch out for that.
I’ve always diluted it 50/50 and luckily haven’t had any problems. I also have used Krud Kutter and had good results. Ended up sticking with the purple power because it was a lot cheaper.
Honestly what has made the biggest difference was upgrading my Ultrasonic. I used a Harbor Freight for a couple of years and it was decent. My new one cleans significantly better.

After I bought the machine the very next thing I did was order a BGresto backglass.
The Astro backglass is one of the coolest in my opinion.
It was my Christmas present this year. Opened it Christmas morning then boxed it back up where it is patiently waiting in my room.

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I got all the Mechs out of the cabinet. The mounting board was heavily stained. I tried sanding it out but couldn’t get it to look how I wanted so I ended up staining it with a dark walnut stain.
As for cleaning everything I used cleaning wipes on the cloth wire and 99%isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush on all the switches,relays,and score motor. I just couldn’t bring myself to just hose everything down like I’ve seen some do.

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Wow! Yours looks fantastic after the repaint. That’s what I’m just starting.
Luckily my cabinet was in pretty good shape as I only had to replace a portion of the bottom that had rotted.

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Cleaned the contacts on the stepper unit with a Dremel 443 brush.
Score reels cleaned up nicely with Novus2.

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Got all the white gunk off the Jones plugs with the Dremel 443 brush.

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Stripped all the paint off using this Citristrip. Put it on thick and let it sit for about 30 min and the paint came off easily.
Then I sanded with a orbital sander starting at 80 grit up to 220.

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After I primed everything I put the first base coat on. I tried this White Cream color but it is too yellowish under certain light. Any suggestions for the base white color on these Gottliebs?

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Thanks for the paint suggestions!

Replaced target faces with new ones from PBR.

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Thanks Topcard, those paint topics are just the reference I needed!

New lamp sockets and ground braid installed.

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New coil wrappers. My daughter had some art paper that matched the original colors close enough.

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Flipper mechs tumbled then rebuilt using PBR rebuild kit.

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Got the pop bump mechs installed.

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Ball eject mech.

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Slings

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Stood back to admire my work. Looked over to my work bench to see the pile of new coil sleeves that I forgot to install. Well shit!
Took everything apart and did it a second time.

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I made stencils a couple months ago. They are sitting up in my game room until I get around to getting the base coat on the cabinet done. You are welcome to use them as templates if you want.

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I just color matched the existing coil wrappers with some art paper my daughter had. Cut to size and attached with double sided tape.
None my original coil wrappers had any numbers/graphics, so nothing to label.

Finally got back to this project today. Took a break to let the weather cool down a little.
In the interval I built this 66D Reverb 22W Amp for my son out of a Mojotone kit. Really fun project that I could do indoors. This thing will blow the windows out of the house!

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Took on the webbing today. I tried this first but could never get the thickness right to get it to web.

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So I used this Montana webbing that I sprayed into my spray gun pot. I used 20% silver and 80% black with about a tablespoon of lacquer thinner.
I found spraying at about 50 psi gave me the best results.

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I thought it turned out pretty good for my first attempt. I would like to think it worked out well because of some innate talent but the reality is I live 5min from pinhead52. He was kind enough to invite me over one day and show me how it’s done. 50EE2EB6-3BEA-40D5-B5C1-BCBF70AD001F (resized).jpeg

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Side rails had some rust so I wrapped them in paper towels soaked in EvapoRust overnight. Then I sanded with a medium and fine 3m sanding wheel.
Finished up with 400 grit.

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Got the first layer of stencils done today. Used Montana Gold , OrangeRed.
First time I’ve painted with stencils. The back box was easy, but getting the cabinet done took way longer than what I expected.
I cut the cabinet stencils out in one big sheet. It took a lot of work to get it positioned how I wanted. Learned my lesson on the first side, so on the second I cut them in half and that made it significantly easier.
I sprayed two coats about a minute apart then immediately removed the stencil.

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Worked on the back box today. Before and after.

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Finished the back box. My new Bgresto backglass is dark so I’m using comet leds and light strips.

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Got the collar , glass channels , and side rails installed.

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Coin door and new legs.

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I found this 50s sci-fi key chain, which goes nicely with this theme.

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The Apron became one of the biggest headaches. Of course, it was all self induced.
Stripped, primed and repainted the original.

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I had participated in a group buy of decals from PinRescue to save on shipping. The decal I received looked great. The only down side is that it’s printed on one continuous sheet. If you have any dust or hair on the Apron you’ll see it trapped under the decal. I thought I was careful regarding this , but apparently I need to wear a hairnet. After I applied the decal there was a hair trapped. This drove me insane! I removed the decal and had to sand and repaint the apron.
Now, I have no decal and it was going to cost over $50(because of shipping cost) to get another one. So, I made my own vinyl decals with my wife’s Cameo. I’m not proficient using the Cameo ,and I couldn’t get the fonts exactly how I wanted, but I’ll have to live with it. I ended up spending a lot of time messing with this. Next time I’m going to buy a back up decal!

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Had to make the decals as I don’t have any airbrush skills.

Got everything in the cabinet.

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Head bolted on and playfield back in.

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New plastics. Obtained not by my own hard work but by simply knowing the right person. Thanks, pinhead52!

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So, I turned it on and it resets. Ball ejects like it’s going to start a game, but the score motor continually runs.
Any ideas as to the cause?

Trying to get things figured out. I took the mechs back out of the cabinet so I could actually see the switches. I have been reading the various EM repair guides, but I’m still not clear on a couple of things.
Couple of questions:
1) What is the rest position of the score motor?
2) In regards to the score reel switches. I’ve found the positions listed in the guides but is Astro a first generation or second game?
Thanks

Thanks