Hi, it has been awhile. Game has been played pretty regular and is a favourite. You may remember that I picked this up not working for super cheap. At the time I really did not know how cool this machine is, and really started the pin fun (addiction) here.

So the cabinet was shamed before I got it with thick blue oil based paint. I ordered the stencils from thisoldgame long ago when our can $ was worth a bit more as I knew I needed them, others on here gave me good advice and spoke highly of them. I finally have some free time to get this re-spray started ...I hated to see the blue cab.

Started with 120 grit and hand held orbital sander today...

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You can see I left the side rails on. I'm really wanting to keep them on for the main reason i'm very concerned that I will dent them taking the nails out and I simply cannot buy new ones. They are flawless now and scratching and bending them would really really suck. Are they glued on too? Or just nailed?

I need to keep this a very simple project and not get all ADD and order new Chrome and bits and get side tracked. I'm confident I can mask around the side rails but if there is a simple method of taking them off and they are not glued, then maybe I should take them off. I ran out of time and did snap pic but cab and backbox are sanded down to bare wood now.

Most of the corners on the inside of the cab and the backbox (the little wooden pieces stapled in) are loose or cracked or both. I will take some pics tomorrow am but I'm puzzled what to do to try and reinforce the corners.

Getting the backglass out was a real pain and very nerve wracking. One section about 8" long was glued into the wood frame by a previous owner so I had to slowly cut it away with a small razor knife. The glass seems good with a few small wear holes in it, no cracks. Around the score reel windows you can see oily grime on the silkscreening. If I wanted to spray the triple thick, how do I clean up the glass enough for decent adhesion?

I could just leave as-is but the ancient fuzzy bits that help avoid wear holes in the silkscreen just turn to dust when you touch them ...what does one do to , try to scrape as much fuzz off, then replace? I was thinking of using fuzzy side self adhesive Velcro.
Thanks for your advice.

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Lol!! Thats what I figured. Fair enough, they will come off today. Steve furys advice on the other thread on how to remove them seems straight forward.

Thanks for the great information everyone. I'll have a bunch of fiddly work before painting with rebuilding those corner blocks but it has to be done. Will have to recut some blocks, then use polyurethane wood glue and staples. That is the plan anyways...

Some great follow up info and questions from others thanks everyone. Good to see others fixing up the classic EMs.
The side rails are off...they were not too bad to take off. That was a good move to do.

I'm starting with the backbox as the corners are the bottom corners are the worst. Definitely evidence of torquing / pulling the backbox forward towards the flippers thereby cracking both lower corner joints as shown in pics.

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Woodwork finishing is not my forte. I went to the chainsaw school of wood working. Lol..

What's your thoughts on how to fill in the outside corners where the wood seems to have been ripped away. I 'm really hoping to not take the joint completely apart....but.....? I guess I have to pull the nails in order to "rework" the split joints.

Was thinking to glue new blocks on the inside lower corners, clamp, shoot new staples and retap in the nails on the outside, then fill the gaps on the outside with plastic wood filler (then sand down, then primer). Solid plan?

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Wood glue eh?
Thanks Steve. That really jives with what I was trying to figure out. The order or sequence in which to go about the fixes. Makes sense to set up the frame where needed, glue and clamp w screws as needed. Let dry. Then tackle new corner blocks.

I'd never be able to track down 3M specialty products out here in booney-ville (but it's all good), plus you need a special gun to apply them , those 2 part ones anyways but thanks for suggesting them...I'm sure they wood be absolutely bomber as adhesive.

So wood glue and a few screws it is. Definitely need some predrilling too. Regarding the main cabinet, I was thinking of making or getting some thin alum plates to use as "backing plates" to glue on the 45 corner pieces that the legs bolt into -on mine the narrow steel threaded plates are very bent (I'll straighten them) but they have been reefed on over the years and therefore cracked 2 of the 45 wood corner brace pieces in 1/2. If I have to use a nut on very inside so be it. (The alum plates would be drilled to accommodate the leg bolts.). The cab is pretty straight and actually not loose like the backbox so really don't want to take the cracked 45s out....i know this is a short cut but ... I can feel some frowns out there... I plead the time management defence.
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Oh yea, and bondo....why is everyone using bondo? no one uses plastic wood filler? I bought a can of plastic wood filler but maybe it is not the best to use. I can source bondo tho living in the winter salt-belt. Lol...

Seems like ages since last update.
everythng has been going well but 4 times as long as I thought. No rush though...
Base coat is on, but shiney so knocking that off w 3m pads before going any further. We used some bondo, automotive primer and base coat....very nice!

Question about speckles....just about to tackle that but, the original paint job....did the speckles go on the base coat THEN the stencil colours, or are the speckles on over top of the funky sea weed and fish scheme? Could someone please have a look on their machine and let me know? Thanks!!!
Edit...going to use a toothbrush and cup full of rattle ran gloss black.

Perfect thanks!
Agree above... sand until baby ass smooth

I used a new toothbrush and my small cap from my bondo container, filled it quarter full of spray paint.
I hummed and hawed this for awhile wondering what brush etc and did practice for a few seconds before just jumping in....really. felt strange approaching a beautiful cabinet fresh paint etc to mark it up w a toothbrush, but it worked absolutelyvgreat I think.

Start from a distance out ....you can always move in for heavier coverage. I did have one screw up on the face of the back box....nice prominent place!! I had too big a speckled blob that started to run and I panicked and wiped it w my finger....nice smear then resulted. Could not wipe w solvents as problems bigger and bigger....just chilled , clean up and dry....
Will have to lightly sand this out tomorrow...fingers crossed!

Also, another tip, I primed my brush after a fresh paint dip with a few strokes away from the target to get the heavy specks away, actually had quite a bit of control combined w how close you get. Also, work fast, the paint drys fast!! Gets heavier and heavier clogging up my fancy brush. Lol!!!!! Will post few pics shortly but still very pleased with this stage over with.

A few pics

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Doh!! That oops on the last photo sux. So close!
Sorry for the crappy pics ...I'll zoom in a bit tomorrow.
I had really hoped to tackle the stencils tomorrow and will probably start with the cab front if it is a nice day...the cab tuned out perfect so far so I can started with that, and try to rework the backbox section that's messed.
Finding a suitable green colour has been very tough by the way...

Yes I meant the base colour coat (heirloom white). The primer is just that and yes I did use an automotive primer on bare wood / bondo that we mixed and my friend shot in his spray booth after bondo and lots of sanding (mostly hand sanding not orbital). Ditto with the base colour, no rattle cans. But I got tossed out of the shop today for better paying jobs so on my own with the 2 colours in rattle cans. Deep breath! Heading to Atlantis!!

Then I will clearcoat it and cut polish it to take off the sheen with the auto body products we are using. Should last awhile!!

Thanks Steve that is very handy to know. Most likely I'll leave it then. Really looking forward to getting my game back in one piece.