steel wool,scotch brite pad, both with paste wax work well.

Lightning Rust Remover (mail-order) or The Must For Rust (Home Depot) with a Scotchbrite pad works very well. Use gloves!

Afterwards, I like good old Nev'r Dull cotton wadding.

I take the door off the machine, disassemble it, then soak the actual door itself in C-L-R diluted 50% with water. Then scrub with a brass bristled "detail" brush.

Wadding polish.

You will scratch the stainless with anything abrasive, including scotchbrite. If you take the time to use finer and finer scotchbrite, sand paper, polishing compound, polishing wheels, you can get whatever desired finish you wish. Its all about time money and elbow grease.

Not to pick nits here, but if it's rusting, it's not stainless. More than likely nickel plated steel, possibly chrome plated. The corrosion on the underlying steel is breaking through the plating.

Several good methods for cleaning it have already been listed, and are probably going to give a nicer finish than the wire wheel I usually grab first. But then, the parts I'm cleaning are usually not as prominant as a coin door.

I also like the idea of a wax or polish to prevent further corrosion.

Are mid sixties Gottlieb coin doors stainless...I can not recall. any EM dudes and dudettes want to chime in? If its not stainless Do NOT use a highly abrasive method of cleaning/ polishing as I stated above.

metal ready. no really try it.

Mothers mag wheel and aluminum polish. Should be available locally, usually about $5.

http://www.mothers.com/02_products/05100-05101_b.html

I can tell none of you guys are brewers. Stainless steel certainly rusts, especially the cheaper varieties. The door may not be stainless, but for cleaning rust off stainless steel, Barkeeper's Friend. Oxalic acid is what does the trick. A little BKF on a wetted paper towel and the rust will be gone. If it is pitted, it isn't going to look good no matter what.

Put a magnet on the door. If it sticks as it would to your car, (unless you have a Delorean or a Corvette) then chances are its a plated steel

As silly as this sounds, you can actually use a glass of water and tin foil to help with rust/corrosion. Ball up the tin foil and dip it in the water and buff back and forth on the metal. It's an old trick bicycle restorers use on the chrome plating and spokes. I've done it on a good deal of pitted legs and it actually shines them up quite nicely for 5 cent fix.

Or you can kick it up a notch and sub the H2O with good ol' Coke-a-Cola. I used that on my Mib's legs and it was like magic. I just set everything in the bath tub, started by giving a little dosing of Coke on all surfaces, then went to town. The aluminum will start to turn black, just get new foil wads as necessary, and keep dipping in your bowl of Coke. I've seen examples where people wrap the legs in paper towels and wet the towels, then let it sit for a bit. It did take some elbow grease however, it wasn't quite that magic... Pits are pits though, and those obviously aren't going away with scrubbing if you have any on the surface.

Ferritic stainless steels (ex-430) do in fact contain iron and can rust. Austenitic stainless steels (ex-304) can also rust from material contamination casued by other metals containing iron. Probably not the case here, but just saying.

Gottlieb coin doors from about 1963 to 1975 were plated steel. That's why they show rust. Sanding will only introduce scratches to one of these doors. I use electrolytic rust removal on these doors if they need more than a quick polish with Mothers Mag Polish will address.

Gottlieb side rails from the first metal rail in about 1960 have always been stainless. If it is not the corrugated stainless like on some of the early System 80 games you can sand them out with a fine grit sandpaper.

Mike O.
Team-EM

keep in mind that there are different grades of stainless, and even the best grades WILL rust eventually...

People tend to think that a magnet will not stick to stainless steel, this in not true, it depends on the quality of stainless steel that was used. Bally Williams side rails are stainless steel, but a magnet will stick to them, try it you will be surprised.

All stainless steel is able to attract a magnet to a degree.... true. No matter anyway, the case is solved.

Pulling my plumbing experience (former machinist) into this and yes ,all things lead to poop.
+1 to Barkeepers ,phenomenal product .
+1 to coca cola ,I believe it's the acidic characteristics that cut so well.
We've soaked old crusty copper fittings in it.

With any stainless if you're not experienced at "regraining" ,I guess you could call it, best thing to do is only go with the grain when scrubbing or polishing.

Stainless does have magnetic properties and also will show surface rust, can be cleaned easily and will virtually never rust through.
Non abrasive cloth polishing wheels work well like the ones Jewelers use.
I also agree with dismantling and cleaning each piece.

My vote for Barkeeper's Friend. I had rust spots all over on my new "stainless" steel grill and it took them right out without scratching (whereas the special stainless polish for grills did nothing). A wadding like NevrDull can also work wonders.

You could try using Innosoft B570 which is an oxide dissolving fluid that is very fast and efficient in cleaning rust from stainless steel. It works tough on oxides and dirt without harming the metal and returning its original condition. Future corrosion of th metal can also be prevented using this.

Evaporust or Metal Rescue.

http://www.amazon.com/Evapo-Rust-ER004-32OZ-EvapoRust-Remover/dp/B001BNZGY0

http://www.amazon.com/Workshop-Hero-WH290487-Rescue-Remover/dp/B005JVNQPQ

Worked well to remove rust from a Bally coin door, lock down bar, lock down arm assembly, and drop target assemblies as well as screws and the like. If just surface (contamination) rust, will take almost no time (1 hour max). If actually eating into the metal making pits, then may take multiple hours/overnight. Good thing is that these are totally reusable, just pour it into a container, and at most, let it settle and remove all but the bottom rust sludge.

I prefer the EvapoRust a bit more than Metal Rescue, but both are very similar. Good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere (Menards and Harbor Freight each carry one of these).

If you have a lot of deep eating, then you will need to either clearcoat, or spray rust preventer on, otherwise you will get a thin layer of surface rust back on within a month or so depending on conditions.

I was skeptical at first, but am very impressed with these products after using LimeAway, Barkeepers Friend, Naval Jelly and the like -- most of which actually attacked the good metal as well, turning it dark grey. This stuff only attacks rust and leaves the rest good -- except it will eat off black phosphate and the yellow coating on some metal parts (like inside of coin door assemblies)

Use some Flitz Paste. I used to have a tube of the paste that worked really well on stainless steel doors. I need to pick up some more from the hardware store.
http://www.securitydoorsdirect.com/

Distilled Vinager works surprisingly well.

I have soaked old wrenches over night and lightly brushed off all corrosion. I guess it really depends on what you are looking to clean.

I'm using Evapo-Rust nowadays.

evapo-rust works for me for all metal so far... toss it in, wait...

only problem is if it has to stay in there a really long time, some parts will tarnish a bit, but that is easily polished off...

Evaporust is awesome on ss

Tin foil and water ! It works like a charm

Stainless Steel will rust. But it really depends on the type of stainless and how the stainless is processed. The whole reason stainless steel does not rust is due to a very thin layer of chromium oxide. The Chromium Oxide is a natural occurring layer that protect the stainless steel from rusting. But if there are obstructions in the stainless that block the chromium oxide layer from occurring, rust than can occur. Such obstructions could be oil, micro steel particles or fabrication methods such as laser welding. Therefore, stainless steel fabricators who absolutely need a rust free part will passivate, acid wash, the stainless to remove these impurities. Of course using the best stainless and passivating the stainless all add to an increased cost for the stainless. So really, only parts where it is critical not to have rust, i.e. medical device and aerospace parts will spend the extra money to ensure a rust free part. Parts for pinball machines, although stainless, will not use the best stainless nor passivate and may eventually rust.