Now that Space Shuttle is mostly done, it's finally time to put some effort into a machine I really love. I came across a Chicago Coin Cinema in the loft of a barn a few years ago. The owners seemed to have forgotten it was up there, and I suspect it hadn't seen the light of day in a long time. Overall, the machine doesn't look too horrible, but it shows its age.
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Luckily, the backglass is absolutely beautiful.
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I want to get Cinema up to speed, but over the course of this, i'd like to learn a little bit more about restoration and EMs.

The playfield could use a little love, but it's not as bad as it could be. Bit rough in some spots.
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The plastics are generally in pretty good shape except for the plastic that sits in the center of the playfield. At some point it broke and was very poorly glued back.
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The goals for now:
1) Create a stencil and repaint the cabinet.
2) Touch up the playfield (a repaint would be super but hey, i'm not expecting brilliance)
3) Recreate all plastics
4) Take apart and clean everything under the playfield and in the backbox. One of the score reels has always has trouble, so it's time to fix that.

This may take me a long time, but I feel the machine deserves it!
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It's time to get crackin' on plastics!

Today was at least moderately productive. I get the top of the playfield mostly stripped. I've learned that this machine was built to never come apart - much of it is nailed together. I've left a few things that I need to figure out how to take apart. The biggest issue is how filthy this thing is underneath, there's so much rust and grime. It'll all come clean eventually.
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I did get the playfield mostly wiped down, took stock of parts that needed to ordered, and pulled off some very grubby mylar.
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I spent a small amount of time trying to start touching things up enough, but it's starting to make a bit of a difference already.
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