this goes out anyone that's done a full restoration on a machine (eg. bryan kelly, jim mccune, chris hutchins, etc...)

what do you do to clean up the transformer? I've already used a paint/varnish stripper to remove all of the dried (thick layer of) vanish from the brackets and replaced that nasty hardware (screws, nuts, washers, etc...) with shiny new stuff, but as far as the transformer block itself goes, what have you guys done?

the red is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure why you didn't bother to remove the screws and brackets before painting the block

jadziedic:
thanks for the link

ashburton:
yes, it does look like they "blued" the metal block rather than painted it.

the paint/varnish remover completely stripped the varnish from the metal brackets. I need to brush some on the metal block and clean up all of the slopped on areas and then wire brush the block. I might try that brush-on gun bluing rather than painting the block after I get it all cleaned up.

a huge thank you to bryan kelly and everyone else that replied. I finished cleaning it up, running a wire wheel on it and painting it. I ended up using a semi-gloss black lacquer with really light coats for a nice, even finish.

I still need to clean up the wires with a bit more of the varnish remover and some westley's (and probably should have done that first), but I'm really happy with how it came out

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I purchased new ones. the originals were all rusty and coated with varnish. it was much easier to just replace them, especially since we were just talking about 4 of each. the brackets were cleaned to remove the varnish and then tumbled

I'll dig out the part number for the bolts when I get home, I think I still have a couple left in the bag from where I ordered them from originally

terry @ pinball life sells the nylon insulators if you need to replace your nasty, crusty yellowed and dried, cracked ones
https://www.pinballlife.com/ballywilliams-transformer-screw-insulator.html