Hopefully you took the siderails off. But yes take it all out. Its a good way to learn and repair/clean all pieces of the game. After you do 3-4 then you can reassemble with ease. Ive probably done 50...

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Trust us, the less than 1 hour it will take you to completely break down the machine to a bare cabinet, will greatly out weigh the many hours of hassles you will come across from trying to tape everything off. Take a lot of pictures as you tear stuff down, put all screws and parts in separate labeled bags. It will be very easy to put back together. There is a great video on YouTube on how to take the side rails off in less than 5 minutes.

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Great job on the River Boat. Great game.

You have to take it all apart. There's really no other good option.

Thanks EM, it's a 14 month restoration hopefully coming to an end in about two weeks. I plan I starting a thread. Here's a peak at the bottom board.

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I thought I was the only person idiotic enough to disassemble and polish a score motor. I've done it a few times then wonder why the hell I did that.

That is one beautiful Jet Spin cabinet in Post #2!

So not to hijack this post, but seeing this leads me to a question. If not repainting a cabinet, in particular a 1950 wood rail. Is it ok to treat the bare wood interior of the cabinet. It is 67 years dry, so thinking of some kind of wood care product. A few quick suggestions would be helpful. And beautiful cabinet repaints, shown here, wish I had that kind of talent.

I have used a "Wipe on Poly" product on interiors of cabs to fix oder issues

sanding sealer will also keep that funk locked away. that is after you sand the surface.

I'll take this one: Satin. It'll actually look flatter than you think. Flat looks way too...flat.

Satin clear will also look too flat. If spraying with a clear urethane or clear acrylic use semi gloss.

I use semi-gloss on the DMD-era games. Looks too shiny to my eyes on a Gottlieb or CG. It works better on a Bally or Williams.

Also, the OP said satin looks too glossy, and you're telling him to use semi-gloss. Whaaaaaaaat???

I suspect that it may depend on how much paint he uses.

In my experience 1.5 to 2 cans of Minwax water based semigloss polyurethane will give you a finish close to that of an original Gottlieb cabinet from the mid 70's. That's where my opinion comes from. The satin was too flat.

type of paint is a major factor in what sheen is the best...

oil will be one that satin will be best or simi if you are thinning more than 10%

shooting oil, the humidity is the key. lower the better, or it will be tacky for days

Rather than oil why not spray lacquer like they did originally? Or are those not available where you are?

I had good luck HVLP spraying Ben Moore Super Spec DTM Alkyd Semi-Gloss on two cabinets. Half a quart did the job. Dried enough in an hour so bugs wouldn't get stuck in it! Not cheap, but fast building and great coverage.

On the interior, perhaps a shellac (film finish) would encapsulate odors better, and stick to possibly oily/waxy areas.