I have been told the nails are meant to be there. So when I was doing what you are, I left them in; I figured if it ain't broke...

Nails are normal and support the playfield plastics.

You can clean everything pretty well without desoldering anything 98% of the time.

I thought nails were more for ball traps, but plastic support makes sense too. Strip the topside, but I wouldn't do too much with the bottom just yet.

They don't actually support the plastics. The nail heads would scratch up the paint if that were true.

It's to keep balls from getting trapped under the slingshots, as others have mentioned.

You're working on your first game ever and you're removing everything from the bottom of the playfield? That sounds ambitious for a first job, are you attempting a full restore? For most maintenance tasks, putting the playfield in a rotisserie or just standing in a service position is fine.

I would desolder, not cut, if you remove the wire harness. You start cutting 50 wires and that extra centimeter you need everywhere when you put it back could add up and you'll find yourself having to lengthen the wires.

Check EM Tech forum for any other concerns about getting an EM going...most helpful forum on pinside.

Listen to all this good advice. Leave the nails alone and don't cut a wire -I can't think of a time when it's necessary.

Yes on the full topside teardown, but I wouldn't remove anything from the bottom of the playfield unless you're looking to clean or repair that particular piece (mechanicals, coils, lamp sockets, flippers, etc...). When doing under playfield work, I find it easier to just remove what you're working on, clean/repair, and then replace. If you have to remove wires, desolder when you can.

You can pull the nails out and install them back when you're done cleaning the playfield. As far as the bottom, unless you have to, leave it alone. I'd just blow it off with air, but not 110 lbs worth. Just enough to blow off the carbon dust.
And a VERY good idea is to take a tone of pics, they'll come in handy when assembly time rolls around.

It's a great project for you and your dad. You're lucky to have a dad that wants to share the experience with you.
Enjoy!!

They are there so if you put everything back together perfectly you can say you...nailed it!

If removing the wire harness, I would suggest trying to avoid desoldering or cutting. Tryin to keep the coils and switches wired, remove the mechanisms and transfer to a piec of wood or cardboard. The harness will maintain its original shape.

Also, don't be embarassed. It is MUCH better to ask the questions before being the guy who creates a basket case project by doing things the wrong way.

Welcome to the fun, try the em tech forum for good advice.

http://www.pinrepair.com/em/

http://www.pbresource.com/ http://www.pbresource.com/your1st.html

Read a bit of this stuff, there a few "don'ts" that could save you some grief.

I agree with you 100%.
This forum has is share of problems, but for the most part people are very friendly and willing to help with tech knowledge and photos to get us back to what we all love doing. Playing Pinball.

The only reason to be embarrassed would be if you had not posted this thread FIRST. My first playfield swap I did (Space Shuttle), I DID cut everything and resoldered everything. Tons of fun, let me tell you!

Well played, sir.

I'm currently working on my very first machine too, and installed a new playfield artwork overlay which required taking it all the way down to wood on both sides. Definitely listen to the pros before you listen to me, but if you DO end up stripping it down for whatever reason, the method I used worked extremely well for me as a first timer.

I sectioned off and labeled each strand of the harness into zones, and took about 30 pics of each zone while it was whole and as I tore it down. This made it easy to focus on one section at a time without getting too overwhelmed when it came time for re-installing.

zone_guide.jpg

I only de-soldered the solenoids & the bare wire strand, leaving all the switches and lamps attached to the harness. I even removed and replaced the bare wire strand, which was the most nerve racking part due to it's more precise and difficult to map path. It sounds like you have somebody helping you, which is good because having a second set of hands & eyes definitely made the re-assemble much smoother.

With A LOT of patients and the diligence to thoroughly document and triple check everything, we got ours put back together to power up flawlessly on the first attempt.