What are you interested in? What is your “thing”? Are you seeking to sell the machine for a profit after? Sounds like you’re more than capable. Just find something that interests you. This is kind of a personal thing. Unless you are doing a rehab on a pretty rare machine parts will not be an issue.

Best to find the machine first maybe

What is “worth” restoring will be entirely up to you. Everyone has different taste and what they consider fun will vary. If you are speaking purely from a worth it in regards to money spent, then you are probably going to want to stick to games made 1986 or newer that are higher in popularity. (There are exceptions for highly desirable titles that are older than this such as fathom, centaur, etc). I am doing a playfield swap right now. Without the original playfield to use as a reference. I wouldn’t say it is “hard” especially if you understand how the electronic side works, it makes rewiring stuff that must be disconnected easy. What it is though is tedious. New playfields will have dimple or pilot holes. These may or may not line up to the correct location, so it is important to test fit before screwing into place. There are also holes the playfield for larger post that will likely need to be drilled larger to make them fit. If you understand the wiring side, I’d say that is the most complicated part. Check out my thread “reviving a swords of fury from the dead” if you want a look some of the stuff a true restoration will involve. And even with what I’m doing, I haven’t actually restored the cabinet, it’s essentially getting a new playfield.

Best advice for finding a project is putting out a wanted ad for a specific few games. Do more than one in order to increase your chances of finding one you like. For example, in my future wishlist, I’d like to have a Pinbot, Diner, Mousin Around, or Space Station. I keep my eyes peeled for ads for these games, if one comes up that seems reasonable in distance and price to me, I have to move quickly (be ready to go if you find something, don’t sit and wonder because if it’s a good deal, it’ll be gone quick). On that note, with you being new, don’t be afraid to befriend a couple of people on here if you aren’t sure how to asses the condition of a project machine and determine what can be cleaned up or repaired vs what will need to be bought new. You will have to be ready to do some type of roadtripping because unless you get lucky, the odds of the game you want in the condition you want are very low for them to pop up for sale in your backyard. My longest trip as been 7 hours one way.

Stay away from particle board cabinets.

I'd suggest doing some research and reading to find out what type of pinball
floats your boat. There is a wide variety, some of the categories are;
early mechanical (1931-1935 or so)
pre-flipper (pre-1947)
one ball (1940's)
bingo (1950's or so)
wood rails which overlap many types
early (short) flipper (1950's-70's)
EM's which cover many decades
early solid state
1980's-90's solid state
and the newer types

See if there is a show in your area and go as that'd be the best way to get
exposed to a wide variety. That'd be a good place to find project games too.
Look locally too.
Steve

One more thing, a good resource for looking up titles as they become available is

www.ipdb.org

Type in the title and you'll see pics as well as which books have more info.
Welcome to the hobby!

Look for amusement auctions. Bring an extension cord, a couple of quarters, and the ability to carry home a pinball (or a couple).

Auction is a great place to find machines to fix up.

And if you end up with the machine that nobody can fix, you can always sell it back at the next auction. I see that all the time. A non-perfect machine gets sold, then it's offered at the next auction, then it's offered at the next auction... Hehe. Nobody can fix it, but it changes hands over and over.

You'll be happier with your hobby if it turns into a profit center, so find out over a couple of amusement auctions what various games are selling for, and then you can spot when a machine can be sold at a great price... if it were only working. Which is what you can do. Turn it from non working junk into great working pinball goodness.

The problem I have with playfield swaps is that you are likely going to spend close to a thousand dollars for the playfield, then on a more modern pinball you are looking at sixteen hours of experienced, moving pretty quickly, labor. Some pinballs (many) you'll never be able to recoup your expenses you've put into the machine. So it ends up being a vanity project? "I did that?" That's fine, but unless you personally love the machine and are keeping it, there are a lot of machines that are well worth fixing, that people will pay good money for a working example.

So, as many people suggest, figure out what you want to do.

I personally see a lot of opportunity for people to buy project machines, fix them right without making them a $15,000 restoration, and sell them, making a little profit on every project.

Keep posting what you are doing!

I'm almost done restoring FunHouse. Its my first pin restoration. I bought the machine 20-years ago form a friend and its always been in very rough shape. I'm dong what you would call a "consourse" restoration. Pretty much replacing everyting except the wiring harnasses and pcb boards (those are being reworked) - new playfield, ramps, plastics, lamp sockets, swithes, screws, nuts, LEDS, cabinet hardware, graphics, etc. Its been fun and frustrating at the same time. Gotta get through that initial learning curve. I love the 80's/90's machines because these are the games that were in arcades when I was growing up and they are still fun to play. I will tackle Fishtales when FunHouse is wrapped up. My boys are already arguing over who gets which machine so I guess we are haning on to them and may add a few. Good luck in finding your next project. Have fun with it!