I'm restoring a Gottlieb Abra Ca Dabra and dismantled the upper apron and arch (which creates the top orbit for the ball) and while cleaning the arch, I noticed what seemed to be some of the silver paint peeling. When I ran my finger around the arch, traveling area the ball would contact, I could feel that the surface was rough where the paint had peeled. My concern is that this rough surface will end up scuffing the ball.

Any suggestions on what to do with the arch? Should I try to strip all the paint and then polish the metal? Or repaint it? I'd like to make that surface as smooth as possible.

NOTE: The photos make the arch look bronze, but it is actually silver.

Apron & Arch01(s) (resized).jpg

Apron & Arch02(s) (resized).jpg

Apron & Arch03(s) (resized).jpg

Apron & Arch05(S) (resized).jpg

Apron & Arch06(S) (resized).jpg

Thanks, Ken. I appreciate your help! I've read your thread on your Surf Champ restoration more than once!

Yup - the silver one is the only one I'm concerned about. (I only included a photo of the top white arch so people would have a reference.)

I will soak it in evapo-rust, but it's actually not very rusty. I think the photos I took with the flash didn't do a good job of capturing the true colors. So I took a couple with my phone.

The silver arch was pretty dirty, so I tried to clean it with some Simple Green first. And that's when I noticed that some of the silver (nickel coating, I guess) was flaking off (perhaps because of the Simple Green?) And then when I ran my finger along the archway where the ball travels, I could feel that the areas where it peeled off were rough and they weren't rough before that. So I'm guessing it's rough because the nickel plating came off?

20191124_184818 (resized).jpg

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I'm only really concerned about the edge, since that's the only part that the ball will contact. I don't want that edge to be rough and perhaps scuff up the ball as it travels that orbit.

So I soaked it in Evapo-Rust for about 18 hours and this is the result. The areas where the nickel-plating rubbed off turned black and is pretty rough.

I'll try sanding those edges down and see how it feels, but I'm guessing that having the entire thing nickel plated again is going to be the way to go, unless I can find a donor arch from another game.

Arch (after Evapo-Rust)01 (resized).jpg

Arch (after Evapo-Rust)02 (resized).jpg

Arch (after Evapo-Rust)03 (resized).jpg

Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, I'm having trouble finding anyone who can nickel plate it, especially cheaply. (I tried finding someone who could re-do my coin door and they wanted at least $150. I can buy a new one for less!)

I'm gonna try sanding it and see how smooth I can get it, then paint it. Will post the results here, in case anyone else runs into the same problem.