Clay Harrell - the master of EM restorations and repair - suggests Krylon Ivory.

Here's what he says:

Use Krylon "Antique White" if you are doing a partial cabinet repaint (like the front of the cabinet) to match a yellowed cabinet finish. Works great on Gottlieb wedgeheads. If doing a complete cabinet repaint, Krylon "Ivory" is probably a better choice (it's less yellow looking).

And here's the link to the whole document:

http://www.pinrepair.com/restore/index1.htm#repaint

Well, in that case I join you in being interested in what others have to say. Because I'll be painting a Jacks Open very soon.

You might consider having this moved to the EM section. They know everything about everything over there when it comes to EMs.

I was just told that the big boys doing these restorations use heirloom white. Just picked up a can. I'll report back with some pictures as well as posts in my restoration thread. Hang tight, and let me know if you find anything in the meantime.

I just repainted my centigrade 37. I used rustoleum heirloom white for the base color and montana gold citrus and magenta spray cans for the yellow and pink areas. I think it came out great. You may have seen it at the pintastic show this weekend.

Did you use flat or semi-gloss? Or flat for the white and semi for the colors?

And that was a beautiful Centigrade 37 - I played it and enjoyed the hell out of it!

Tearing down my Jacks Open this week. I did notice that where the paint is scratched it's MUCH whiter underneath, so I'm thinking the heirloom white is spot on. I'll post A/B pics on my thread and here if I remember.

Pretty sure base color, Montana colors, and clearcoat were all satin. I'll double check the cans and post here if they were not satin.

Forgot to mention I also did a clearcoat over everything using minwax polycrylic via roller.

When I first tried the heirloom I just spayed some in a small area on a piece of cardboard and thought it looked tan-ish as well. But when I spayed it on a larger area it looked better.

Stuff is cheap so it's worth the time to try a few colors to find the one you like best.

I am surely in the minority here, but it has always seemed to me that heirloom white and ivory look too almond and do not represent the original color (if looking to replicate the actual factory color). I have yet to find a white that has the subtle "cream like" color of the original paint. I use white and am happy with the fresh look, but thats just me, I guess.

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Before sanding the cabinet of my Jacks Open, I checked on the color so that you could get a definitive answer on your OP. I sprayed some Rustoleum 2x Heirloom White (satin) on a bare piece of wood and let it dry. I then held it up against various spots that had been protected by large parts for nearly 40 years, so there was no fading or discoloration. I took pictures in sunlight and in shade. I think you can see that the match is nearly spot on, so that's the color I'm going with.

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I had the guy at the automotive paint shot mix up a color to me that is close to white without being stark white. This guy matches paint for a living and all the people who have seen the completed game in person approved.

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That works as well. But who the hell wants to pay for automotive paint on an EM? I barely wanted to pay for it when I did an $8000 game.

But, uh...that game is beautiful, man.

Oh...I also wanted to add that I found it really interesting that depending on the light and viewing angle, the heirloom white sometimes looked more white, and sometimes more almond...just like the original paint did.

I am stupid that way. Why pay $60 to paint a machine when I can pay $260? That game is getting a new Wade Krause playfield so no expense is spared. Also, running your hand over the nice smooth Atlantis cabinet is something you have to experience to understand.

Oh well, my next game to paint is a Paragon and I am using all rattle cans for that. I plan on doing a Quick Draw in the near future and I have enough of the base white to do that one with automotive paint too.

I'm glad that someone else sees these colors as I do. It is interesting that each of these Gottlieb games have somewhat different base colors. I will certainly have to keep an eye out for these color differences in future restorations. I just assumed that all games from this era would have pretty much the same base color...

I painted my Royal Flush with this.....
See the arrow of actual color, not the silly pure white cap.

Try it but remember, do some tests with clearcoats, some go yellows, depends on how many coats.

I screwed up with too many clearcoats, big different to without it......I think I'll start all over again.....with same Blossom White and different clearcoat!
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I did 1 or 2 clearcoats to seal the water based splatters before stencil.
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I painted on a sheet metal yesterday......
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Blossom White is little darker than pure white.
Look at my original, see the 40 years old yellow peeled off? is that clearcoat from the factory? or from the smoke?
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I believe they did clearcoats after stencil works, look at under side rail....
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Some people wanted them looks old but I choose my machine looks as it just rolled out from the factory.....I believe Blossom White is perfectly matched as they painted the cabinets at the factory.
I really don't know about the C37 or Joker Poker, I have a Super Spin with much fewer plays and it looks the same original white to my Royal Flush. Whites changed over the years....depend on locations.

A picture of fresh clearcoats with a HVLP spray gun from last September....I'm not sure how many coats...I think 5-6 coats total.
See the difference with white bed sheet?
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Nine months later....sheet metal vs. 9 months old clearcoats.....with different light angles.... ugh! it changed itself!! More yellow.
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I have already put this in a trash bin!!!!
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I used heirloom white for my Atlantis as the base coat with black speckles.

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Nice, do you clearcoats or not? what kind?
I don't like raised paint edge lines.... I sanded lightly around paint edges between the coats.

Thanks Topcard, nobody's perfect.....lessons learned
I still have the homemade stencils.... one day, I'll try again with flat paints for stencils and less coats of a better semi gloss crystal clear....I'm sure 2nd attempt will be much better than first one.

I'm looking at the picture of my very first Gottlieb EM cabinet and thoughts about it a lot....tell you what....I'm pretty sure they used flat paints for base and stencils because it was easy to spray, thinner, lightweight, less messy and dry fast....after the stencil, a final coat of a more glosser clear finish to seal it.
Just one coat of oil based clear turns more yellow as it ages, even more with smokers
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Flat paints are very thin, you almost couldn't feel the raised stencil paint edges.
semi gloss is thicker, gloss is more thicker.
I painted red lobster gloss and flat black for stencils, I felt the difference between gloss and flat raised edges, I had to sand lightly between the clear coats to removed blurred edges....on the red ones, not black....I can see why they don't want to sand it....cost money!!

A flyer brochure for you....like I said, some people go with old looks and some go with new.
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I wouldn't trust the flyer for an accurate color match. Who knows how accurate the colors were when the flyer was first printed. ICC color profiles which are comon now didn't exist in 1977. Even if you assumed the flyer colors were printed accuratley in 1977, keep in mind that flyer colors will fade as well after 39 years.

Yes, but it's easy to see the difference between the white cabinet and pure white top playfield arch/apron.
Keep in mind, some sides have different shades from photography lighting.

For the white yes, you can see a diff between cabinet base color and apron white using flyer.

I just wanted to warn people to be careful using flyers for accurate color references for the other colors.

I just completed a repaint myself. Used Montana Black: Pink Panther, Montana Black: "Yellow", and Rustoleum Heirloom White as the base.

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Preval needs really thin paint. REALLY thin. It is also not a good solution for painting large areas and multiple coats such as the base coat on the cab. I use them with automotive paint, but only with the stencil colors because they cover a small area and only one coat. For the base coat you really need an HVLP or just stick to rattle cans.

I am! I'll post pictures when it's all done.

I looked at the Home Depot website, It says that Varathane Polyurethane has a light amber tone when dry...... but didn't say nothing on the can label.....grrrrr.
I blamed the raised stencil paint edges that made me paint several coats to knock down the edges.....
Maybe just one coat of Varathane and wait 6 months for a very light golden tone to appear?....just like the old Gottlieb machines....but the question is.....is one coat enough? lol

Maybe I'll paint a few brands of clearcoats on metal samples and leave in garage for 6 months?

2PAC clearcoats? maybe but I couldn't find semi gloss....no rattle cans for me on final coats.

Yes, happy with the basecoat. I could have done a better job on the green match, but its all a learning experience.

It's hard to tell in your pics but I bet it looks alright. Like a nice 40 year old game might.

Minwax Polycrylic is awesome to work with and dries clear with no yellow tone...

I think I saw in a playfield restoration thread (Vid's?) that it will yellow with time, though.

Here's my Jacks Open cabinet painted with Heirloom White. It looks plenty white in this picture, but sometimes it has more of an ivory look. It all depends on the lighting. IMO, anything more white would look a little unnatural.

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Let me reiterate: I could take a picture through the garage door while standing in the driveway, and it would look more ivory. That's the strange thing about this color - it really looks different in different lighting. But overall, it's not too white, and that's what I like about it. (And I think it'll look more white when the black and white are on there as a contrast.)

That's right buddy, every original Gottlieb machine went yellow a bit!
Mine went very yellow too fast!! Hehehe

Here's my plan....

I think one coat with little yellow tone over the blossom white base (that's what they did at the gottlieb factory) and some non-yellow crystal clear coats to knock down raised stencil paint edges.

I'll try that on one of samples.

(For heirloom or other off white, don't use yellow tone clear)

To avoid too many clearcoats.....I found this Humbrol oil based flat (matt) paints from England for stencil job.... (Haven't try yet, need an airbrush)

http://www.humbrol.com/us-en/shop/paints/enamel-paints/finish/matt.html?
108 colors!

They have thinners to make the paint more thinner.
http://www.humbrol.com/us-en/shop/coatings-thinners/thinners/enamel-thinners-125ml-bottle.html

Or maybe createx paints (little thicker)
I'm good at mix to match.

That's my plan.

Not now, I'm focusing at my Williams Fire project.

...which is freakin' awesome.