You are asking for a lot of info all at once. I suggest finding one of many resto threads here, and read it thru. That should answer most of your questions.
Most any WPC game would be a safe candidate for you.
Good luck.

There's a lot of shit in this thread you may find interesting.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ij-restoration-started

Read the restoration threads here. Lots of good ideas, do's and donts. Read, read, read. I have a hsa restored T2 playfield I plan on selling as well as T2 decals and a set of t2 wood Reese playfield rails for sale if your interested. I was assembling the items for a t2 restore but fell into a few early Bally projects.

There's plenty of info around this forum...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-first

Why don't you list 3-6 games you like. We can then help you pick one that may be an easier choice

That's the best restoration thread on Pinside, IMO.

Get that $5500 AFM that's for sale right now. Offer $5000. Put a new playfield, cabinet decals, and whatever else it needs into the game. You'll be out another $3000, but you'll have an original AFM that looks worth more than $8000 if you do it right.

That's hard for me to say. Pretty much all I've ever restored have been Williams/Bally WPC and WPC95 games. Like Beezleboob says, AFM is easier than most, but a base game might cost you $5000. You could start with a less popular title that doesn't cost as much, but you may not find as many parts available.

I don't want to sound like a dick...I don't know what your skill level is, but you could invest a whole lot of time and money into a restoration thinking you've increased it's value, when it may be just the opposite. You may decrease the value because whoever buys it is going to have to do it all over again and do it correctly.

I'd say maybe start with a complete shop out of a game. Tear the playfield down as much as you feel comfortable, and clean and rebuild everything. Get a feel for how that goes.

Starting out with a full blown restoration might be a little much.

First of all, sounding like dick is what you're good at. Second of all, you make a valid point. He probably should start cheaper. But I was a little bit anal so it worked out well for me. And please try to spell my name correctly, Brian.

Yah ,what BeetleBug said.

As much as I hate to agree with Bryan he is right on this point. Also if you're not retired like Bryan finding the time to do a full blown restoration may mean the game is in pieces for well over a year. I recall when I "restored" my first game, Funhouse, I spent more than 11 months between start and finish. Every time you shop out a game, fix the bugs, you will learn more and more. Eventually your skills will improve and you can gradually start to improve the esthetics of the game.

Generally takes me four months stripping it to wood and wire. But I'm just trying to make Skypilot look slow.

My first restoration was a STTNG, it went well and turned out nice. But unless you are really confident in your ability to put it back together correctly and very comfortable soldering I would not start with STTNG. Its a very complex machine. I am doing a TAF now with a Ron Kruzman Playfield and it's going well, it's a much easier machine than STTNG.

You might consider tearing down your Hook. I am doing mine now (1st for me as well) and it is not bad. Been cleaning it, replacing rubbers, changing lights, legs, armor, etc. In my case, I like Hook and am not getting rid of it. It sounds like you are not as invested in yours so that might be a good place to start and hone your skills before tackling something bigger.

Can understand about the parts. Check ebay. A guy just parted out those pieces last week and has more parts up now. I did not see those two specific parts up now but they do pop up. Good luck!