Fun game, good game to cut your teeth on, not too complicated. Post a couple of pics and we can better comment on whether to repaint or leave original.

Yes , get it playing, see if its a near term keeper or a long term keeper. Generally you are not going to recoop all your investment from a full up restore. But if you love the gameplay and want to make it nice, go for it.

it is going to lift paint. if you attempt, I'd heat it up with a hair dryer.

But yea your cab is a nice original, no serious reason to repaint.

Overload on questions...

one answer
http://www.pbresource.com/ is your 1 stop shop for gottlieb EMs including bulbs

The best way I put games on free play is with an alligator jumper on the credit wheel to keep the start circt closed. You'll see pvc coated wires on the credit wheel contacts...jumper these two

If you dont have a cir diagram you can get one from the place above.

playfield touchups is a real art, sometimes best left to the professionals.

there is a relay on the door that will normally reject coins if the game is off. These get fried and tend to buzz. For folks that dont bother with coin chutes then we disconnect these relays. If you want the chutes to work this coil will need replacing.

Get to know the M N L scoring relays in the head, these drive the reels. They usually need their contacts cleaned up or you'll run into erratic scoring issues (as you have observed). I usually manually close/pulse these relays when i first get a game to see what mait is required on the relays (clean contacts) or the reels such as 9s rollover.

Central Park and Hurdy Gurdy has fixed flippers at top...