I've torn down my Getaway playfield for the first time - only posts, jets, and slingshots still poking out. It's in fairly good condition for having never been restored, but it's pretty dirty as you'd expect. So I'm at the point where I want to start cleaning it and I have a few questions:

1) Is there a good guide for a "player's" playfield cleaning? So much of what I read around here requires equipment I don't have (like tumblers, air compressors, enough workspace), work that I don't want to do because I'm already petrified that I'll never be able to put this machine back together (like removing the entire wiring harness and washing it), or work that I can't do because mechanically...I am the opposite of gifted. So how can I get the playfield looking good, waxed, and all the metal and plastic clean enough that the playfield doesn't immediately start collecting debris, etc.?

2) I'm about to start cleaning the playfield - I cleaned off all the loose, surface crap off with simple green. Next I plan to use Novus 2, then Novus 1, then carnuba. Please correct me if I'm doing something terribly wrong, but after reading a ton about this it appears that a) no one agrees what is the best process, and b) enough people think that sequence is OK I thought I'd try it for my first time (not trying to start another debate). My question is: what should I do about these?
photo 2 (3).JPG
Should I flatten them first? I don't have the painting chops to do touch-ups, and most aren't visible when everything's installed. I just don't want my rag to catch on an edge and rip up a bit of wood?

3) What the heck are these for?
photo 1 (2).JPG
Just a piece of metal tied down with two screws. Do these keep the playfield from exploding?

Cheers...

D'OH! Obviously I'm not a golfer...