Quoted from LTG:Totally tear down and shop, rebuild, every inch of it.
Otherwise you keep patching the patches and will spend more time on repairs than playing.
LTG
Truth. That's what ultimately ended up happening with my STTNG. I was new to the hobby, and STTNG is a beast. But, I cut my teeth on one of the most complex, problem prone machines. MANY hours later, I had a 100%, gorgeous machine. It made me feel comfortable...to a point...working on some machines.