Triple thick is always an option but I find it hard to work with.

The easiest and most effective way to hold a ratty glass like together is just buy a roll of mylar and cut out patches and slap it over the flaking areas of paint in the back.

I've heard some people say "but yeah, that mylar might not hold up! It could become brittle or curl up in 50 years!"

To which I say, "who gives a shit? Not my problem."

I've been using this method on backglasses for 20 years and I've never had any issues. Way easier to work with than smelly, toxic triple thick, doesn't blow away flakes of paint you are trying to preserve, and generally is just less of a headache. I don't really get the cult of triple thick myself; I spent a couple years trying to get on board and it's just more of a hassle than it's worth.

I have always used triple thick without issue. I would suggest you cover the score windows with pieces of cardboard, business cards, manila folder etc.

Then you can do touch ups on the back glass if you'd like as well.

I use it for any em backglass that shows even the slightest sign of delamination. Mask the score windows with something and remove after spraying so that the mask does not stick.

If large sections are separating from the glass, glue them back down with loctite liquid superglue, and press down with plastic wrap. Then remove the plastic after 24 hours.

For spraying triple thick, don't get too close, or you will blow away the paint flakes.

If you're spraying outside, a cooler day (low to mid 70s) with 50% or less humidity is best.

I don't cover the score windows any more. What you can do is spray extra thick over the score windows, and they cure clear. Don't panic if it starts turning cloudy at first--that will clear as it cures.

If the score windows don't turn out the way you like, you can knock down the triple thick with novus 2 or 3, and re-spray if you need to.

Hey Dan, there may be two small metal brackets in the backbox that might need to be taken out in order for you to slide that glass out... those brackets are behind the top of the BG... don't forget to reinstall them after sliding the BG back into its resting position.

Tilt the lightboard back. Put the glass into the slot behind where it normally sets. Lift it up and tilt and back and it comes right out.

I sprayed triple thick on my the flaking backglass in my EM star pool about 15yrs (ish) ago. Zero ink loss since then.

I put small masking tape patches over the score reel windows and peel off while wet. I left the ball count and credits unmasked & you can't really tell. I did a light coat over non flaking areas & only went heavy over the damage spots.

I would recommend NOT masking the score windows with anything adhesive. Peeling the masking tape or whatever off is a 1/1000000 chance of getting it right without screwing up the art. If anything use poster board or card stock with tape on the top made into a little handle or something that will lay on the glass over the windows and can be easily and immediately lifted off.
Otherwise just spray the windows with the rest of the glass like ForceFlow said.

Completely agree with not using adhesive for the windows. I have used TT to seal glasses before but I also agree with Levi on using mylar. The mylar route is much safer and can cover the entire glass quickly. When combined with leds, you are unlikely to have any issues. Ultimately its really just down to what you are comfortable with. Just dont spray too thickly at first as it can eat the paint if done really heavy. Good luck with sealing your glass!

I missed Levi’s post about mylar. I mylared a firepower back glass and exacto knifed out the score windows and I plan on doing that to my Space Mission.

As a TT newbie, you spray over the dirt, dust and grime or attempt to try to wipe down first?

I would not attempt to wipe down the glass unless you are ok with losing paint. You can lightly dust if you want and clean the windows, but there is always the possibility of losing paint if you try to clean it.

This.

To each their own, but it's my opinion that I am just a custodian for these games: doing my best to preserve them for future collectors when I'm gone. Kinda hoping I'll be alive in 50 years too, so 80 year old future me doesn't want to worry about mylar peeling off a backglass and taking paint with it.

Depends on the condition of the paint on the glass. Some glasses held up quite well and you can, ever so gently, clean the dirt of the lit areas. No need to worry about non-lit areas of the artwork.

But if there is the slightlest flaking of the paint then do not attempt to clean as you will lose paint.

Then you can try to do some minor touch ups if you want. With a bit of practice and patience you can fix small areas with just a brush and acrylic paint.

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Thanks.. Thats what I thought. Before I knew any better, I sprayed my Cleopatra EM glass with windex and gave it a good clean. Luckily, I only lost a few flakes.. Haven't touched a glass since..

How does your Cleo BG look Bubbak?

I tried to touch up the lit area on my Cleo glass and the white came out blue, so I haven't attempted to touch up anything else on a glass. I have a few shot ones that are waiting for time to hang on the wall. I may attempt a few repairs on some of those..

Not as nice as the one that Mayfair has, but its pretty good.. I'd say its an 8-9. Not worth spending the money for the little difference.

Ok. I picked up one from Mayfair earlier this year. My current BG has a fair amount flaked off the large green face. Just checking to see if you had a need for a better condition glass.

About to tear down my Cleo, repaint the cab and clearcoat the playfield. Hopefully can have it compeleted by Jan 2023.

If you triple thick it, mask off the score window with cardboard. I cannot stand it when some lazy moron sprays the clear score window(s) and it goes from clear to translucent. You can totally see the triple thick standing in front of the game.

It only takes a couple of minutes to mask it off. Put some cardboard and then stack some quarters on the cardboard to keep it from moving. Spray. Then immediately remove the cardboard. You don't want the clear to dry and have the cardboard stuck there

If you do it like I described, it cures clear.

Okay, I didn't read your post.

I believe you, but I'd still mask it. Its me, not you.

I have done it both ways, if you do it right it does indeed cure clear and unnoticeable.

I sent you the link to that one. He has another one still I considered, but mine isn't $300 or so worse than the one he has. It matches the appearance of the rest of the game. Good luck on the teardown and restore.. Start a thread on it to get me motivated. Mine was the first game I ever worked on, so there is definitely some improvements to be made over what my original skill level was. The game just plays and hasn't had any hiccups or reason for me to even open the cabinet.

Youtube has some good videos. I watched one the other day that showed multiple coats of TT and then they used Glad Wrap to hold down the lifting paint. Once dried, the Glad Wrap lifted off without any damage.

I made a video on a horse race themed glass I had and taped everything up. I did not use the Glad Wrap because one time I was doing a glass and after the paint/ink was wet with TT, I tried to push the piece down, thinking it would be more pliable, and that lifted piece shattered into many pieces and landed in the goo below. Of course it did not fall in the correct pattern. So I am leery about mashing a lifted piece flat.

In my video I didn’t show the actual spraying but I did four coats horizontally and vertically thirty minutes apart. The first coats was from a good distance, a few feet up, so I did not blow the flaked paint away. My glass has tons of orange peel effect, probably over did it a bit, but it is sealed. The flaking areas are still bubbled, but as long as I don’t press on them, they should hold up.

Before applying Triple Thick, I mask the score reel and credit windows with pieces of yellow sticky notes I cut out that have the very light adhesive on them. I cover just slightly less than the window to make sure there’s a gap between them and the artwork. After three coats of Triple Thick two minutes apart, I immediately remove the yellow stickies. I’ve never had a problem using this method. Protected artwork with no coating on the main part of the windows. This takes awhile to do, but I’ve always gotten good results using this method. (The low-tack yellow paint tape in the photo is only on the tightly-fitting metal frame, which I didn’t dare remove.

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Mine has always been a bit finicky. I’ll post a restore thread.

You don't need to remove the upper brackets on a Gottlieb. That's what the slot is for. The glass will clear the brackets when it's in the slot.

The glass retention is typical Gottlieb. Tilt the backbox back board down. You must then slide the glass staright up then move the bottom of the glass into the groove and down, this is just behind where the glass normally sits. Then you tilt the glass toward the rear and bring it out through the backbox.

And that is why I hate the Gottlieb design. Terrifies me every time. Much prefer the William's/Bally approach to backglass retention.

Not the earlier Williams, like the reverse wedgeheads. You have to remove the entire lightbox insert and the brackets in order to remove the backglass.

I would recommend something a little heavier, like card stock. Use some heavy washers, or hex nuts to hold them down. Don't forget the replay window.

Yeah, too high a probability of scraping the back dropping it into the slot or needing to handle the backside pulling it out. I just carefully unscrew the 2 L brackets like a wimp.

I’ve tried a couple of ways of blocking the clear windows before spraying. They all have their drawbacks. I wish I had found the superglue method (before spraying) earlier. That worked pretty well for me when I finally tried it. The triple thick only (with plastic wrap) didn’t work as well for me with loose ink.

Dave

The yellow stickies, which I cut into smaller overlapping pieces to fit them inside the window, have always masked the Triple Thick just fine. I cut the pieces from only the part of the stickie with the very light adhesive on it, the part that actually “sticks” to things. This is enough adhesive to keep the stickie pieces sealed on the window when the Triple Thick is sprayed on, but it’s light enough to come off easily without causing problems. My concern with card stock with weights is Triple Thick seeping under the edges of the card stock. The stickie method seals the masking to the glass to guard against seeping.

I miss Steve Young's 'Cover-Your-Glass'. I have at least 10 glasses I used it on in the mid 80's and they look as good as the day I poured it on. They say that cold weather ruins them, but my games are not going outside anytime soon. I wish I had a couple more cans of the stuff.

Nice.
My glass has the same flaking on the reds.
I used a red comet LED on the sun and 2 of their red strips on the title.
I double sided taped them to the top of the insert cutout so that the lighting is a bit indirect. It fills in pretty well.

I’ll have to see if I have a photo of the end result someplace.

I'd have waited a couple of days at least before installing it in the game. You might have a surprise the next time you want to tip the lightbox insert back!

I tried it once, on a Flipper Fair, without masking. It did dry clear, but uneven. You could see ripples.

I cut slightly oversized rectangles (or trapezoids) from beer boxes, and use double sided tape on the back of them, being careful to only put the tape in the middle where it’s touching clear glass. Works like a charm.

Around windows you have to go fairly thick so it levels and it can't be too warm out or it dries too fast.

Oh and a follow up to those who advocate mylar? While there is a time and place for it, once the glass is covered in mylar there will be no touch up's after that point so do touch ups before or triple thick and touch up.

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ForceFlow - Will this non-masking technique work on score windows if the glass was cleared some time ago? Instead of spraying it on thick, if you didn't own the glass when it was originally cleared and it was cleared with a hazy score window. Can I now some time after the original clearing take this cleared glass and blast the score windows and have things clear up? Or does it have to be done all up front? Thx!

If the score windows are hazy after drying you would have to scrape off the clear that was used.