Middle-oldest was looking for a way to earn some money over the weekend so I paid him to teardown Spanish Eyes. He removed everything that could be removed without messing with the underside of the playfield—including the apron and ball trough parts—and sorted out the pieces for me. He was a little grossed out by how dirty everything was, particularly when it came to the old crusty rubbers. He did a great job with almost no supervision. What an awesome help and totally worth the $$ for me.
Then last night after everybody went to bed i removed everything else (save for switches and stand-up targets). I also removed the woodgrained pop-bumper contact paper protectors. They were so brittle they were basically falling off, but i heated it up with a hair drier and they came off without peeling much of any paint. This did reveal some substantial wear spots, but that was to be expected. I will need to remove the adhesive with the goo gone and flour trick, but it should go quickly. I am planning to touch up these areas and put new, clear mylar back on (after waxing) to protect. It is going to be very hard not to start a playfield restoration. The ball swirling and discoloring from fine dust in cracks of the clear is extensive and begging to be cleaned with alcohol and magic eraser. BUT I WILL NOT do that at this time. I promise. I don’t want to have the machine out of commission for 4-6 months right now. I’m going to get it as clean as possible, wax it, and have some fun.
Next steps:
- remove mylar adhesive
- clean with degreaser
- clean with naptha
- rebuild flippers
- rebuild pops
Can’t wait to play this game as it was intended – with firm flippers, powerful pops, and a waxed playfield.
Side note, while removing the pop bumpers i figured out what the strange looking hack was with wires taped together. It was kind of an extension bridging the the official playfield wiring to the pop bumper light socket wire. They just twisted the wires together and taped it. whatever, i’ll make it right when the pops go back in. Now there are zero mysteries with this machine!
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