Gorf Cocktail Restoration

[emperormax]

Here is the Gorf Cocktail machine I am restoring.

The cabinet is in really good shape and the inside is pretty clean. I bought it from the original owner whose parents bought it brand new from a distributor in Rockville, MD. They kept it in their rec room.
Attached Thumbnails

[emperormax]

he glass and artwork is not in bad shape. The glass top itself is pretty scratched up and the art is flaking and cracking.

Would anyone want to buy the original glass from me? Does it have any value? I suppose I could try to touch it up with paint -- would that be worth the trouble?

[emperormax]

The monitor needs some work, too. There is a bit of ghosting in the images, the colors seem a bit washed out, and the tinted plexi that goes over the bezel is bad. At first, I thought there was dirt on the underside, but it turned out to be little imperfections that formed INSIDE the plexi. Like tiny fractures, or bubbles.

[emperormax]

I plan to replace the glass with brand new glass from Holland Computers (great place to do business with, btw) and replace the artwork with a repro underlay from Artwork Doctor.

The plexi I just plan to do away with. I was told by someone that it was only there as an anti-reflective screen if the game was going to be in direct sunlight. Does anyone think it's necessary? The screen brightness might need to be turned down to compensate for the lack of tinting.

The monitor, I think, just needs a cap kit. The chassis seems to work perfectly otherwise. And there are no problems with gameplay whatsoever.

The control panels aren't in bad shape, but the colors are a bit faded, so I'm going to replace the overlays with repros. The light shields are fine but I want to get those custom light shields that one dude on here is making, to dress it up. They will look just like the Gorf marquee.

If anyone else has any ideas, or how to make this restoration more complete, I'm open to suggestion. Should be a fun little project, and easy, which is good since it's my first real restoration. I've worked extensively on the Electrohome G08 monitor in my Star Trek machine, so I know how to deal with that, but I've never done anything to the outside of any machine before (other than building my MAME cab -- see my avatar).

[Slippyblade]

So that art was screened/painted in the back side of the glass?  Neat.

[emperormax]

So that art was screened/painted in the back side of the glass?  Neat.

yup, that's how they did it originally.  I could restore the original glass. The scratches can be removed by applying a paste wax or a  polishing compound and buffing it up.  The artwork could be scraped away where it is flaking and cracking and then touched up with new paint.

But would it be worth it? It would be a lot of effort with no guaranteed outcome of success. And would it really be any better than new glass and a reproduction of the art on a piece of vinyl underneath?

Max

[yotsuya]

Kudos to you for restoring that and not going the MAME/LCD route. 

[Vigo]

Personally, anytime I feel I can save an original piece, I attempt to do so first. Since it is only black that needs to be filled, I would personally try painting and seeing how it feels.

That being said, You might get some money for this on ebay if at least two people with cash are in need of this part. It would be tempting to do in order to fund your restore. Sometimes the right pinball backglass goes for a hefty sum, and I would think this would be no different.

No matter what, awesome score. I love Gorf.

[behrmr]

That glass is really not too bad.  You could tape it off and put a couple layers of triple thick glaze on it to stop the flaking. And then pain the missing areas black.  But I think I saw on another thread you got an underlay.  So, yeah, put this up on eBay.  I would triple thick it first though.

[emperormax]

That being said, You might get some money for this on ebay if at least two people with cash are in need of this part. It would be tempting to do in order to fund your restore. Sometimes the right pinball backglass goes for a hefty sum, and I would think this would be no different.

I put it on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gorf-Cocktail-Arcade-Game-Original-Glass-Top-/321793966380?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aec6a412c