I'm running into restoration angst in my current project. I bought an ugly, cammoflage spraypainted Ikari Warriors conversion off Ebay. I wanted the joysticks, and got the cab for cheap. I figured that I'd just repaint the cab and save myself some trouble in making my MAME. I talked it over with my wife, and sold her on that idea.


Once I got it home, I started in on the sides with a heat-gun. The black/brown/green spraypaint seperated relatively cleanly from the origional artwork, and I was left looking at reasonably clean Burgertime side-art.
After I drilled out the rivets holding the plexi on the control panel, and peeled off the black vinyl, there was a nice looking Burgertime CP overlay with a bunch of holes drilled into it.
So I start thinking... Do I want to restore the thing? With a little paint, and some time, and TLC, I could have a restored Burgertime.
I even thought about MAMEing it then and just putting on 4-way/one-button/ vertical games.
So I showed it to my wife, who gave me a choice. Restore it to its former glory, and then sell it, or proceed with the planned conversion and be allowed to bring it into the house.
Lesson Learned: If you don't intend to restore the origional artwork, just get a chemical stripper and save yourself a lot of work and angst.