Topic: How to restore a brown marble Tornado?

[pmc]

Hi guys. Casual home game room player here. I bought an old brown marble coin-op and want to restore it. I have some questions about how to go about it:

How to clean up the marble laminate? I was going to use Novis but am also considering CounterTop Magic. I've got scuffs and dullness, but no deep scratches.
How to polish the nylon men? They were filthy and I cleaned them with kitchen spray cleaners, but they are still dirty and need more work. What's the best approach here? I was going to take them all off and soak them before attempting to "polish" with something. I don't think I want to pay to replace them all just to get them to look "new".
How to install blanks in the coin mech? I can't seem to find a manual online. I have blanks, but I don't know how to install them. For now, we use a bucket of quarters. 

That's about it. Table reeks of cigarette smoke and has scotch tape remnants all over, but is otherwise not bad at all! Two of the rods will get replaced at some point. In the meantime, I'll polish them / remove rust spots with steel wool. The play surface is great. I'll silicone the rods and replace cracked bumpers (3 of them). I was not planning on servicing the bearings. Anything else I need to think of?

TIA!

-pmc

[Old Meister]

What I did was to get the pin punch and bearing wrench and took the bearings out and removed the men that got the most use(3 rod) and replaced them with the men on the side of the goalie and one of the middle 5 rod guys. The feet do wear so it makes a difference. I also bought new bushings and replaced them but also you can switch them around so that the least used rod, opposite side bushings go to the most used rod(3 man) close side as the close side bushings get the most wear. I had black gunk in each bushing and after cleaning it out and then bought the silicon lube from this site, I now have smooth play.  For the coin slot I just opened the table and taped a barrier across the bottom of the goal outlet. I just suffer with reaching in to get the ball.

[pmc]

Thanks for this advice. I got my rods and men looking clean after a full disassemble. The bearings were gunked up and they are now clean. I have silicone lube and will put that on. I'm moving the rods around because some are slightly warped.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to "polish" the nylon men so they look newer. They are clean, but dull.

Still not sure how best to polish the laminate or how to install the blanks in the coin mech. This old coin-op has 23K+ games on it and it's pretty tired looking. I probably should have waited for a nicer one.

-pmc

[bbtuna]

you have now, no regrets...don't use anything on the surface or men...hot water and power provided by armstrong is all you need

don't worry about the men being shinny...just want them clean, no cracks, and ensure they have all the tread on there

surface is the same...good hard work and hot water, that is all you want...you don't want any foreign substances....some people say Windex is okay but I am a purest and don't think you ever need that

outside cabinet, legs, and feet you can use Windex

plan to replace bent rods with the newer heat-treated rods...about $35 each

get new balls and enjoy

[pmc]

no regrets...

Thank you. I needed that comment.

And thank you for the advice. That old table is slowly starting to look new again.

-pmc

[bbtuna]

by the way, get Dynamo balls, from this website, they play better especially if you don't play a lot

when the Warrior ball is available for sale, I recommened getting that...I have played it and it is softer, smoother, and slightly lighter which traslates to more control and less wear on your arm/wrist