Old pinball machines often have a lot of rusty parts. The rust is caused by years of spilled soda, spilled beer, storage in damp basements, and exposure to moist environments like bars full of sweaty sailors or arcades full of sweaty adolescents.
Certain brands of pinball machines tend to rust more than others due to poor-quality plating. Stern Electronics solid-state pinball machines in particular have terrible plating. No matter how much you clean the parts up, they will look bad. Gottlieb pinball machines from the 60s on the other hand shine up like new.
Removing rust from vintage pinball machines is part of the restoration process and can bring these fine old amusement devices back to their former glory.
Rust Removing Methods
Rust-removing methods come down to soaking, scrubbing, sanding, tumbling and a combination of all of the above. NOTE: Do not grab a can of WD-40 and start spraying. This kind of oil will just collect dust and it’s highly flammable. The inside of the pinball machine has lots of sparks that can ignite the machine!
The good news is most of the rust you will come across is surface rust that can be knocked off and the part will solid.
For the least effort and the most fun, soaking your parts overnight in a rust-removing solution is a good first step. You can use white vinegar or a commercial formula such as Evaporust.
Submerge your rusty tools or parts in a tub of white vinegar or Evapo-Rust and let them sit overnight or as long as 24 hours.
White vinegar – The acetic acid in this common household product is acidic enough to dissolve rust. You can soak smaller things like earrings, wipe it onto a surface with an old cloth, or just pour it directly over rust spots or bolts and screws that have rusted together.
But – Vinegar will dissolve nickel plating, albeit slowly. It’s also worth noting that if your nickel plating is compromised the vinegar will start eating away at that area.
- EVAPO-RUST RUST REMOVER: Evapo-Rust effortlessly removes rust from automotive parts, hardware, tools, cookware, and antiques without any scrubbing or sanding.
- SAFE TO USE: This metal rust remover is made of a non-toxic and water-based solution that is easy to use on automotive, household, and industrial-grade metal parts. It contains no harmful acids, solvents, bases, odors, or fumes.
- VERSATILE: The non-corrosive rust remover can be used to remove rust from all metals including auto parts, tools, cast iron cookware, clocks, grills, and more.
- EASY TO USE: To remove rust from your metal parts submerge completely in the water-based rust remover, once the rust is removed, rinse with water and protect with a corrosion inhibitor.
Stubborn rust can then be scrubbed off with a wire brush, sandpaper or other abrasives.
Don’t use steel wool because it leaves behind lots of little metal pieces that are picked up by the magnets in your pinball machine. And since the metal bits are conductive, it can lead to electrical shorts.
Rotary tool or Dremel Tool and Wire Brush
One of the best methods I’ve found for knocking off surface rust on a vintage pinball machine is the use of a rotary tool with a wire brush. Just be sure to use safety precautions so you don’t end up with a bit of metal in your eye or rust in your lungs.
You can pick up some rather inexpensive cordless rotary tools these days.
Be sure to wear a good quality mask and eye protection when sanding rust or using the rotary tool.
These types of steel brushes do a great job of knocking off surface rust. They can work around a variety of shapes and get into places that sandpaper can’t handle.
uTumbling Small Parts
Smaller parts can be tumbled in a media of walnut shells using a tumbler designed for shining up metal bullet casings. This method might not be enough for removing hard rust but it will remove dirt and give a final polish to metal pieces. See this blog post on cleaning pinball parts in a tumbler:
Final Polishing
Once most of the rust is gone you move to a polish phase and use something like Quick Glo. Quick Glo will remove rust and polish as it has finely crushed pumice stone in it.
For fine polishing to bring out the shine in stainless steel parts, try Mother’s Metal Polish. Work it into the metal until a black residue develops and then keep polishing away to bring out a bright finish.
Protecting the part from future rust
If you can’t remove a part and it’s a non-moving part that needs to be protected from further degradation, you can try this Corrosion Block High-Performance Waterproof Grease. This stuff is non-flammable which is key around sparking pinball machines, is approved for use on all metals and electronics and the clear ultra-thin fluid film leaves a non-greasy atmospheric barrier to protect the base metal.
You can also give your newly de-rusted pinball part a coating of paint such as metal gray or chrome spray paint.
Metal Plating Pinball Parts
I haven’t tried nickel or zinc plating pinball parts but it’s on my list of things to try in the future. Nickel or zinc plating is an inexpensive method of plating parts and is certainly doable for the average person with basic DIY skills.
Electroplating kits are available and consist of a power source, solutions and metal strips. Electroplating is a process that uses an electric current to reduce dissolved metal cations so that they form a thin coherent metal coating on an electrode. Zinc serves as a first line of defense which protects the steel from certain elements, and can ward off rust concerns for much longer than standard steel. Nickel plating is more expensive but provides a higher metal shine as an end result.
[…] How to remove rust from old pinball parts By Edward Fielding […]