Options on Plastic Parts

[brentc3114]

Back in 1976 my dad purchased a vintage Pachinko machine from “Pachinko planet”. The machine has long been sold in a garage sale, and my dad passed away about 15 years ago.

Forward to last month, and my wife sees a vintage Nishijin pachinko machine at a Christmas Bazar, purchases it for $60 and hauls it out to her car.
I have other hobbies including vintage Lionel trains and astronomy. Some of my skills should transfer over.

I have disassembled the ball shooter mechanism and frankly the plastic “win” tray with its trim is gross. The nishijin badge has also lost its paint.
My plan was to clean these parts using toothpaste and a toothbrush (an old Lionel trick) then wash them clean. However, the parts are faded due to UV – yes, I know you can put a chemical on them to take the fading away, but it doesn’t last forever. Some of the trim parts had a plastic tab held on by a metal clip and one of the plastic tabs broke off – nothing a little glue won’t fix.

My question is: are reproduction trays and badges available? I looked on Ebay and the parts there are as bad or worse than mine. If reproduction parts are available, where would I get them?

The machine is overall in good condition. Chrome is good, and the playing surface has little wear.
I see my options as follows:

1. Accept the “patina”. Clean the parts, lubricate mechanisms, and basically get the machine working.
2. Find reproduction parts and simply replace these worn-out parts.
3. Send out the whole mechanism for rebuilding to someone else.

Any guidance that you guys can give me is appreciated.


IMG_0257.jpgIMG_0258.jpgIMG_0259.jpg

(Notice the fading on the "win" tray where it was grey originally.

[lotsoballs]

No; there’s no aftermarket replacement trays or emblems; try restoring the plastic to the original white color with Retrobright; then polish it up Novus 3 step plastic polish.

[MrGneiss]

WELCOME!!!

Retrobright, painting and 3D printing are the most common options it seems!!

[sparky kilowatt]

Welcome to the forums.

As the others have said, a hydrogen peroxide based whitening agent and some UV rays will work wonders on white plastics. As for the gray ball tray with yellowing, I used various grits of wet sandpaper (300/500/600/1000/1500/2000) followed by Novus 2 to bring back the original color. Took me an entire afternoon to complete it, but IMO the results were worth the effort.

As far as lubricating mechanisms, it's not really necessary, the lube will attract dirt and grime which will gunk things up in the long run. I use Miracle Polishing Cloth to clean and sort of wax the parts to smooth their operation. Carnauba auto wax has worked for me as well.

Here's an example of the tray I color sanded back to life.

[takethecastle57]

and biscuits

[brentc3114]

What did you use a 600 Grit wet and dry or Scotch Bright?

[sparky kilowatt]

What did you use a 600 Grit wet and dry or Scotch Bright?

I used the black wet and dry sandpaper used by autobody shops to color sand cars. Use a cup of water with a drop of liquid dish soap added to it, wet the paper and start sanding. Dunk the paper in the water periodically to clean the debris from the paper and keep sanding. Start with the highest number you can that will remove the yellow, scuffs or scratches (for me it was 300 or 600) then work you way up in numbers to make the scratches finer and smaller, finishing with Novus 2 to remove the micro scratches and restore the shine.

https://www.amazon.com/wet-dry-sandp...+dry+sandpaper

[brentc3114]

I used the black wet and dry sandpaper used by autobody shops to color sand cars. Use a cup of water with a drop of liquid dish soap added to it, wet the paper and start sanding. Dunk the paper in the water periodically to clean the debris from the paper and keep sanding. Start with the highest number you can that will remove the yellow, scuffs or scratches (for me it was 300 or 600) then work you way up in numbers to make the scratches finer and smaller, finishing with Novus 2 to remove the micro scratches and restore the shine.

https://www.amazon.com/wet-dry-sandp...+dry+sandpaper

Thank you. I will try that.