Once I got the pin open, I decided to clean some of the playfield to see what lay under all the grime.
I am really pleased with the way it cleaned up. I only spent five minutes with some Novus 2 but the dirt lifted beautifully and the colours came through as you can see below. I probably won't spend much more time cleaning until I do the full strip down but I do find it very satisfying to remove grime!
I still haven't found any wear on the playfield except for near the E N T drop targets. This area is always susceptible to damage. As previously mentioned though, I am not too concerned as I intend to add a 'Cliffy' protector here anyway. The protector will cover the area and prevent further damage.
Tomorrow I will be taking some 1000 grit sandpaper to the wireforms to see how they clean up. A lot of this rust seems to look at lot worse than it actually is. I am hoping that they'll clean up ok without having to be replated. I still intend to get everything gold plated but if they clean up to my satisfaction I may delay the gold treatment.
With them being gold, I doubt those ramps will come back (but like you say, you never know). Do a very small test section and if it's not good, leave them as the platers may well be able to do the rust removal part for you. For cleaning the rusty screw heads etc, get a wire brush attachment for your drill. For regraining the metal ball guides use http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/50-X-40-X-6MM-buffing-wheel-X5-buffing-wheel-FLAP_W0QQitemZ370143576872QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM?hash=item562e46c328
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