Gorgar Plastics

Game Restoration,Playfield Restoration

Sometimes you come across a machine where the plastics are, um, a bit wavy. Like this Gorgar. We were getting it shopped for a customer when we realized just how bad the plastics were. So we decided to fix them. Here’s how:

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Gorgar came out in 1979, and about 14,000 were produced. It’s notable for being the first talking machine, with a vocabulary of seven words.

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The first thing we did was take off the plastics and clean them. Look at that wave.

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Another shot. All of the plastics had a bit of wave to them.

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We put the plastics on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Then we put them into an oven that we’d preheated to 225 degrees. You can increase this to 240 if after 4-5 minutes the plastics still aren’t soft enough. If it’s too hot, the plastics will bubble or burn.

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Make sure to check on the plastics often. You’ll be able to tell when they start to get pliable. Pat them down with a non-textured material, such as an oven mitt, so you don’t leave prints.

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When the waves have eased, pull the plastics out and put something heavy on top of them. We’ve used books before, but the soda was convenient this time. Let them sit like this for a few minutes, so the plastics cool to a very flat level.

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Then they’re ready to put back in your game. We also did some paint touch-ups to this Gorgar and installed LEDs in the inserts

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Now that is one sweet machine. “Gorgar speaks!”