Once you find your Gold Crown you will need a skilled and reputable mechanic to check it for loose spots on the cushions and cracked, chipped, or warped slate.  Check the slates very closely.  My mechanic said that he sees a warped or cracked one now & then, and sometimes the dowels have to be removed in order to properly align the slates without cracking them out at the dowels (it could be that this was on slates that were mixed between sets).

Have the table delivered and left in pieces.  Tighten all of the frame's bolts.  It might also be a good idea to drill and dowel all the frame's slate screw holes and start with new screws into freshly drilled pilot holes.   Strip the paint from the table's aprons (side pieces) legs, and the bridge that connects the legs (be sure to preserve the make & model decal!).  Fill any nicks with wood filler or spackling compound.  (It may not be necessary to strip the strip the aprons, but I don't like having too much paint on stuff.)  The ends of the legs will likely be butcher-block maple, which if clear-coated makes for a very nice highlight.   When the clear is completely dry, mask it off and then roll (yes, just like on your living room walls) the rest of the wood bits with a few coats of gloss black enamel.   (Pull the masking tape off while the black is still wet.  Re-mask before the next coat).  Make sure the inserts that the feet thread into are mounted really well. As I recall, I had to drill mine for additional mounting screws, as they were loose & wobbly.

Clean the rubber cushions with naphtha, acetone, or lacquer thinner - which ever works best  (I used a spray electronic contact cleaner called ZepElec).  As I recall, the original cushions will say Brunswick Monarch on them.   I can't remember if they are off-white rubber with dark red control cloth or vice versa.  Mine looked really bad when I stripped the cloth off, but after the solvent cleaning they looked like new.  (My table mechanic, who now just restores antique tables, feels that the old Monarch cushions will outlast all of the cushions that are being manufactured today.)  The rails should require no additional work other than cleaning, however on some the footrail nameplate is proud of the rail surface and can scratch cues.  Use a Dremel or chisel and recess the plate so that it is just below the surface.

The GC metalwork is weird: The finishing shop said that the rail trim is aluminum, but they were not sure what the corner castings are (I was lucky enough to get a full set without ashtrays).  I had everything chromed, which they said would be ok indoors and so long as no one whacked 'em.  This cost me $300 back in '88.  It would be a good idea to have the edges of the pocket castings buffed, as they can scratch cues pretty readily.  Black chrome might look interesting.

Give the paint some time to cure and then heavily wax every area where painted pieces will touch after the table has been assembled.  Now have your mechanic come in and set it up.

Buy a GC cue rack if they have one.  The rubber thingies that hold the cues in can be replaced by rubber rod.  On mine the cue butt recesses were so deep that the butt plates hit, so after painting the thing black I put maple drawer knobs in the recesses. This still gives a recess, and the maple mimics the ends of the legs.