So I went to Pinball Life in Huntley IL two days ago to get some parts for my new (and first) RCT, and it was an awesome experience! Terry was a cool guy, and after I got my order, he let me spend the better part of an hour playing on his machines. Super fun! Totally satisfied with the parts I got from them, but one thing has posed a problem:

I picked up some button guard side rails. I took the old side rails off, which was nice and easy. Then I went to put the new ones on, but I noticed that both of the new rails were perfectly straight until they got to the point where the button guard starts, then the top rail bends downward slightly. Again this is on both of them. This means that at the backbox side, they line up perfectly with the screw holes, but at the coin door side, they sit up too high. Check out the pictures, although it is very hard to photograph.

My question is, I suppose I could try to stand on the edge and gently bend the rail a bit so that it didn't dip downward like this, but should I try taking them back to Pinball Life and exchanging them instead? Or can anyone tell me if all of these side rails have this downward bend in them by the button guard? It seems odd that it would be there, but even more odd the it would be there on BOTH of them. Let me know what you think if you have any input!!!

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Oh boy...I don't want to drill any holes or enlarge any holes in my cabinet. I guess I'll have to give Terry a call tomorrow and see if I can exchange them for better ones, or return them if they all have this problem. I hope they don't! I wanted to avoid having white wear spots appear over time, and I thought they looked slick too.

Thanks for the advice, but that won't cut it unfortunately. Even if I drilled out the screw hole, the button hole is not centered well enough for the flipper button to sit inside the rail hole. It is on the left side, but not on the right (one in picture). If I were to do anything, it would be to bend them a little because as you can see in the first two pictures, the problem is clearly caused by the rail being bent.

It is only bent from the flap area down, and it is bent on both rails. If they weren't bent, they would line up perfectly, so they question is, is the bend a defect? Or is the bend there on ALL of these side rails?

There is clearly a bend. Look at the first two pictures.

Thanks guys. The right flipper button definitely doesn't sit flush. I can't get it completely in the hole. I guess I'll have to call Terry tomorrow and see if I can bring them back in and trade for a better set. I should be able to look at them when I go there and see if they all seem to have this problem.

No risk, no reward! I just put on a heavy soled shoe, stepped on the inside of the top rail, and gently bent the flap back. Took a few times working it, but I got it on perfectly. So...the verdict is that yes, they come bent, but yes you can also bend them back and get them on there perfectly without having to drill anything out.

The other side was more severely bent and is giving quite a workout, but it's getting closer with every attempt. Here's a pic to show the difference.

For anyone looking to solve this problem in the future, I will elaborate once I get this second one done.

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She was a fighter! She almost had me, I must admit! In the end though, the secret is to just be patient and keep working it slowly.

For the sake of posterity for those who might search for this solution at a later date:

Wear a shoe with as solid a sole as you can find. Step on the rail with all of your weight on the outside of your foot (on carpet) and slowly work the flap side away from you. Just keep working it and then test fitting to see what progress you are making. You also want to grip the flap as low as possible so that you don't just bend the flap, you want to actually bend the rail, not the flap. Go slowly and deliberately.

I suppose you could try using clamps to clamp it to a work bench (flap sticking straight up) and then bend it that way, but if you did try that, you'd want to pad it with cloth so as not to scratch it. It did not try such a thing because I live in a little condo and have no real work area apart from my living room. So, for me it was the ghetto (but effective) "step on it and bend it away from you" method.

Here's the other side done. This one was bent a lot and it took a lot of working and working, but now it's on there just fine and I didn't have to do any altering of holes or drilling of anything.

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Haha! How many Aerospace Engineers does it take to change a set of Side Rails? Two if you provide the beer!!!

Ha! That's awesome! Beer makes everything better. Especially pinball. Well...I'm no Aerospace Engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!