Please post a pic - I don't understand what metal rod piece is missing.

Here's a teardown pic of my Eight Ball that may help.

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I just finished restoring mine. Here’s a better picture of the top side assembly but I also don’t understand what you mean by “metal rod piece”.

The switch can be flakey and a PITA to dial in this would be the cause of it not firing that 1 time out of 10.

As for not being powerful enough to put the ball back into play, I’d recommend disassembling the kick-back, making sure the armature is clean, replace the coil sleeve and re-solder the the wires at the coil. You can also measure the armature and get a new one the correct length. This may help if the tip is mushroomed and not at the designed length any longer.

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Maybe there was a post there to make sure the ball wouldn't get stuck in that spot...due to the non-working kickback. Once you take it apart and clean/reassemble, hopefully you'll find the problem's fixed.

One thing to note: i have had the plunger on a kickback magnetize--it would work sporadically. Drove me nuts until i found out about the plungers occasionally magnetizing on them for whatever reason. So if everything looks good, you may want to try a new plunger for the kickback.

There seems to be a lot of abnormal wear in that area - apron rub, weird paint wear, and scratches. While you're in that area, make sure the apron is not catching on the plunger, and push those nails back in next to the switch. Also, make sure everything associated with the coil is tight - the plunger guide and the bracket that attaches to the playfield.

Here's a drawing showing where the long and short posts go, along with different hardware. Keep in mind I developed this drawing based upon what I found while I took apart my Eight Ball. I had no reason to believe that the machine had been torn down previously. Hopefully, this can help you with your ball getting stuck.

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Way late to the party on this one - however, I was experiencing the same issue. I changed the coil sleeve and that made all the difference.