Quoted from ramegoom:My first very functional and useful mod - just installed it tonight. I have been frustrated (as most of you) with the left and right drains, so I put together a modded outer drain rail piggyback piece. Fit nicely and it works absolutely great so far, so I think I got it just right. To do it, I needed to drill two holes on the playfield per side. Then I formed a stainless steel rail to match the factory rail size. Doing one at a time to test it.
My goal: Minimize the dreaded side drain. Not to eliminate it, but make it more difficult for the ball to drain as it does. So I built one for the left drain to test. Shown here, with the specific drill bit to make the rail fit tightly into the playfield:Positioning the new piggyback rail to see how it will fit into the machine:
Next, marked the location:
Drill the first hole into the playfield (I guess I'm now committed):
And the second hole:Tap the piggyback rail firmly into the playfield:
Move the pin post to the forward hole:
Clean up the playfield with a vacuum cleaner, and give it a shot. It works beautifully. I can still get a ball into the drain, but most of the time, if it's not a direct hit, it will bounce back. Out of ten potential hits, it drained twice. Before, it would have drained ten out of ten times....And, with the extra height, it has stopped a few air balls that would normally go right into the drain.
I will now make the right side identically to the left side. The machine is much more fun to play when the game ball lasts a bit longer.
100% happy with this mod.
Yikes