With respect to how low the Hammer "swings" when it hits the ball...
Currently, my hammer stops above the ball.
Since the hammer head is hollow and the bottom of it is open, it seems to me that it would be a cooler effect to have the hammer drop right down to the play field, enveloping the ball so that the player doesn't see it disappear.

Is the one I have working as designed, or is there an adjustment that can be made to change that?

On page 10 of the manual, https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/MTLAB1-compressed.pdf it lists parts 8 (280-5014-00) as "Adjustable Bumper/Stop" and 12 (535-0692-00) as "Coil retaining bracket-adjustable".

Has anyone tried toying with these?

Thanks in advance.

After lifting the play field and checking things out, it's pretty straight forward after all.
The resting position of the hammer is now lower, which looks better -but the final striking position still isn't as low as I'd like.
Good enough for me though.