Hey there 27dnast. Yes, it was a wedgehead at one point in its life.

I would recommend doing mechanics first, get it working and playing great, then worry about cosmetics. Because things will (probably) not work right when you put it back together, that's how most machines go as they're picky, and adding that on top of a machine that could have any number of terribly long winding problems from whatever it went through in its life, it's a recipe for a bad time and one of those games that never leaves your garage because it's such a pain. Mechanics first, definitely. Don't do any work on the cabinet until then is my strong recommendation!

If you sleep on it and feel it's too much I'm driving through Maryland Sunday and Monday. Make sure you keep an open mind because they are nothing like solid state and DMD games, not from a playing standpoint, not from a cosmetic standpoint, and certainly not underneath. These are a whole new beast, in good ways and bad ways but I love both.

Head could of gotten broken, wet, lost, who knows. Some crazy things have happened to these machines in their life, some really really bizarre things and this is how some end up all these decades later.

They're probably not too bad to get made (maybe a little pricey) and of course a ton of machines shared the same original head, so a used one probably wouldn't be very hard to find either. I forget if the early 60's ones are any different than the ones up until 1979. I feel like they were, which would decrease your chances a little as you'd need to find one from the mid-60's to 1960.

Try to post some pics of the pin so we can judge, might not be that bad.

Pretty much. Yes, it's annoying to take apart again for cosmetics, but you'll need it set up to work on the mechanics of it. (Very preferably)

Looks like maybe a modified Gottlieb or Bally multiplayer head if it's not homemade.

That cabinet is from a 4 player Gottlieb Liberty Belle game. Unfortunately the top and bottom of the cabinet are wrong for a wedgehead. You'll need a complete wedge head cabinet from 1961-1964

Mike V

The guts are different especially for a 1 player versus a 4 player. I would theorize that the cover girl cabinet got moisture damaged and they swapped the guts. The head guts would be more complicated. Though I wonder what happened to the liberty bell that they needed to gut that one

On the bright side that is the best cover girl playfield I've seen. Those little silver squares wear off easy. Backglass, plastics are available repro

Mike V

Hey, would you mind measuring that backbox for me? It looks close to a match for what I'm looking for, for my Star-Jet rebuild project. I doubt it's a direct match but I'm curious on how close it is.

Although I don't have a wedgehead head to trade, I'm sure I could toss you a little cash to offset the cost of your wedge-head if you'd like while also helping save another game rather than just your head ending up in the trash.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/saving-1963-star-jet-saving-working-very-rare-part-out-destroyed-em

The backglass has been reproduced by Ron Webb. It is still listed on his website, but you may want to contact him in person to see if he actually has one. http://pinballglass.homestead.com/

You can try placing ads on the usual sites. It's possible that someone has a hopelessly trashed parts game with that style of cabinet. Not all wedgehead cabinets are the same. "Cover Girl" has the earliest type of wedgehead cabinet. There were approximately 14 different wedgehead models made with this type of cabinet. It is the shallowest of the wedgehead bodies (each subsequent version was deeper), and has the thinner ball push up rod, and "beehive" style ball shooter bezel. Also, the center of the "neck" (pedestal) is indented, and the head has a wooden channel in the rear to accept the lower edge of the inverted style metal rear panel. The bolt hole spacing for mounting the head to the body is different than later versions. Gottlieb made incremental changes to the cabinet designs as the years passed. The major components of your "Cover Girl" would probably fit easily into later wedgehead cabinets, but you should try to get the original type if possible.

Unfortunately no. Maybe you'd find a serial number, but that doesn't help much as there is no identifying information like a model number on them (usually).

Just my opinion, but I would try to get it working first. Hopefully it was just a cabinet swap and the game is otherwise complete.

No. Just the identifying characteristics that I described. This is a list of the wedgeheads that have this type of cabinet. I may have missed one or two, but it's mostly comprehensive, but not in any particular order.
Flipper
Flipper Fair
Flipper Parade
Flipper Clown
Flipper Cowboy
Foto Finish
Olympics
Egg Head
Rack a Ball
Show Boat
Cover Girl
Big Casino
Tropic Isle
Corral

Check that. I believe there is a model number for each type of cabinet stamped somewhere inside. It's usually a number like D-12345.
I'll bet Steve Young of The Pinball Resource would know. I'll ask him if I get a chance soon.

There's a thread here on Pinside that you might want to post to.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/looking-for-cabinet-headbackbox-thread-buy-sell-trade

I can set you up with a cabinet and head with the proper artwork. I travel back and forth to Md my kid goes to school in Baltimore. You can see pics of past work here on my profile.

If you kept it in that cabinet, you would have one unique Cover Girl. It's amazing what people or operators will try to put together to make work.

Don't waste time and effort doing that. It's a wedgehead, and should be in the correct cabinet. Until then, I'd just leave that cabinet as is.
Shop the playfield, and get a new backglass, but try to locate the correct style cabinet if you're going to go to the trouble of painting it.
Just my humble opinion.

Hey, 27dnast.........

My suggestion is to use JR's list of pinballs and find yourself a complete used cabinet for the game if you're going to keep it. No offense, but that cabinet head with a single-player backglass is butt-ugly! The cabinet lower portion is also much different. Once this is found, you'll more than likely want to seek out a better backglass as well.

You will also need the bottom cabinet portion lock-down bar, which never comes with the cabinet purchase. This will be a pricy / very tough find. The lock-down bar you presently have will not work on the correct single-player cabinet. All other metal, (that I can think of), should transfer without a problem, as well as the beehive shooter.

In the end, you will have a nice desirable game, but this is a project that will take some time and investment. Finding a complete cabinet and doing a re-paint, along with the price of the backglass, lock-down bar and back door may very well have you upside down, (regarding ROI). Best to decide now if you can live with that possibility. If not, the condition of the playfield should make this game an easy sell.......

Super nice..maybe $800 or $900. What you have...$200.

Kevin Redzinski from New Jersey might have a something for you. He paints / refurbishes cabs.
[email protected]

I think he may have already commented above. Isn't he "paintpins"?

I think it's worth a bit more with that nice of a playfield. $350-$400 more like it as is.

I don't think that shooter shaft would work with an original cabinet. It's that strange type that's integrated into the lockdown bar assembly so it's probably longer than needed. The original cabinet style lockdown bar is the wingnut type, and as "boatcat" said, they're tough to come by.

And Pinside's promoted ads are doing well because they have a Cover Girl coming up listed at $1200! Who knows if it will get that much but at least the ad is relevant.

I think this, "What You Have," quote is a bit harsh. Given the interest explosion in playfield reproduction, along with the condition of this playfield, hard telling what someone might offer for it. Personally, I'd need to see more close-up pictures, but if it's that nice, my guess would be $400+ especially since it's pre-wired.

JR's info above concerning the shooter rod is accurate, (forgot about it, sorry). Since it is incorporated into the lock-down bar of your game, the rod is approx 1" longer than what you'll need.