MMR was shipped with metal ones, Stern ships plastic I think. Not sure about Stern though.

I'd stay away from them, all that's going to do is hide the current damage and extend it to where the pincab protector hits the cabinet.
get the metal ones if you can find them
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/535-0599-00
they add a small gap so there is no wear btwn the legs and artwork.

I found this out the hard way and took them off all my machines.

These metal protectors didn't exist until a couple of years ago or so, definitely long after TZ was manufactured. So there is no way the metal protectors were "always on" a TZ machine.

I'd just drill the holes if I was you, you can always bondo the other holes later.

Is it possible to put the metal protectors on without screwing them into the cabinet.

Sure it is, just slide the bolt through the leg and the metal protector then put the leg on.

My Leg Light-Up mod bolts right over the small metal or plastic protectors so they don't come in contact with your cab.....and they look great too.

Blue Leg Light-Ups on Stern Star Trek (resized).jpg

I've never seen those leg light-up mods before - thanks for sharing. Not sure why one of your images got an "unsafe" tag though as nothing in that image looks unsafe to me. Also, the carpet in that first picture looks wild!

With the original question in the thread, I was wondering if applying the metal version of the Stern leg protectors without screwing them to the cabinet would provide the same cabinet protection as when the protector is screwed directly to the cabinet. When mounted only with the leg bolts then the leg bolts provide all the attachment points. Could there be more movement of the leg/protector combination this way than there would be when the protector is screwed to the cabinet?

If you don't screw them to the cabinet you're semi-defeating their function. The idea is the screws keep them from moving around and damaging the cabinet. Of course the damage will be under the legs and won't show so I guess it's personal preference.

Since they're a permanent attachment I would not be worried about adding the additional screw holes.

Thanks, I've been making them for about a year in a bunch of different colors, find my topic "New LED Leg Light-Ups", a bunch of pictures and comments. Yeah no idea why it's marked unsafe. The carpet is called Under the Sea and it's black light reactive. The room REALLY lights up with it.

Sure there could but I haven't seen any. If someone was that worried others have cut the decal all the way around the small protector to be on the safe side. Some have taken the cut portion of the decal off while others have left it on.

Yup there's that too.

you could use some double backed tape and tape them to the legs. But I am with others here. You are better off to screw them to your cabinet; That way they are locked into position and will not slide around to make more damage. It is just one screw hole that you will never see.

Pinball life has some that are made of felt. I have those one one cabinet. I like them and might use them again. With felt you do not need to screw them on.

What are the best size screws for this? Thanks.

The larger colored pincab protectors have been known to cause cabinet damage also, especially to decals. However they do a good job of hiding existing leg damage. So I always install the smaller metal cabinet protectors underneath them.