I agree!!!! Not quite sure which plastic you're talking about. Is it the one at an angle with a small "L" bracket holding it up?

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I believe the heads of the brass bolts push "up" against the underside of the lockdown bar. I think to tighten the lockdown bar, you need to back out the brass screws counterclockwise

I just updated mine from L-2 (yeah, L-2) to LX-5. It has cleared up all remnants of Bluto center ball lock issues. I fixed most of the issues a few years ago by replacing all the micro switches in the weldment, but still every once in a while a ball would eject when hit in there too fast (I'm using superbands) It has also added extra speech when in the sweet pea maze in the upper PF. Very cool.

I did!

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Yeah, I had to replace all of mine when I had my Popeye. The tricky part is to get the micro switches to stay actuated when balls are locked and are lying over the switch blades. The blades will also get hung up on the slots through the metal scoop.. Another thing to watch out for is the over-tightening of the micro switches causing them to bind, and also verify the switches are installed properly to the weldment with the proper rectangular washer. Another factor is to make sure the table at the proper angle (6.5deg) and testing the trough out of the machine with rolling balls into/through it. The "whistle" and spit out/eject when it's not supposed to when balls are hit in.. god, that's annoying!

This game really needs the bluto lock dialed in, otherwise its a PITA to get to wizard mode

Yeah, it was my 1st pin, I learned a LOT on it and really miss it. Had to go in order to make room!

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that's a little ironic, since you colorized it!!!!

that's the beauty of ColorDMD being totally portable!!

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beautiful job colorizing it BTW.... for me the hardest part of that game is completing the Cartel modes to get to wizard mode. THe Wizard mode on this game (especially with color) is sweet! I think because it's so hard to get to, not many people have been there.

This is really great, since Popeye's red is always faded to pink or gone entirely. Thanks for the share!

My Popeye had the flat face and the socket in there, with no bulb in it bent around facing rearward. not sure if it started it's life with the 3D bluto face, and was switched to the flat one later on. it was hidden pretty well, but there for sure. a wedge style black socket riveted to a flat of metal

Most people don't realize that Popeye is a fairly complex pin from a cost/components standpoint. It's right up there with the other widebodies of it's day. When I owned mine, the center ball lock scoop switches drove me nuts. Takes quit a bit of tuning to get this right.

Check to see if your LEFT side rail is cracked anywhere. The rails Midway used have finger-joints in them that may come apart. If this happens, the rear corners will sag, thus creating a lean at the backboard to whichever side has the crack(s). replacing them will correct any mis-alignment with the upper PF since its attached to the backboard. This happened to my Indiana Jones. see images.
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Layer lines are a function of the quality/type of the rapid prototyping machine, or 3D printer, not the resolution of the CAD model (STL file, IGES file, ASCII file) there's no such thing as "CAD resolution"

Might want to think about maybe outsourcing the print job to a place that has a professional machine, such as a stratasys. Even those produce lines, but at a much finer scale.

I'm a career CAD Design Engineer hope this helps