Similar to what force flow said. Start with some kind of thin pry bar underneath. I actually take a pry bar that I have ground to a finer Edge to get it started. Prying up carefully underneath to not damage paint. Since I'm re-graining the side rails anyway, I'm not concerned about minor scratching and just pull the nails out. PBR Replacements are the most authentic for Gottlieb games. They are nickel-plated as opposed to just zinc or stainless.