THIS.

The consistent problem with games this age is that the shooter rod will hit the ball too high, instead of at the center of the ball. Angling the shooter rod mechanism by putting a washer outside the game, at the bottom of the housing, will properly align the shooter rod with the exact center of the ball.

The guy who was talking about the metal fingers to either side of the shooter rod plunger is correct also. The ball has to rest in the correct spot.

The playfield itself frequently has an eighth of an inch push either way... it needs to be aligned so that the plunger exactly hits the center of the ball. I sometimes will put small 'shims' on the left or right side of the inside of the cabinet that force the playfield when you lower it to fit only where the ball is in good alignment left and right.

Finally, I am a BIG FAN of the magnetic switches. Great product, buy with confidence that you are getting the best stuff that you can put in your pinball.

I'm very interested in the original poster's findings that having the shooter rod just a bit off center up and to the left got a more reliable strike. Maybe I haven't done enough fine tuning, because it's been my experience that a dead center strike is what get's me reliable results.

Largely because the shooter rod housing and sleeve on these pinballs have quite a bit of slop. Turn the rod with the shaft extended and the tip will frequently move several millimeters off of true center. And if that is a couple millimeters either way, putting it dead center in the middle ends up being my best compromise.

This was a great thread. Thanks to the original poster for making me want to look a lot closer at my next taxi shooter rod alignment!