saw this once on a roto pool i once was interested in i didnt end up getting it (found a better one since) but i had assumed they were jimmy rigged to replace broken or missing ones. now that i look at it again they dont look as unprofessional as i first thought.

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Here is a hole worked into my Flying High. A wire could be pushed through to trip a 'Points' switch on the playfield.
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When I bought the game, it had custom made metal blades/liners on the inside. Made out of galvanized metal. LOL not a HUO pin LOL.

One of my WMS Golden Bells has these retrofit metal rails installed. Looks like crap IMHO.

Im guessing at one point, they must have been a purchase item. They look too straight bent to be like some of the other old vender DYI stuff. Like scrap hunk of metal plate on bottom etc...

I think they are interesting, but have to agree....the real wood really is too nice a finish to hide under a big metal bracket...

Well, I NEVER would have guessed that this was the reason. I'm going to have to believe that there was metal installed at one time. The holes on my game do not line up with anything on the play field so I'm going to assume those holes were made to hold the strips on.
Cant believe so many yall knew exactly what was up with this. Thanks for the info, always good to learn something pinball !

Here are some photos of my 1948 Exhibit Supply ‘New Contact’. It was converted to have flippers at some point early in its life but otherwise remains original down to its coin box. A real survivor and not a game you see very often.

I never had a game with the spring compression bumpers before but they are very snappy similar to if they were DC powered. The original flyer calls them “explosion kickers” that “give action and thrilling suspense as never before”.

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Very nice machine. The flipper conversion looks to have been done quite professionally.

Thank you. Here is a shot of a flipper button. They appear to be the same pearloid red plastic as the beehive on the front.

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That button looks really low on the cabinet. Can you even reach it with your hands on the front rail? Probably something in the way inside preventing them from installing it higher on the cab.

Alert Nicovolta, another middle pop game, although not original by design.

I’ll have to work on a video.

I thought the same thing when I saw that picture about the button being low. It’s lower than usual, but actually easily within reach from the top rail.

Metal parts are cheaper! That's why they switched from wood.

Does anybody happen to have any advice on repairing/refinishing wood legs?

If there is already a thread, I didn't see it.

While I eventually have several machines/sets to get to, this particular set I'm debating what to do with.

I'm leaving all rest of machine with all its battle scars and dings on woodrails, but legs are a little rough.

I'm not sure if I should leave rough and just make them as sound as possible, or if I should refinish entirely. Either way, I wasn't sure what to do about the splitting etc. Wood is split, but seems to be VERY hard and doesn't flex to be able to like glue and clamp...

I'll leave out the fact that they appear to be kinda warped too, for now.

Any advice?????

Thanks!

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You could buy new ones, which will require new levelers, and the anti split post and screw parts from PBR. For a game that needs as little as possible spent on it you could get the new anti split posts parts (a minimum requirement). Then glue and clamp the old legs, making sure to get the glue well into the gaps in the splits. Remove the levers, soak them in a rust remover. After the glue dries either sand the legs back to the wood and refinish them. Or sand them very lightly and just clear coat them.

The goal is to make the game safe, so it will not fall over if it is moved, or pushed against.

Trying to keep this woodrail alive. Transfered the original rails from the old rotted out cab to the new one.

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I would put pour wood glue into the joints/cracks and then cramp tightly. Done that on a set of mine.

Then use this technique.

Amazing how much better they are when done, and they still have a nice aged patina.

I have many sets of woodrail legs - I wrote up this summation on RGP a couple years ago:

https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.games.pinball/_AL-1Ej9HNo/discussion

Since I have so many, when I find one like the one in your pictures, I just use one of my many spares. I have a small pile of legs I've deemed too far gone to use on games due to serious splitting around the bolt holes and/or warping. I really don't think there's much you can do with those, except maybe use them on the back. I'm fortunate to have a spares pile, but you can often find spares and sets at shows...just make sure you get one that matches what you need...the differences between the legs the major manufacturers used in the 40s & 50s are slight, as I outlined in that RGP thread.

Thanks for the info/ideas so far guys!

I like that little video on the use of lacquer thinner to improve look a little on a machine that isn't going to be totally stripped but has some dirt. Thanks shapeshifter. Not sure if it will improve these ones, but it is certainly worth a try! Worst case, I have to sand anyway.

Darcy, I couldn't agree more that definitely safety is always first. Even a smaller, lighter woodrail would be no fun to fall down on someone...especially with old glass still in it. I'll have to take out the split bolts and levelers and see what I can work with...

The leveler brackets don't match each other for some reason. Actually the leveler feet don't either (and one is broke off). I'll have to look into what I can do for levelers/brackets. Not sure about new ones, and honestly...I don't know that I want shiny new ones on it. Even mismatched, the brackets won't be seen, but the feet obviously will.

Stoomer, thanks for the RGP link. You have a nice little sum up of different legs on there! I need to remember to get back on there again when I start looking at my different sets. Later today/tomorrow, I'll probably go measure my set just to compair to your sizes.

When I took pics other night, I only picked up a couple of the legs and noticed that at least one was pretty warped...hopefully there are at least two nicer ones I can use in the front, but even with a warp, hopefully they will be useable regardless (assuming they are warped the right direction, not like under cab or something! Lol).

Will have to wait till it warms up more to really do glueing etc....snows starting to go away though!

Still love this topic. Thanks for mentioning Pinball Magazine No. 5. It features the entire story of Wayne Neyens' career in pinball, starting at Western, and continuing at Gottlieb. All of Wayne's game designs are featured, including some prototype game sketches. The magazine also features a great article by Gordon Hasse about the brilliance of Wayne, as well as others discussing working with Wayne and/or collecting his games. If you haven't ordered your copy yet: www.pinball-magazine.com/shop/. Note: the magazine has 360 pages and about 2/3rd of that is dedicated to Wayne Neyens-related content. One of the stories Wayne kept bringing up is why Gottlieb moved away from woodrail games, but there is so much more as well in the magazine.
The magazine is also available at The Pinball Resource and at various U.S.-based pinball shows with Rob Anthony / Pinball Classics and/or PinSound (TPF, Allentown).

Thanks for these pics. This is actually the first time I see photos of a converted game, as well as of a game with the compression bumpers. Wayne Neyens tells a great story about the origin of that type of bumper in Pinball Magazine No. 5.

For those visiting Europe, France to be more precise: make sure to check out the Paris Pinball Museum. Only open during weekends and by appointment, but a great collection of over 200 EM games with many of them being woodrails. All of them restored, working and playable.

Just got this one . Can’t wait to start cleaning to see what I’ve got now ! All seems to work. We shall see !

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Very cool...don't think I've seen one of those before. I like how it keeps the two players earnings separate...unique, well at least rare, for a 50s multiplayer...

Stoomer, per your rgp thread I'd be willing to trade a set of Williams 33 1/2" legs for a set of Gottlieb 31". Don't know if I'll make Allentown though.

See pic - Original Gottlieb 31" legs on the Knock Out. Williams 33 1/2" on the Niagara.

You can pm me.

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Hey old EM tech’s - this Piccadilly has one of the chime/bell coils bad. Even the tabs are broken off.
Newbie Question - replacing my flipper coils on a Hot Shot (to get stronger flippers for a buyer). - can i use one of those for my chime coil?
Or is there a voltage issue that could cause me trouble here?
It’s not the cost but if I have these as spares I don’t have to wait on an order delivery and I can fix this weekend.
Thoughts or comments?

Using the wrong coil is not recommended, you should replace it with the same coil. The Piccadilly schematic may have the coil numbers written on it. Since older games could have the wrappers burnt off.

There is a tech forum for em pinballs on the Pinside forum - Electrical-mechanical/EM Hangout Technical

Newbie Question - replacing my flipper coils on a Hot Shot (to get stronger flippers for a buyer). - can i use one of those for my chime coil? No
Or is there a voltage issue that could cause me trouble here? Yes - resistance problem - coils are measured in ohms and the proper ohms for each coil is engineered for each circuit

Buy the correct coils (listed on schematic) from The Pinball Resource. If flippers parts are cleaned and adjusted usually A-5141 flipper coils work fine. Replace/clean your coil sleeves, make sure your coil stops are not mushroomed out, clean and adjust EOS switch, clean and adjust cabinet switches, check linkage for slop, spring tension critical

Pinrepair.com has some good flipper info. along with Pinwiki.

Thanks guys “Mopar” was just saying the same thing. I’ll call PBR if nothing else. (Great peeps there!)

And my question looks like it came out wrong

I’ve ordered the orange dot’s for the Hot Shot. No issues there

My Piccadilly has one bad coil for its bell /chime. So I was wondering if I could “rig” one of those flipper coils (that still worked fine) for this issue.

But for the $15 may as well go as suggested and put in the “correct one”. Do it right and I won’t have to go back (damn newbie!)

Sorry “hoov”. Just saw your answers imbedded in that last one. Great info. Thanks!

Oh and on the flippers again , I did get the full kit (EOS sleeve grommet) made a big diff in that itself. But the buyer wanted a little stronger kick on them. So I went ahead and ordered those above. Should do the trick ?

Adjusting the EOS was/ is also a learning issue for me. One way it’s nuttin. The other way it’s chattering. Once I get the new coils in them I’ll see what I can do (which I’ve read may be part of the chatter issue?)

Orange dots will work fine although I prefer the reg 5141's myself.

That EOS is tricky to get adjusted. Gap about 1/8" and when it closes it should nudge or push the opposing switch blade.

1954 Williams Screamo restoration - Over the past six years I ended up with three of these.

One was pretty much a wreck; playfield in poor condition, busted cabinet, and totally re-wired top to bottom in grey, white and yellow wiring (?).

Between the other two: one nice cabinet and one OK cabinet, one nice and one OK playfield, one OK and one very nice set of plastics, but all three backglasses had a lot of flaking. So I did a repro of backglass, multi-layer direct print to plexiglass, and put the best of the two decent games together.

I saw that the flyer for the game showed that the one pop and six passive bumpers spelled out Screamo, which is also shown on the schematic. But it looks like the game was issued with blank caps for whatever reason (time, cost?). So I made decals of the lettering for the caps.

A really nice-playing game. A great addition to the woodrail room.

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Totally cool

Very nice looking machine...super jealous! I've been wanting a Screamo for a while myself.

I'm selling a 1950 Gottlieb Knock Out for $2500. Its a restoration project, but my asking price is less than half of the value listed in the 2018 Mr. Pinball Price Guide. PM for pictures and details. Located in Southern CA.

Looking for a Skyway if anyone has one they might be willing to part with or any leads on one would be much appreciated.

Machine - Wanted

Wanted: Skyway Archived

Wanted! - “Looking for a 1954 Williams Skyway in any condition as I know these are harder to find. If you have one or any leads on one, please let me know. Willing to travel to pick up too.”

2019-04-09

La Grange Park, IL

RazerX

Wanted

Archived after: 547 days

Viewed: 219 times

Status: Unknown reason:

I'm looking for a 1957 Royal Flush. I'm also looking for any info on current pricing. I've seen some in the Craigslist thread less than $500 but wondered what the going rate really should be.

SOLD!

Machine - Wanted

Wanted: Royal Flush Archived

Wanted! - “Looking for the 1957 Royal Flush. They come up in the Craigslist thread from time to time. Looking for one that borders Iowa (Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota,...”

2019-07-28

Des Moines, IA

newovad

Wanted

Archived after: 66 days

Viewed: 205 times

Status: Sold (amount undisclosed)

If you can find a $500 project Royal Flush in good cosmetic shape I would jump on it. I know a couple of owners of this title that wouldn't sell for under $1000 if at all. Both are nice examples.

Picked up a woodrail last weekend. Pretty cool. Has 4 flippers.

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************** Whoa Nellie *******
Very Nice..............
Thanks for sharing...

I'd take a Whoa Nellie too ! On my wish list.

Pictures have some glare as I left the glass on and shot the photos rather quickly. My Straight Shooter has two coin mechs. On my game the left one is for nickels and gives you a single play. The right one takes quarters and is set for 5 plays.

Higher steady earnings in my basement is a lofty goal. See game sales flyer.

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First camera? I'm sorry. I could not resist. Fun game.

Does anyone have any advice with regards to finding legs? I have two Gottlieb woodrails with wrong sized legs (a set on one machine appears to be the longer Williams legs and another machine has legs with the bolt holes in a lower position than where they are on the normal Gottlieb legs—hence one machine is a bit taller and another is a bit shorter than the rest). Thanks for any tips or pointers!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-wood-legs-for-sale#post-4947598 came across this a few days ago.

Thanks jsf24! Along with the unfinished maple ones that Steve at pbresource has, these are possible options for me to consider if there aren’t many original ones left to be found.

I'd be interested in 50's- 60's Williams EM projects in Chicagoland area or vicinity