This is a friend's machine. I didn't know him at the time but got to know him well after he had to bring the machine over to my place to get it working. Sold by a guy in Victoria - Australia who imports containers of machines. The buyer was told the machine was all good and had just had $935 spent on it sorting everything out. It took me many many hours getting the machine working reliably.
Both flippers were the same and yes that is a wire being held in place by a nail. You'd think for $935 in repairs they would have at least used new nails wouldn't you.