I think that's a good idea, nice job!

I didn't get airballs much at all at first, but get them a lot now for some reason. May try this.

Why not replace the one back by the rogue too?
I was thinking about doing this myself.
Hotlinks would be great too that want to do this.

why use the tapered post sleeves? I'm assuming the bigger side you put on the top side of the post.

Thanks. Order placed.
I don't know why they used those other posts/rubbers. That was one of the first thing I noticed and wanted to change.

No issues. Hell I'm not going to try and find one of those thin 10-32 nuts. I'll just dremel out the corner edge of the NC bracket.

Speaking of the left NC, do you guys ever get ball hang ups on NC and the left post of the left ramp? Got a few last night, haven't looked into it yet

Yea, when he's down. I'll have a look at that screw, i think thats it - thanks.

What about using that stronger post that Pinballife made for LOTR?

Mine is complete with dark blue cliffy post rubber. I just need the washers for the top along with the screws.
This helps to slow the return shot directly into a post. Before if you shot directly into the factory post it would shoot strait down the middle with such speed. This really helps to get rid of that. Not to mention if a ball got a little bit of air and hit the top side of those factory rubber rings the ball would launch. This also helps solve that issue. I don't know why they tried to do something different here. This works perfect. posts2.jpg

Looks nice. Especially with the Cliffy's in place. I'm sure I would still bang the heck out of the 2 posts in front of the Iceman ramp. You would think it's my favorite shot.

I'm a little lost here....is the "thinner #10-32 nut" you mentioned linked to above? If not...where would you find one and what would you call it when asking for it?

So basically the 2 post that use the t nuts originally....you take the t-nuts out from the bottom of the play field and they all 4 just connect with a nut on the bottom? Are the t nuts hard to remove?

Not sure if the OP is referring to low profile nuts. If he is, those can be found in the hardware section of pinrestore.com
They are not as thick and are great when installing plastic protectors. Sometimes the taller nuts don't get enough bite so I use the low profile ones.
If he was referring to nuts that are not as wide... then I'm lost too

So it would be completely reversible if you put the t-nuts back in under the playfield? I'm thinking I might go ahead and do this (whenever I place my next PBL order), but I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything I couldn't easily undo.

Aha, so just a plain old nut. Got it.
The ones I mentioned from pinrestore are also thinner and low profile, but they are still locknuts.

They are called jam nuts. Meant to jam against another nut for the most secure lock. For our purpose a single jam nut helps because they are thin profile.

That is what the coin box is for. Put all the factory parts in once you replace them with something else.

+1 lol. I do the same thing.... at least until I get a place where I can have a change machine and all my coin mechs work.

Anyone try star posts on the outlanes? Still getting lots of Outlane drains even with them tight.. And we're not good nudgers. Comparing it to my IJ, the posts are no where near as tight as you can make them... Mostly since they are star posts on IJ and thin posts with the bouncy black rubbers that this thread is deleting from the ramps.

Hey practice makes perfect sometimes a well timed small bump can prevent a drain. I think putting star posts on the outlanes to make them tighter is going a bit too far.

This is a great idea! Looks better, too... in my opinion. I just placed an order for the metal posts and dark blue Cliffy sleeves. Will go on my pro before the first play.

How steep is yours set? Do you have a level that checks degrees? Steeper may help with outlane drains, mine doesn't seem all that bad.

I thought I had mine set steep, bubble on the machine was on the top line instead of centered. Checked it with the torpedo level yesterday and it reads 6.5~6.6 degrees...

My bubble is more near the top line as well vs centered.. prob much like yours. It might be the multiple kinds of drains that are out of our control (given our suck nudging).. that has us a bit frustrated.

- Wolverine figure... his right hand side belt .. if a ball dribbles off of it, SDTM
- Wolverine figure throwing the ball into an outlane OR just dropping it SDTM instead of throwing
- Magneto drops SDTM sometimes; at least that's far enough away that if we learn to nudge might be able to anticipate
- Side to Side slingshot action seems to head right towards the upper outlane posts and sends it down the outlane at high speed. lower outlane posts don't even get touched

It's just the last one that the star posts might help with... only cause when compared to IJ, the lanes aren't very tight at all even in the tightest position.. there's a full ball width between top and bottom outlane posts that seems to channel anything coming side to side right down there with no interference / chance to do anything.

and yeah, practice makes perfect. i do markmon's wolverine remount.. that might help the belt SDTM and reduce the number of times we're left standing there with a "cheap shot" to a understandable level

I installed this mod yesterday and immediately noticed a difference on the play.Thanks Tekman!No more out of control flying balls!

I just got my post goods in and was wondering: Is there a reason you went with the threaded top posts? I can't help but feel the washers and screws look a bit out of place, but didn't know if they were to serve a purpose.

I think I'm going to hold off on my install a bit and possibly order these:

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1044

If anyone is interested in all of the parts needed for this mod and wants to save a few bucks on shipping, check out my FS thread.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-x-men-ramp-post-mod-kit-15-shipped?replies=1#post-376985

Update: SOLD!

So what are you doing differently?
The top threaded posts are the norm. They are used on all other pins. Washer and screw probably helps prevent the post sleeve from moving up and out.

So what are you doing differently?
The top threaded posts are the norm. They are used on all other pins. Washer and screw probably helps prevent the post sleeve from moving up and out.

He is referring to the post without a threaded top. If you use Cliffy's they will stay put and if they move up over time it will be slightly and you can just push them down. There is no right or wrong way, it's just a matter of personal preference.

530-5332-00.jpg

I had just never noticed a post that had nothing mounted to the top of it with the threaded top. I hadn't even thought about it until my order came in.

I have 2 other Stern's on hand to compare to. Spider-Man has no lone post like this and Playboy has a couple and they all have tapless tops and the post just slide on. The part number I decided to go with above is a normal Stern part number post (it's even listed in the X-Men manual, but not used). I'm sure either will be fine and if the post sliding up is an issue....I will reorder and get the tapped tops again.

I placed order last night and am gong the dugfreez route. Ordered 5 posts though and hope to swap the post separating Xavier and Rouge. I think the post is short enough to fit under the plastic there but not sure 100%.

Let us know how the Rogue post goes....I was thinking about it, but I didn't think it would fit under the plastic without bowing it up or having to notch it out.

I ordered an extra post but never looked into talking everything apart myself to replace the rogue post.

in the dugfreez version, what's the shortened list of accessory hardware?

4 - 530-5332-00 posts
4 - post sleeves of your choice
4 - #10 flat wasters
3 - #10-32 nylon insert lock nuts
1 - #10-32 jam nut or nylon insert jam nut (low profile to go under Nightcrawler mech)

That is a list for a complete swap and not using any of the original parts. I haven't done my install yet so I'm not certain if the #10 washer has room to be installed under the Nightcrawler mech with the low profile nut or not.

It's the same parts that are listed at the top with different posts and minus the 4 #8 washers and the 4 pan screws for the top.

Edit: If you would want to replace the 5th Rogue / Xavier post in that area (which matches very nicely) you would just add another post, another sleeve, another nut and another washer.

Dugfreez style complete! I am not sure how you guys are getting away with the NC re-mount, but the new post threads on my game were kinda interfering with the NC assembly. I could have bolted the NC back on as is with the new post, but it wouldn't have been perfectly lined up with the holes. I ended up trimming the post threads to provide clearance for the NC assembly as well. The jam nut clears perfectly, the new post is what was still giving me a slight issue. See pic below.

Also the Rouge\Xavier post looks/works great IMO. I also put clear washers in place of metal ones on the slings, and a purple acron nut on top of the post at the end of the Iceman ramp.

White rubber on this thing is a must, I put white on all my games but this particular game had the most dramatic change as far as "brightening up".

IMG_0009.JPG IMG_0012.JPG IMG_0015.JPG IMG_0007.JPG IMG_0018.JPG IMG_0019.JPG

I got a #10 washer on mine, as I felt a washer is needed here. I did smash it down with a hammer though to get it as flat as possible. If you are at a hardware store you should be able to find a thin washer of some sort though.

So, no issues on the Rogue / Xavier post? It fit right in there? It looks really good. I honestly didn't think a post would fit without getting in the plastic. Did you just raise the plastic up to get the post in or did you have to take some things loose?

I heard from someone else that the Nightcrawler bracket got into the post threads a bit, but a little bit of filing would take care of it.

I had the same kind of idea for the post on the right sling. I went with a small black rubber ring instead of the original nut and then a black acorn nut on top. Anything looks more finished than just bare threads sticking up there.

I have been waiting for someone to come up with an X-Men plastic protector set (at least for the slings if nothing else) so I can get rid of the fender washers.

Finally got around to doing mine. I did it "old school" with the threaded top posts. Haven't done the Rogue/Xavier post, will probably get around to it some day. Looks much better than the original posts. I did light blue cliffy's on Iceman posts and the dark blue on storm posts.

While at it I also installed the Cliffy scoop protector, shooter lane eject protector and a switch slot protector.

Should be good to go now