Best way to repair coin door pry damage?

greedycrisp

Well-known member

Donor 4 years: 2022-2025
Joined
Nov 21, 2022
Messages
1,792
Reaction score
1,769
Location
Elmhurst, Illinois
I'm working on older, heavy steel coin doors which inevitably have pry damage on the door and\or frame. I've used a bench vice to try and straighten them up with so-so results.

What's the preferred method and tools to fix this kind of damage?

20240819_084607.jpg
 
I use the Neiko Hammer and Dolly kit for things just like this. Might be hard to justify the $40 for one dent but I have used the hell out of this kit since I bought it. Couldn't believe how often I was using it to get dents out of all kinds of metal.

Takes some practice and patience to hammer everything out. You'll make yourself crazy trying to get it perfect but you can get it close enough that it's hard to notice.
 
That one doesn't look too bad.

For me, if they're bent pretty bad, I just salvage the parts and replace the skin.

For that one, I'd remove the lock and put the bent part on my vise's anvil and pound it straight (enough).
 
I use the Neiko Hammer and Dolly kit for things just like this. Might be hard to justify the $40 for one dent but I have used the hell out of this kit since I bought it. Couldn't believe how often I was using it to get dents out of all kinds of metal.

Takes some practice and patience to hammer everything out. You'll make yourself crazy trying to get it perfect but you can get it close enough that it's hard to notice.
This, or Harbor Freight has little 15lb baby anvils for $25.
 
You can try planishing pliers / vice grips. They are used to hold two pieces of stock together for welding / drilling.

1724079163034.png

Otherwise, you'll need to buy the tools, and since you are as deep into restoration as you are, that would be a good investment anyway.

This is steel, so it bends, rather than stretches. Aluminum is harder to work, since it stretches, and you have to carefully get it back into shape.

I saw a guy take two aircraft wings which had been removed and stored on concrete. The leading edge has a rounded shape - sitting on the concrete with just normal vibration caused the leading edges to go flat.

This guy came in with a variety of flat hammers and wood blocks. He had the wings set so he could work on them, and got them back to the original shapes with these tools.

Patience is your friend. Take your time, and only use the force you need.

Example: You can "peen" steel by pounding on it with a hammer, which will make it thinner, but stretch it.

The easiest and cheapest way to see this is to take a penny and hammer it on the anvil of your vice (or if you have an anvil, on your anvil.). You will see it gets thinner and stretches out.

So your hammer blows need to be enough to move the metal, but not thin / stretch it.
 
My Centipede cabaret had very similar pry damage. In fact, now that I think about it, I've fixed this kind of pry damage on nearly every game I've owned.

This kind of damage is the absolute easiest to fix because it's hidden 99% of the time. You don't have to make it look perfect. Just make it so the door doesn't bind and the lock mech works.

Before and after using a hammer and dolly.

Is it perfect? No.
Is anyone ever going to notice? Also, No.

1724079420229.png 1724079438288.png
 
Thanks for the responses. This particular door is not bad but every door I see tends to have some damage and I plan to be doing several more. An , due to my OCD and knowledge that I'll eventually be selling these, Id like to do the best job I can on them.

@ArcadeTechGW these are the bronze-age, 1/16 inch steel doors and not the later pot metal ones, I don't think the vice grips would flatten them.

@Kid Raster , I do use pliers and scrap leather to start off bending these back in shape. I usually end up at the bench vice with blocks trying to make it 'betterer',

I can commit the time so it looks a hammer and dolly kit will be in my future. $40 is an easy justification :)
 
I'm with you guys 100% on this. I start with my vice and finish with a hammer/anvil. I'll generally use a dead blow hammer on the dents in the larger flatter areas and a ball pin or regular claw hammer for the ones around the edges. If you plan to powder coat afterward, you can pretty much hide any leftover damage or wrinkles. be thankful that the metal is permeable enough to fix. Try fixing a Wico coin door from a Qbert or mad planets sometime.
 
My Centipede cabaret had very similar pry damage. In fact, now that I think about it, I've fixed this kind of pry damage on nearly every game I've owned.

This kind of damage is the absolute easiest to fix because it's hidden 99% of the time. You don't have to make it look perfect. Just make it so the door doesn't bind and the lock mech works.

Before and after using a hammer and dolly.

Is it perfect? No.
Is anyone ever going to notice? Also, No.

View attachment 762924 View attachment 762925
Very nice work!
 
I typically use wood blocks between the hammer and work piece to avoid hammer pitting. Or to get the inside radius correct.
But yeah, good old blacksmithing is the best answer.
 
Might be overkill, but I love using my benchtop press for stuff like this. It's ridiculously powerful, but gives you amazing control. And it can flatten metal better than a hammer.

It's great for straightening out or flattening any metal parts. Bent joystick shafts, dented marquee brackets and coin doors, HV cages and covers, etc. It's also great for pressing out stuck joystick parts (like when old Wico grommets get rusted to the shafts.)

It's one of those tools that you find a lot of uses for, once you have one. Best $135 I've spent in this hobby.

 
Back
Top Bottom