Need Help with Rebuilding a Pinball Cabinet

jjoravec

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Anyone know where I can get some information on rebuilding / restoring a pinball cabinet?

I bought a Bally's Elektra pinball machine over the weekend and all the mechanics, playfield, backglass, etc are in good shape. The bad thing is the cabinet is in really bad shape and basically needs rebuilt, it suffered alot of water/moisture damage and is falling apart.

Is there anyone who makes replacement cabinets?


Thanks
 
your best bet would be to try to find a cabinet from another solid state Bally from that era wheres someones parting a machine. There are several people out there that reproduce pinball cabinets, but the concentrate mostly on the high dollar games, and a new cabinet for your game would probably cost more than you could find another working Elektra for
 
Pin cabinets of that era are not the hardest thing to replicate. Find a cabinet shop in your area and see what they can do.
 
DPWitz is making them, I think?

I plan to build a replacement Bally KISS cabinet at some point. The challenges beyond basic woodworking:
1) The corners have a miter/lock joint. If you're good with a router, no big deal, although a router table or quick DIY table with a fence is a must, as is a bit that's about $50. Like this:

Miter-LockHeader.jpg


Of course, you could do miter/45 deg edges and use 3/4" blocking like an Atari cabinet if you don't care about it looking perfect

2) All 4 sides have a dado towards the bottom with the bottom panel resting in it. I think it's 1/4 or so masonite. I actually found material that looks really close at Home Depot.

The bottom on my KISS cabinet was sagging down real bad and the bottom edges of the plywood on the sides are blown out, some delamination, just not a great cabinet. Also, if I did the KISS restoration, it would be so much repro stuff on it, the cabinet being original wouldn't matter. It's a moot point, as I don't have a repro playfield, no one seems to sell them, and my original is rough.
 
is there a consensus on what kind of wood to use if rebuilding a cabinet and/or head? i'm wondering whether to stick with the original plywood or go with a solid wood (maybe pine?). i hate dealing with plywood because it's always warped. maybe pressing and glueing it will deal with that though...
 
Go with a good quality cabinet grade plywood. The more laminations, the more stable it will be. Real wood moves far too much with the season and is not as strong as cabinet grade plywood. --Rich
 
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