The Modern Firepower Pinball Project - The Cabinet Part II

I'm striving to finish up the cabinet woodwork and assembly, but just hit another roadblock that is representative of the endemic pinball parts sourcing problem.

Stern Backbox Hinges - look like most hinges to me.

The Stern Backbox Hinge Bolt - looks like a bolt to me.

When buying parts for the cabinet, I stuck with Williams branded parts when possible, but of course that was not always possible.  I had chosen highly polished chrome trim pieces for the finish color, but Pinball Life didn't have any Williams backbox hinges in chrome. They did have a very similar looking Stern hinge in highly polished chrome, and since I was building a cabinet from scratch I knew I could incorporate any vendor's product.  Pinball Life also had a matching Stern hinge bolt which I snapped up, but that was the extent of the Stern hinge parts that I found on their site.

A short time later I was making another purchase from Pinball Life, and while browsing around for parts I might have missed I stumbled onto the Williams Cabinet Hinge Pivot Bushing.  I was already on the lookout for either the nut that secures the hinge bolt inside the cabinet, or a spacer/bushing that would keep the hinge from rubbing on the cabinet artwork and siderail.  Forgetting that I had purchased Stern hinges and bolts, I ordered a couple Williams bushings and thought the problem was solved.

A Williams Hinge Bolt Bushing - can you tell if it will fit?

After the bushings arrived I proceeded to test fit the components before installation, and was confused when the hinge bolt didn't fit the new bushing.  I was sure that Pinball Life had somehow screwed up my order, and looking on their website and cross referencing with Marco's website, I finally decided that the wrong hinge bolt had been shipped.  After all, the Williams hinge bolt was supposed to be much thicker and longer than what I had been sent.

But something still bothered me, as a larger hinge bolt that would fit the new bushing would not fit the hinges - the current bolts were a perfect fit for the hinges.  Had I also been shipped defective hinges?  That didn't sound plausible.

Read on for the solution...




I finally reviewed my receipts and discovered the error was all mine.  Pinball Life had sent the exact parts I ordered, I just ordered incompatible parts.

But that left me with a problem - I had no idea how to install the hinge bolt correctly and I was stuck.  I knew there had to be some more parts to make the assembly work together, but looking on Pinball Life and Marco Specialties and countless other sites revealed nothing that would help.

Williams Hinge Pivot Bushing on the left.  Stern Hinge Bolt in the middle.  Obviously different sizes.  Flange Nut on the right is the correct size for the Stern Hinge Bolt, but there are other, missing parts yet to find.

I turned to the Internet Pinball Database and began reviewing closeup pictures of Stern cabinets.  Hinge bolts are not a very interesting detail, and I couldn't find any pictures that gave a clear shot of what was going on inside the cabinet.  I could faintly make out that there seemed to be some type of black hex headed nut, but that wasn't enough to go on.

Here's a "good" picture of the mysterious hinge nut inside a Stern cabinet.  Definitely hex shaped, but can't tell much else.

I changed my search strategy and instead found a Stern pinball machine owner's manual that detailed all the parts that go into the machine.  I found the correct page that showed the hinges, but aside from the hinges themselves the bolts and nuts were not illustrated.  Finally I noticed down in the notes on that page, in legal-speak sized print, that several parts were called out:

      Items 29L-29R are secured to Cabinet by:

• Spacer Hex Nut 1/2" O.D. - 1/4-20 X 1/2" TD (Black) (Qty. 1/per) (254-5042-00)
• Nylon Spacer (Black) (Qty. 1/per) (242-5084-00)
• 1/4-20 X 1/2" Carriage Bolt Sq. Neck (Black) (Qty. 1/per) (231-5072-00)
• Fend Washer 1/4" I.D. X 1" O.D. (Qty. 1/per) (242-5009-00)
• 1/4"-20 Flange Nut (Qty. 1/per) (240-5300-00)

From an owner's manual for a Stern pinball game.  Not much help.

 
29L and 29R are the Left and Right hinges, and they required five parts to connect them to the cabinet.  I only had the Carriage Bolt and some spare Flange Nuts that I had bought for the coin door, so that meant I was missing three other parts.  I searched on the first part number, and on Marco's website popped up the picture of the mysterious black hex nut I had observed in the pictures.  There was no indication what the part was for on Marco's website, so if you didn't already know they weren't going to help you any.

The elusive Stern Spacer Hex Nut for the Backbox Hinge Bolt - Part # 254-5042-00.

The Nylon Spacer sounds like the crucial part to keep the hinges from rubbing the cabinet and siderails - again no detail on Marco's website, not even a picture this time.  The Spacer Hex Nut and Nylon Spacer were both in stock, so I ordered those immediately.  The Fend Washer was not in stock, but that sounds like a normal washer the local Home Depot would stock.

I then looked at the clock and realized it would soon be midnight.  I had spent the entire day troubleshooting this stupid backbox hinge.   Again, the problem is that the ecosystem for pinball parts is for individual part repairs, not full machine builds.  It would have been great had all of the necessary parts been listed and cross referenced with each other.  Even better, a full kit with all necessary hinges, bolts, nuts and spacers, prepackaged and ready to sell, would have saved me so much wasted time.  I would still jump for joy just for a simple assembly diagram.  I consider myself fairly resourceful, and I wonder how many DIY'ers get to the same roadblocks and get permanently stuck.

It's at this point I think it is only fair to give a nod to www.VirtuaPin.net.  I haven't used any of their products or services, mainly because I didn't discover them until it was too late for this project, so I can't vouch for their quality.  But they are definitely catering to the DIY crowd, and I applaud them.

VirtuaPin's primary goal is to provide the necessary parts to create a VirtuaPin digital pinball machine emulator.  VirtuaPins are really cool machines that use a large TV for the pinball playfield.  You're still playing a video game, but the cabinet and buttons are very real.

VirtuaPin sells flat pack (like IKEA furniture) Pinball Cabinets

VirtuaPin sells finished cabinets which can be pricey, but they also sell DIY kits in several states of completion:  Flat pack with or without holes cut, assembled with or without holes, assembled and painted, even assembled and painted and trimmed out with all of the plastic and metal parts like rails, coindoors, brackets, hinges, and yes those bolts I've struggled with.

VirtuaPin also sells the cabinet parts, without the cabinet, as a complete kit.

VirtuaPin also sells all the necessary cabinet hardware as a complete kit.  Yes, the hinge bolts are in this picture.

Had I found VirtuaPin in time, they would have definitely earned my business.  The only problem I see is that their cabinet designs, while utilizing standard pinball cabinet hardware, are still tailored to making digital pinball machines, not real pins, and their dimensions would not fit a real pinball playfield.  Luckily, VirtuaPin offers custom sizes and button placement at an extra cost, but you would have to call them to discuss pricing.

Considering how many hours and dollars I've poured into the cabinet, VirtuaPin's offerings look like a real bargain.  It would be great if VirtuaPin would also offer traditional sized cabinets for real pinball machines.  I'm sure the market is smaller for real machines versus the new VirtuaPin craze, but I doubt it would take much effort on their part to have those designs listed and ready to go.

For now, I'm just hoping the Marco Specialties comes through and ships my parts order in a timely manner.