Fixing riveted parts on stepper units.

[Pinball newby.]

Hi folks
If you have been following my other posts you will know I am new to all things pinball and am currently enjoying the delights of getting a 1974 segasa Triple action machine back to working order.
A few days ago I found an arm off on of my stepper units that had come un riveted and made its way into the bottom of the main cabinet and one of the other bits lying behind the backbox light panel!
I managed to fix it back on by tapping the rivet with a punch and burring what is left of its edge back into place.
A few days later it has popped off again and I just spent 20 mins looking for the bits again!
The question is how can I fix it so it won't come off again?
I did think I could use a bolt and nut but that doesn't work because of the shoulder on the rivet.(see picture)


Does anyone have a good solution to this?Do I perhaps need a new rivet bit (are they available) or even need to find someone to make one.
Many Thanks
Alick

 

[JT.]

Can you use a nut & bolt, with a washer to act as the shoulder?

 

[Pinball newby.]

The hole the washer would go in is a bit small for that I have solved it for now by taking the complete arm and all off my match unit which appears to have no coils on it so is currently doing nothing which begs the question what exactly is it for ??

 

[Jay Walker]

The hole the washer would go in is a bit small for that I have solved it for now by taking the complete arm and all off my match unit which appears to have no coils on it so is currently doing nothing which begs the question what exactly is it for ??

Hi, Alick,

The "match" or "0-9" units' main purpose is to select the seemingly random 0 to 9 match (or 'lucky numbers') at the end of a game. Any player whose score ends in the number(s) shown receives a replay. Often, though, the unit is also incorporated into the game play, operating moving features such as increased rollover/target values, or a remote spotting feature, as on 'Magic City'.

 

[Pinball newby.]

Mmm if I move it round manually I might find out what it does? Perhaps someone else with a triple action might know..

 

[Jay Walker]

Yes, but bear in mind that there may be no visible effect until, say, a sequence or set of rollovers, targets, etc, are completed, to enable a travelling feature. As an example, & drawing on recent discussion here, Gottlieb 'Royal Guard' uses its 0-9 unit to select/indicate a boosted rollover score (500 rather than 50), but only once a set of rollover lanes is completed.

 

[Pinball newby.]

Yes Perhaps I need to find someone with the same game (Triple Action) to tell me what its does otherwise trying to find out might be like trying to find the combination on a safe!

 

[JT.]

I think you're better off just trying to fix or replace the faulty part, the other bits will serve some purpose even if it's not immediately obvious what it is. Can you sort of reassemble it to show what if looks like when assembled and take another picture. It's not very clear from the current pictures/description how it should be and why a nut/bolt/washer couldn't be used as a replacement? The bit where you say "the hole where the washer would go into is a bit small" in particular is not very clear, but maybe another photo or two would help

 

[Pinball newby.]

It should look l

I think you're better off just trying to fix or replace the faulty part, the other bits will serve some purpose even if it's not immediately obvious what it is. Can you sort of reassemble it to show what if looks like when assembled and take another picture. It's not very clear from the current pictures/description how it should be and why a nut/bolt/washer couldn't be used as a replacement? The bit where you say "the hole where the washer would go into is a bit small" in particular is not very clear, but maybe another photo or two would help

It should look like the lever on the other stepper unit here like this
bot left corner the bit that the right hand spring is hooked onto is the bit with two diameters to it as it goes into the hole and is burred over on the back.
The match unit is missing both coils at present too so I would need to buy them and see what to connect them to.There are two dead end wires near the position where one of the coils was.

 

[JT.]

How about soldering on the rear side over the re-burred edges? Total hack, but might do the job?

 

[Pinball newby.]

I took it out and put it back together, then gave it a good thorough bashing with a punch and it seems to be holding for now.