1939 Mills Chrome Bell - SOLD
Check List When Buying A Pinball
The Mills Chrome Bell after it has been re-chromed. The award card is new. As you will see in the pictures below, the award card was originally silver but I could not buy a silver replacement award card. The original award card is still available with the game. I did all the red painting.
Seven pieces were re-chromed: 1. Top front; 2. Bottom front; 3. Handle; 4. Handle round base; 5. 10 cent plaque; 6. Coin tray; 7. Coin tray top drop.
Click on the Internet Pinball Database logo to the left. This is a GREAT resource to find out about the machine, see pictures, see reviews and download the rule sheet if one exists for the game. This provides additional insights into playing the game.
Left side of game.
Right side of game.
Back of slot with original Mills style lock and key. (It looks like a Mills Key but does not have the Mills name on the key.)
Back with top back casting (which actually has dust on it which I just cleaned off- that is the difference in the shades) and coin box.
Note this picture above. The large spring on the right is held in place with a cotter pin through the bottom rod casting. Several months later the cotter pin broke and the reels did not spin. Look at the pictures (at the bottom for now) that show the broken cotter pin and the repaired spring.
Here is what my Mills Chrome Bell Looks like. I will send in the two front pieces, the arm (with the black knob if I can), and the arm base. The 10 cent plate will also come off and be sent in. The glass of course will be removed. Should I send in the front plate with the payouts? The images are indented or should I just clean up?
The mechanism was pretty clean to begin and worked fine. So I just cleaned up a bit more. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The inside of the cabinet with the mechanism removed.
Escalater will be removed.
Escalator. 3 screws marked.
Top screw and screw at the left above spring.
Screw at left with red mark.
Escalater window will be removed. I will replace the glass and clean the inside plate.
Reel window. Glass will be replaced. Inside plate will be polished by me.
Coin plate will be sent out for polishing and chroming. Mike Chestnut will do all the work and it will look great when done.
Two screws hold the top casting to the bottom. This shows the one on the right and there is also one to the left of the jackpot mechanism. Note the screw for the jackpot mechanism that will be removed below.
Left screw.
Front consists of two castings. The award plate will be replaced. The coin tray will be sent in for polishing and chroming if appropriate.
Top casting. Front, sides, top, and lip at bottom leading to the lower casting which is visible will be polished and chromed. The coin entry will also be polished and chromed. The 4 red diamonds (10 in total) were stripped and polished by me using a dremel (see picture below). I will repaint and post when done.
Bottom casting. Was trying to figure out how it comes out. I needed to remove screws at the left and right on "L" brackets (below base) holding casting to base. Also needed to remove the two screws to the left and right of the hole at the left above the locking pliers. This is the slide area for coins to slide into the coin tray. Finally, I needed to remove the left and right wood on the sides to get to two screws that hold the casting to the wooden base.
Showing the screw on the right on the base that is attached to the L bracket holding the casting to the base.
Left screw holding L bracket to base.
I guess I took a picture of the screw removed. How nice.
Left screw removed. Laying to the right of the hole.
Close up of handle mechanism. Pretty but useless :)
I wish I knew what I was showing. I think this is the screw that attaches the L bracket to one of the screw holes in the base. Maybe I will come back and describe this better someday.
I removed the wood side. Down at the bottom you can sort of see the tab where the screw goes into the base.
You can see the screw that goes into the left at the left. You can see the L bracket that is twisted that holds the base, which I removed. I removed the base by gently pulling apart the wooden sides. You can also see the coin slide that was attached to the base where the hole was.
Casting removed. Showing the coin tray.
Base with almost everything removed. My grandmother always told me I like taking things apart to "see where the feet grow." I guess I do. I just hope that I can put it all back together with no spare parts.
Lower casting with jackpot attached. I will remove the jackpot by removing the 3 screws. Two at the bottom and 1 at top. The L bracket is still attached at the left. The diamonds (6 of them) are still attached.
Lower jackpot with 2 screws to remove.
Top of jackpot with 1 screw.
Just noting that there is NO screw at the top left.
The left bracket and screw will be put int ot he bag at left (free advertising for Marco Specialties....). I am also noting which hole to screw it into.
Close up shot.
Another picture. I guess film is free.
Bottom casting. Note to Mike of what to polish and plate. The center area will have the award plate. The top area will go under the top casting.
Top and bottom casting.
Coin tray. Left is for the jackpot. Right side for payouts. there is a part on the top screwed inthat deflects the coins down rather than flying out onto the floor.
Coin tray removed.
There is a piece of metal screwed in here but should not affect anything since in an area I don't want polished or chromed.
Back of top casting. No polishing or plate needed.
Back of lower casting.
Back of top and bottom casting. A match made in heaven.
The right wood side out of the cabinet showing the handle and the collar. As seen below, the part of the handle inside of the collar and that rubs against the collar should not be chromed.
The other side of the handle. I will remove the bolt and gently use a screw driver to move the handle out.
Close up of mechanism. This game jams sometimes. I narrowed it down to the handle. When I pull the handle out away from the game and push down, it works. I am wondering if the mechanism shown at the right is locking the handle and stopping it from working. Richard Bright suggested Igently wedge a washerunder the tooth above the semi circle to see if this solves the problem. If so, then I have solved the only remaining intermittent issue.
Removed the spring and noted its location.
Bolt removed. Dime showed for scale :) Actually, I seem to have coins all over the floor in the basement.
Did I ever tell you when our son moved out to go to college, we went into his room to clean up after he left. It turned out the carpet was covered with a lot of his cloths. Beneath the cloths, there was about $50 worth of coins. I think the combination of cloths and coins protected the carpet from him living in the room for all these years. (I kept the coins for my toys in the basement. I consider this my cleaning fee.)
I used a screwdriver to gently pull the items shown away from the handle so the handle disengaged.
The collar is held in with 3 screws.
Handle and collar removed.
Screws will be put in a zip lock for safe keeping.
Amost all the parts and my sneakers.
Here is a better shot of my sneakers and the 6 items that wil lbe sent out for polishing and chroming.
10 diamonds. 1 I stripped and polished with my dremel.
Bad photo, but screw on top has been polished with dremel. Bottom screw is dark.
Top tack casting, before polishing with dremel.
Half polished.
Polished. I may do some more touch up.
Here is what the outside castings look like when you fold up the game at night. The re-chromed parts arrived from Mike Chestnut.
Shiny chromed parts with the handle top removed from the handle.
10 cent plate
Coin tray without the top on right installed.
Top casting.
The rest of the re-chromed parts.
Coin tray with top installed on right.
The cabinet goin back together. The game was occassionally locking up. It turned out the tooth part at the rightof where I wrote "spring" was sometimes engaging and locking for no reason. I put a washer between the metal plate and the plate with the teeth to stop it from moving and the game works great.
Right side with handle guide (or whatever it is called) installed.
This picture does not show the grease I added to the entire metal base and to the inside of the round base of the handle to allow the handle to move back and forth smoothly. I also played with how tight I tightened the center bolt. I originally had it too tight and it would not return to the proper position. With a few trials and errors, I got it working nicely.
Handle installed.
Top casting with new glass installed. But I didn't paint it yet so needed to remove to paint.
Before painting.
Installing the bottom front. I needed to dremel the front to get the coin tray to fit since both were re-chromed.
Installing the left side.
Coin Tray
The base installed. I did not show that the two sides had to be spread apart for the base to fit into the groves on the side wood.
All bolts installed.
Right side of base.
Before the award card is installed.
The cotter pin at the bottom of the spring broke and the spring was just hanging. The reels no longer were spinning.
Here is the broken cotter pin.
The spring back in the game with a new, stronger cotter pin. The reels work great.
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Virginia sales tax is currently 5.0%. Sales tax for in-state orders applies to machines and parts. It does not apply to the delivery or repair services.
Warranty
All pinball machines and antique slot machines are warranted for 6 months if we deliver the machine. We encourage you to call if there are any issues. Usually we can solve the problem over the phone. We will attempt to assist you over the phone, otherwise we will repair the pinball machine within the first 6 months.
All new video games and other new machines are warranted by the manufacturer. We encourage you to call if there are any issues. Usually we can solve the problem over the phone. We will attempt to assist you over the phone, otherwise we will work with the manufacturer.
Classic video games are warranted for 1 month.
Newer slot machines (if we even bother to sell them anymore) are warranted for 90 days. We encourage you to call if there are any issues. Usually the problem is a stuck coin. We will attempt to assist you over the phone, otherwise we will repair the machine within the first 90 days. You will need to bring back the machine or work with us over the phone to diagnose the problem and bring in the specific part. If you live nearby, we may, at our discretion, come out to your site to diagnose.
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- We will NOT provide a warranty for the machine since we cannot be assured that a problem did not happen when you transported the machine.
- We take responsibility for any damage that may occur during the delivery process.
- We professionally set up the machine, connect all the connectors, attach the legs, head, etc. and ensure that the pinball works properly. If anything is out of adjustment due to moving the machine, we can fix it in a few minutes as compared to having to come to your house later and charging you a trip fee and repair charge.
- If anything major is out of adjustment, we can order parts and repair. This hardly ever happens but it could and you and the machine are protected.
Delivery Options
We are currently set up for local delivery only within the Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, and North-Eastern West Virginia area. If you are interested in shipping the pinball machine, we will contact a shipper. You will pay all crating and postage costs.
If you would like us to deliver and set up within 50 miles of Purcellville, the charge is $175; within 100 miles $250. The delivery charge includes delivery to a first floor or basement level if walk-out.
We will not sell you a game/deliver the game if the only entrance to your basement is an inside the house staircase. They are too narrow. Plus we have to ensure we don't mess up carpet or wood. It just isn't worth it.
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