# How to Install Cabinet Protectors/Plates **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2019-09-10 **Duration:** 9m 9s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwZVoQsLRbU --- ## Analysis Cary Hardy demonstrates how to install metal leg protectors and cabinet support brackets on pinball machines. The video covers upgrading from standard Data East leg bolt brackets to stronger multi-point support brackets, installing metal cabinet protectors to prevent wear and decal damage, and the optional technique of cutting around protector perimeters to avoid decal wrinkling. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Standard Data East leg bolt brackets only support the cabinet at one corner point — _Visual demonstration comparing old bracket supporting only corner vs new bracket with three screws on each side_ - [HIGH] Upgraded leg brackets provide support on multiple sides of the cabinet instead of just one corner — _Direct comparison: 'only supports basically right here on the corner of the cabinet...Whereas the new one mounts and is secured on this side of the cabinet and this side of the cabinet'_ - [HIGH] Metal cabinet protectors prevent damage to cabinet artwork and decals from leg movement during machine nudging — _Direct statement: 'protect cabinet artwork and further wear from legs moving around whenever someone's nudging your machine...Decals is where this thing's really going to come in handy'_ - [HIGH] Cutting around the perimeter of leg protectors prevents decal wrinkling caused by cabinet movement — _Tutorial instruction with reasoning: 'by cutting around the perimeter of your cabinet leg protectors...you have a very high chance of causing the decals to wrinkle due to nudging...cutting around...a millimeter or two'_ - [HIGH] Titan Pinball is a source for hardware including bolts, screws, nuts, and washers for pinball machine installation projects — _Product demonstration: 'one of your sources that you can do to get providing all that is through Titan Pinball. They sell the hardware for all ins and outs of your pinball machine'_ ### Notable Quotes > "Old and busted, new hotness" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~1:40 > _Humorous comparison introducing the upgraded bracket system_ > "So nudging or moving your machine periodically or even occasionally more often than that is not giving your cabinet as much support as what these can do" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~0:50 > _Explains the problem that upgraded brackets solve_ > "Decals is where this thing's really going to come in handy to keep it from wrinkling the decals over time" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~5:15 > _Identifies the primary benefit of leg protectors for machines with decal artwork_ > "This is not something that you have to worry about for the screen printed cabinets. This is mainly just for those that install the decals on your cabinet" > — **Cary Hardy**, ~6:50 > _Clarifies the scope and context for when the cutting technique is necessary_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Cary Hardy | person | Content creator and pinball enthusiast running a YouTube channel focused on pinball tutorials and modifications | | Data East | company | Pinball machine manufacturer; their standard leg bolt brackets are referenced as the baseline component being upgraded | | Titan Pinball | company | Pinball parts and hardware supplier offering bolts, screws, nuts, and washers for machine installation and repair | | Marco Specialties | company | Pinball parts and accessories distributor mentioned as source for metal cabinet protectors | ### Topics - **Primary:** Cabinet maintenance and protection, Mechanical installation and hardware, Pinball machine upgrades and modifications - **Secondary:** Decal preservation and care, Parts sourcing and suppliers ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Enthusiastic, educational tone recommending practical upgrades; straightforward DIY tutorial without complaints or criticisms ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Content creator producing educational instructional content for pinball maintenance and modification community (confidence: high) — Full tutorial video with product recommendations and step-by-step installation guidance - **[product_strategy]** Upgraded leg bracket system provides multi-point cabinet support compared to standard single-corner support (confidence: high) — Direct visual and verbal comparison of old single-point bracket vs new multi-screw bracket with 3 screws on each side --- ## Transcript What's up guys and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. So if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below. I'm back with another video and I'm thinking this is gonna be a little bit of a short one. And that is how to install the metal leg protectors as well as the metal cabinet support brackets that can go inside of your cabinet. So let it roll. Okay, here we go. So here we have a standard Data East leg bolt bracket. So what this does is that it mounts to inside the cabinet, like so down here using these two kinds of screws. And that allows the leg bolts to go through the wood. And basically it keeps the leg bolts mounted to the cabinet. Now the issue with these is that that's how much support you've got. So nudging or moving your machine periodically or even occasionally more often than that is not giving your cabinet as much support as what these can do. I mean, look at this. Old and busted, new hotness. Okay, so this is the old, and it only supports basically right here on the corner of the cabinet. Just right there in the corner. Whereas the new one mounts and is secured on this side of the cabinet and this side of the cabinet. Three screws, three screws. Bolts go through here, gives the cabinet and legs much stronger support. And that what we going to do with this cabinet today So continuing on with this the only downside about ordering these is that there no other hardware that comes with it So when it comes to bolts or screws that mounts into your cabinet, that is going to be up to you to provide. So one of your sources that you can do to get providing all that is through Titan Pinball. They sell the hardware for all ins and outs of your pinball machine that you could be using. Let's see what all comes in here. You got different all sizes of nuts in here as well as your screws and some washers for all different types of projects. So the good thing is is that they provide certain bolts and screws that would be useful for this project. So I'm gonna be utilizing it basically it's six for each leg so we're gonna have 24 of these screws. Now granted I may or may not have 24 all of the same size but then you got to think how far into the cabinet it's gonna go and the thickness of the metal as well. So with that thickness going into the wood that's as far as it going into the wood right there and that's fine. So let's talk about another product. Here we have some cabinet protectors. These are the metal ones that are also available through Marko and they are mounted on your cabinet like so. One screw goes in right here and one screw goes in on the other side. Now what this is going to do is protect cabinet artwork and further wear from legs moving around whenever someone's nudging your machine. It's not going to be causing any damage to your cabinet So these are another product that I highly recommend that you install on your machine, especially if you have decals Decals is where this thing's really going to come in handy to keep it from wrinkling the decals over time I'm going to be putting these on here and putting the leg bolt through and threading it through to where it's going to be exactly in the position where I want it to be in on this side of the cabinet over here and And once I get it all tightened into place where the leg bolts are actually going to be then I will screw in the actual leg bracket inside the cabinet so let do this Thank you. Now this is something that's completely optional here guys, but I do highly recommend that you do this and that is by cutting around the perimeter of your cabinet leg protectors. This is going to keep it from causing your decals to wrinkle. This is not something that you have to worry about for the screen printed cabinets. This is mainly just for those that install the decals on your cabinet because if you do not do this then you have a very high chance of causing the decals to wrinkle due to nudging and just movement in general. So by cutting around the perimeter of this leg protector I'd say go about maybe a millimeter or two around the middle and that should basically make it to where you don have to worry about that anymore Now for those that have concerns about whether or not this is going to be visible you will see by the end of the video that it is completely not visible Thank you. Thank you. so like I said a real quick video if you like what you saw and maybe even learn something be sure to give me that thumbs up to let me know and if you haven't already do not forget to hit that subscribe button down below that way you can be notified of whenever I upload something for your viewing pleasure until next time guys peace out Outro Music _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 383ee354-5104-4301-b656-2f46959eb44f*