W2300 top casting repair

[toucanf16]

I’m looking to purchase a W2304 with a cracked top casting where the dome is attached (see attached link for picture). The owner says this is a common problem and is very difficult to repair. Has anyone had any luck repairing this casting?

www.dropbox.com/s/i428tlk46a59rg5/W-2300%20casting.jpg?dl=0

[Ron Rich]

Hi Matt,
I have not been able to find anyone who can fix it. Be very careful-- it's common for that blue WurliTzer glass to be broken on those too--- Ron Rich

[jukenorman]

I have heard of repairs (and then rechroming) of this kind being done in Europe although I have never personally seen the results. I imagine the repair itself must be some kind of light welding or brazing? I have had good results doing similar repairs using metal loaded epoxy which I have reinforced with a thin metal plate but I don't know whether that would be suitable here. An example of this is a Seeburg 201 button bank casting which was cracked at the corner such that the side part was no longer sitting at right angles.
Norman.

[Ron Rich]

Hi Norman,
I have seen "repairs" done to lots of them -- I think there were about three models where WurliTzer did not do too good a job in that area-- all that I have noticed which had been repaired, looked as if someone had stood back about ten feet and hit it with a torch, of some type-- I think they were all owned, at one time, by the same "operator" here. Ron Rich

[toucanf16]

Thanks Ron and Norman. I’m looking to buy a 2304. The guy also has a 2300 with a good casting. I’m hoping he can swap it out for a price.

[Ron Rich]

Hi Matt,
I have broken one myself-- just sorta layed my hand on the open dome, for "balance"-- snapped it instantly--I suspect it had a "hairline crack" prior to my hand touching the dome- Ron Rich

[joey21]

www.muggyweld.com/video/pot-metal-restoration-2/

Saw this elsewhere recently. 

That spare 2300-series jukebox? Does it have a back door (the metal portion) that could be bought reasonably? 

Thanks. 

[everymann]

I bought my 200-play 2300 juke in the mid-1990s; it was pretty much complete. It wasn't/isn't 100% perfect cosmetically, but I had to have the original plastic stepper cover, and cardboard rectifier and amp covers that usually got tossed when these things were serviced for the first time @60 years ago; I collected them over the course of a few years. I realized that the (crude) mechanism meant to hold the glass open was missing, and I contacted Bill Butterfield for the part.

"Um, I will sell it to you and take your money if you force me to, but you really don't want to be putting that in there..."

I wanted those empty screw holes filled, and once it arrived, I rigged it so the lever wouldn't catch when the glass door was raised. Or so I thought. It snagged once when I wasn't expecting it to do so while lowering the glass, and thus the one end dipped while the other end stuck in place.

After 30 seconds I got the nerve to check the casting, and fortunately there was no crack. WHEW! I ripped the stopper mechanism right back out of there. Absolutely terrible design.