I have picked up three of these machines in hopes of making one or probably two nice ones from the lot.
The box on the left above, decapitated for transport, is the least complete but in the best condition. It was picked up via a lead on the jukebox mailing list from a fellow in Los Angeles. It is missing amplifier, gearmotors, side speakers, grille, front trim, and the front part of the mech.
The good news is that what's left is in very good condition. The cabinet side panels are excellent, the lettering on the title case is crisp and deep, and the under-dome red shrouds are a perfect unfaded deep red. The counter on this box reads 05217, and my suspicion is that it spent very little time on location before being cannibalized for parts. This cabinet and trim will be easiest to use for a primo box. The major cabinet flaws are that the back is painted black and the top plywood on which the dome rests is deteriorated, but they're all deteriorated to some extent. I'm considering a dark charcoal Formica to finish this part. The painted plywood doesn't seem to hold up well. I'm naming this one "Forrest" after Forrest Gump, because it's not all there, but what is there is quite likable.

The middle box spent some time in the Phillipines, and was proudly "rebuilt" there at one time by a fellow who signed his work. It is the most physically complete of any of them. The side speakers have been replaced with a pair that have oversized magnets. One is tightly wedged against the popularity meter drum. The amplifier has been modified with 6L6 sockets in place of the 6973 sockets. Its preamp was gutted and replaced with a transistorized PC board under the chassis. The whole box has been raised about two inches with a sub-floor to replace and beef up de-laminating plywood. This cabinet is the worst for wear, but its doors are better than those of box number three.

I'll add some more pics as I disassemble it. This one will be called Phil, as it was in the Phillipines.


Behind Door Number Three is a machine that has a few miles on it. The serial number plate shows that it was made under license from AMI, perhaps in Panama. Model number on this plate reads just "C 2". The paper labels inside are a mixture of Spanish and English. The internal chassis have been crudely sprayed with gold spray paint, and the preamp is falling out of it. All of the title strips are in Spanish, so it looks like this unit spent most of its service life somewhere between Panama and Mexico. Its cabinet is second-best, but the back doors are in bad shape. Mech is complete but hacked up badly. Henceforth "Jose" due to its Spanish roots.


Of course, as time goes on, parts from all three will get moved around and they'll lose their individual identities.
I have some later AMI amplifiers that use the 7868 tubes, if they will fit in these boxes I'll probably go that route rather than try to do anything with the remains of the existing amplifiers. I figure the first box will use its mech with parts scrounged from the Phillipine one, including the front trim and pushbutton assembly. The second will most likely be the Panamanian cabinet and mech, with the title case and doors from the box that was in the Phillipines. The rest will be parts unless I'm extremely lucky and fall into another parts box with what I need. Surprisingly I wound up with three good domes and title case glasses.

Cabinet



Today I removed the exterior metal from the best cabinet and also both of the front panel assemblies. The front panels differ, I suspect that neither is really stock. The panel is a sandwich of two chrome rectangles held together with a combination of spot-welded studs and screws. Two of the studs were broken off on one unit, but the remaining ones should be adequate to hold things together.

Phil had a plain glass front, an orange plastic diffuser with the AMI logo above the "STEREO-ROUND" wording. It can be seen at the bottom of the two photos. The lettering is glued to the plastic panel with tiny holes drilled in the back of each letter.
Jose was closer to what I think is original, but still not quite right from the pictures I've seen. The AMI logo is too low, and the background color has only red and yellow, and looks kind of crude. Behind the AMI logo is a square of white paint, but it doesn't quite line up. The front glass has "Continental 2" silk-screened in black on the back. I suspect that the front glass is correct, but that the back plastic is not. No holes behind the lettering, just glued onto the plastic.

Paging Vanna White... I'd like to buy a vowel!

Forrest's front panel was missing, but the selector switch assembly was loose inside the cabinet. (No pushbuttons.)

So far, I'm sure I'll need at least the following parts if I'm to get two machines working:

The usual sources show reproductions for everything but the stereo-round letters and the mech and under-dome covers, cash box and slug rejector. It looks like a stock National rejector, these show up periodically so I'm not too worried here. I have several 5-10-25 rejectors so really only need the half-dollar piggyback part.

Feedback from the mailing list has been helpful, please keep it coming. Mike and Dr. Jukebox say that the candy-apple translucent red on the inner grille surround metal is correct. Graeme from Down Under concurs and also suggests having the aluminum parts chromed. Chrome-plated aluminum is somewhat fragile if it develops any nicks or moisture, but I'm inclined to follow his advice as the aluminum sides don't look right with that chromed corner. The dome surround and button shroud are chromed aluminum, as are parts of several other jukes.

Any hints as to sources for the missing trim parts?

Cabinet 2

After another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat (Remember Alice? There's a song about Alice), I proceeded to behead Phil and Jose. Nothing out of the ordinary except that Phil had been modified to take shorter than original flourescents in the title case. For anyone trying to figure out how to get a title case apart for chroming, the bottom rail has two hidden screws that are behind the plastic lens in the end caps. Slide the fluorescent lamp assembly up and you can get to them. All of the necks are in good shape but will need rechroming. Phil's title case glass turned out to be plexiglas, either a commercial repro or a very good home-made part. Phil's aluminum trim piece covering the front of the neck is gold in color, as is his grille. I think these are spray-painted and were both originally clear anodized aluminum. The grilles have a few dents which I think can be straightened. Parts I'll need for sure include the list above as well as the little formed plastic piece that goes inside the front of the dome. I have no clue why they call it that, perhaps because the mechanical select boxes had a wheel in the front there?