65 Grand Prix Wrong Cushions?

1

1968rt

New member
Picked up 2 nice 1965 Grand Prix tables. Did a minor restoration on one so far. I noticed the one table had Brunswick Superspeed cushions on it. The Grand Prix should use the K-66.but the cushion height seems fine at 1 7/16" The table plays very slow. Could these be the wrong cushions?

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I am not 100% sure about this but I think that table originally was built with Monarch SuperSpeed cushions which are a different profile than the standard SuperSpeed and K66. To fix your problem you need to have your sub-rails modified for a currently available profile. My Cold Crown from 1970 came with Monarch SuperSpeeds and I had to have the above work done but it plays spectacular now. You may have better luck posting this thread in the "ask a mechanic" section.
 
1968rt, I have a 1960's AMF Grand Prix as well, great table!

The original cushion are Master Fast K 66 made by Raybestos Manhattan in NJ. By all accounts they were some of the best cushions ever made. Mine are original and still play very well.

With proper cushions, the table should not play slow.
 

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1968rt I hope you can find a rail that works well for your tables, they deserve it.
Great tables for sure.:cool:
 
classicjay17 said:
1968rt, I have a 1960's AMF Grand Prix as well, great table!

The original cushion are Master Fast K 66 made by Raybestos Manhattan in NJ. By all accounts they were some of the best cushions ever made. Mine are original and still play very well.

With proper cushions, the table should not play slow.
Click to expand...

Do you have a profile photo of the Raybestos cushions or possibly make a drawing with measurements? We have a Grand Prix in our center that plays lousy and I'd like to find out why. Mitch
 
I just recently bought a Grand Prix and had it recovered, it also had Master Fast K 66 made by Raybestos and I swear the ball comes off the rail faster than it hit it sometimes.
I love that table!!
 
I have a mid-90's AMF Grand Prix. In the brochure, the rails are called AMFast. I don't know anything about that brand of rail. My table is almost 20 years old and the rails still play fine. I didn't like them so much when they were new because they seemed too stiff. But over time, they loosened up to play very similar to Gold Crowns in the local pool room.
 
1968rt,

Disclaimer: I am not a table mechanic, and I did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but....

The Brunswick Superspeed cushions currently on your table are k-55, so are not the correct profile for your sub-rails. To the best of my understanding, even if they have brute forced, or otherwise modified the cushions to get the correct nose height, the cushions will not play correctly unless the sub-rail is properly modified to accept the K-55 cushions. That would require a table mechanic that knows their stuff, and is not cheap. More than likely the sub-rails were not modified to accept the current cushions.

It's also my understanding that you should be able to install a modern K-66 cushion without further modification, and that should make the rails play right. (Consult the table mechanics forum on that one, don't take my word for it!)

There's some very knowledgeable table mechanics that contribute to the "Talk to a mechanic forum" and I know I read a ton of old threads over there before I decided to set my AMF up myself.
 
nine o nine said:
Do you have a profile photo of the Raybestos cushions or possibly make a drawing with measurements? We have a Grand Prix in our center that plays lousy and I'd like to find out why. Mitch
Click to expand...

nine o nine,

I do not have a profile photo of my cushions. I'm hesitant to make a drawing for you since I'm not a table mechanic, and I don't want to give you specs that are incorrect.

I would suggest posting for help in the "talk to a mechanic" forum, as there are some very knowledgeable table mechanics that regularly respond to questions in that forum.

Check out this post/blog by another AZ Member that is a table mechanic, who worked on one of these tables a couple years ago, he's got some great detailed pictures in there:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/blog.php?bt=12261
 
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