Jennings Sun Chief Questions

[Truchaos]

I'm new to antique slot machines. I've worked in engineering most of my life and I'm good at restoring machines. However, I have some questions about a Jennings Sun Chief I purchased at auction.
I pulled the internal mechanism and the original papers are still in the machine. The internal side paper says it's a Sun Chief Tic-Tac-Toe and even has the inspectors signature which is neat but the reel strips don't have the Tic-Tac-Toe symbols. So did someone swap out the reel strips or maybe even the entire mechanism? It doesn't appear to have been restored in the past, so I'm really looking forward to carefully restoring it to original condition.

So far it works (mechanism needs to be cleaned), I've discovered the jackpot doesn't pay out. There appears to be a part which is broken on the side of the mechanism and part of that broken part is missing. I'll take some pictures and post them.

If anyone can provide help, I'd appreciate it.

thanks,
Jerry

[oldslotman]

Most likely the entire mech. There should be a serial number on the tag inside the machine and also a serial number on the back of the mech. They should match.

[Swami]

Hi Jerry,

The early TIC TAC TOE machines do NOT have TTT Strips. Your machine should have the early bottom casting with the Small Jackpot Window. Cycle your machine and set the Bars so all 3 of them are in the window. Do not set all 3 of them on the center line as that is a Jackpot. If you get 18 coins with the 3 Bars showing then all is well.

Chris

[TheFatman]

I am on board with Swami regarding this. It wasnt until later and especially the Governors that they had the words on the strips.
Dave F

[Truchaos]

I checked the serial numbers on the label and the mechanism and they match. Thanks for the advice, I didn't even realize there was a number on the label.

So what does the 92.25 mean? The note on the reel combination line looks like it says "NO BS" but was scribbled out.

[goldstar]

So for me at least, the photo of the label begs more questions than it answers.

First is the "Fitzgerald" appearing on the label. That might seem to indicate it was meant for Lincoln Fitzgerald, but I doubt he would have had a TTT machine.
Second, it looks like there are no anti-drill plates in the cabinet.
Some photos of the rest of the machine would be helpful.
If the machine were meant for Nevada play, that would tell us why the jackpot was disabled.
If the machine ever made it to Nevada play, it's pretty unusual that the serial numbers still match after all these years.

Does the cabinet look like it's 70 years old or more?

[Truchaos]

Thanks for the information.
Yes, the machine definately looks like it's been around and has some age on it. The coin box was full of dimes from the 1960's and I didn't see any older than 1971, except for a few I put in to test it out.

[Truchaos]

So how can I tell if this machine is supposed to have TIC-TAC-TOE reels and award glass? The factory label inside says it's a TIC-TAC-TOE but the reel strips are fruit & bar. Looking at the strips it appears they're not one piece but have had pieces put on the reel.

I'm restoring the machine and would like to restore it to it's correct condition.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Swami]

Jerry,

As I stated previously. The early Sun Chief TTT machines did NOT have TTT Strips, nor did they have TTT award cards. Your Strips and award card are correct for this machine. Also, why would you possibly want to replace those Awesome Original Strips. Have you seen the Repo Strips. They are junk. Leave the Strips alone.

Chris

[oldslotman]

I maybe wrong, but I believe this machine would have had a decal on the jackpot glass that stated it was a ttt machine but it only shows the bars in different positions for the payout and not the ttt symbols.

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