Thanks Jeff, I was just cleaning and puttering with it for awhile.
In a pic (which I actually posted here), I had those 2 "L"s tangled with the rods with the weights on them, one on the top, one on the bottom. But things could have gotten messed up, and maybe it'll even work either way. Also 2 screws that attach the jackpot bin to the wooden board were missing, the 2 on that side, so the bin may have moved away from the board enough to allow the rod to move there (it was the outer rod which was between the "L"s, so makes sense).
I still sort of wonder what the outer rod of those 2 with the weights on "does" exactly? Maybe just to add extra force for opening the regulator on the top bin...hmmm