In Progress Gottlieb Spin Out

[ronsplooter]

I've been looking for a project to try and re-invigorate me working on games and have been wanting to re-theme a game for a while so on Monday I picked up the base game It's an EM and the plan is to add extra sound and music plus re-do the artwork to the new theme of Castlevania Not sure whether to go fully SOTN or maybe 8 or 16 bit for the art package. One idea I had was SOTN art in a sort of Centaur style keeping it quite monochrome but I also really like the SNES and PC Engine art too. Music will be a mix of all sorts from the different games plus any other versions that I like. This is not going to be a quick one and just getting the base game working is going to be a challenge but hopefully I can get something that's cool

The starting point for all of this is a Gottlieb Spin Out wedge head from 1975 that has spent some time in a swamp outside Dracula's castle It's going to need a bit of Evaporust.....and it's full of glass

 

[Pudsey pinball]

Mmmmmmmmmmmm swampy pin!!!!! Let the project begin

 

[AlanJ]

Watching with interest....

 

[replicas]

Look forward to the progress.

 

[RetroHeed]

Excellent looking forward to following your progress. PCE Akumajo Dracula X theme

 

[ronsplooter]

As expected, not had much time to do anything with this so far but did get chance to start gutting the cab. Lots of broken glass and crap to clear out first:



Also found this really safe mains cable (they are just twisted together)



An interesting sign for operators, not seen one like this before:



Once all of the major crap was out of the way I was able to remove the bottom panel and that was as far as I got

 

[Jay Walker]

An interesting sign for operators, not seen one like this before:

Williams used to have one saying "Inform locations they can turn on background lights by pressing left flipper button. Or turn game off by tapping the base of the cabinet'; doing that operated a tilt, where a rod flew up through a bush on the motor panel and broke open (as I recall) a connection for the series or Hold relay, shutting the machine off, even though the switch only opened for a moment.

 

[ronsplooter]

Managed to get the base cab fully stripped out and the first lot of parts into the Evaporust bath:





I've also started work on the bottom board, everything has been liberated from the wood base:

 

[s000m]

Dear God, that needs purging with fire, let alone evaporust!

Good luck!

 

[ronsplooter]

As shown in the Today I Received thread, a 2nd Spin Out has been acquired which isn't the complete rust bucket that the first one is



It starts up and plays although some of the game features aren't working as expected but it probably hasn't been serviced in forever so the plan is to work through it and get it playing correctly and then use this as the base for the re-theme with the other one providing parts where needed (it'll also be a handy source of parts for Jet Spin as well). I started stripping the top side of the playfield to get a better look at it. It's been covered in motorsport related stickers at some point in the past and I think it used to live it a garage in it's past life:

 

[Jay Walker]

It's a pity about the alteration made to the posts behind the eject hole, which form the cover for the two inactive roto-targets. The still-bright, unfaded kidney shape is the factory arrangement. As with my example of this game, and quite likely your other one, the small original lightshield with checkered artwork on probably got broken by the ball hitting it after lifting the playfield with the ball in the outhole; it's especially wise to remove the ball before doing so with this game.

 

[ronsplooter]

Time for one of my favourite things to check when I get a new EM game, how much money did it make Play counter shows 07428 plays so either it's 7428 or by some miracle it was rolled and it's 107428



Coin slot plaque shows 10p per play:



So we're looking at either 7428 x 0.1 = £742.80 or 107428 x 0.1 = £10742.80 (unlikely). Assuming a 50/50 split between operator and location that means the game made either £371.40 or £5371.40. A mid 70's Gottlieb EM was approx $895 NIB at the time so I reckon the operator lost money on this one (or made an absolute fortune but I somehow doubt that ).

Another interesting "mod" that's been done at some point during it's life is the knocker has been moved to the opposite side of the cab and converted to a bell.....I'll be changing this back as I want the 4 rapid knocks when you get 1-7 lit in the right order:

 

[ronsplooter]

Lots of playfield bits starting to come out of the tumbler and other stuff getting cleaned up. A lot of the plastic parts will be replaced as part of the re-theme but for now I want to get Spin Out working and clean enough to take to PinFest. Also had a delivery of some new bits today including the all important schematic:





The other thing I want working for Pinfest is the new sounds so I've been having a think about how this should work and also started playing about with Audacity. I'm leaving the chimes and knocker in place so all of the switches on the game will still have those noises associated with them and I've identified 3 or 4 switches to trigger the music:

• Trough Switch - The ball rolls over this when kicked into the shooter lane so this will trigger the main game music.
• Drain Switch - I'll need to add an extra switch here as the MP3 trigger board looks for momentary switch closures and the current outhole switch has the ball constantly sat on it so won't work. This will play the end of ball sound effect or short tune.
• Coin Return Switch (on coin door) - When pressed this will change the main game music.

I'd also thought about adding an extra switch towards the top of the shooter lane so I could have shooter lane music that transitions into main game music but I think this would screw up my idea of being able to change the main game music using one of the coin return switches. The thinking here is that anytime during gameplay you can press the coin return button and it will change the main game music between different Castlevania games. Ones I've like so far are:

• Dracula X PC Engine CD
• SOTN Playstation 1
• Castlevania 1/2/3 NES
• Super Castlevania 4 SNES

For each one of these I'm making a custom music track made from my favourite tunes from each game and stitching them together into a single longer track in Audacity. It's early days but I like the idea of being able to change the music whenever you want and each track being consistent rather than random tracks from all the different games which might sound weird when played together. I've already got the MP3 tigger board, SD card and power supply so making the tracks and then wiring up the switches is the main work here along with getting a small amp and speakers to fit into the game somehow. It's early days on this front and no idea how much progress I'll make before PinFest but it would be cool to bring a working Spin Out that plays Castlevania music

 

[ronsplooter]

A bit of experimentation and learning today I thought I'd see what I could do with the Spin Out playfield ahead of Pinfest and teach myself a bit about what can be done with really knackered ones. I'll be completely re-doing the art as part of the re-theme so it doesn't really matter if I screw anything up as it'll all be sanded off anyway.

Here's what I'm starting with. At some point a long time ago it's been covered with a brushed on varnish which has yellowed over time. This varnish went over the top of the already dirty playfield plus the various stickers that had been applied, locking them all in:













Using a combination of metal scrapers, an orbital sander and some hand sanding I attacked the playfield taking it relatively slowly (especially with the DA sander). This pic shows the difference between where the yellowed varnish is and where I've managed to get it off (varnish on the right):



After a first attempt it now looks like the below. I'm going to come back to this and do more even though you can see where I've taken some of the original paint off. It's definitely a lot smoother!

 

[ronsplooter]

The race is on to get what should be the roughest looking game at Pinfest ready in time Rebuilt the roto target, kickers and slings and cleaned all of the switches so just the flippers left to do on the underside Whilst it won't look great cosmetically I do want it to play nicely! With the playfield not too far off done I need to clean all of the switches in the bottom of the cab and the head and then make a call on whether I'll have time to strip and rebuild the score reels.

 

[Gonzo]

Great job mate, that stuff has cleaned up amazingly well.

 

[ronsplooter]

The game is back together and looking a lot better than it did when I started, although it still looks rough I now need to work through the various issues it has if I'm going to have any chance of bringing it next weekend. I'm not going to have time to fully strip and rebuild the mechs in the head so unless they are the cause of any of the issues then the score reels and ball count unit will be left alone for now.

 

[ronsplooter]

Spent some time today tweaking lamps and switches and I'm left with the below things to sort out if this game is going to make Pinfest:

• Need to look at getting it on free play
• The cab needs earth bonding
• There's some inconsistency in the way the ball rolls over the trough switch. I think it's due to the power of the outhole kicker.
• Linked to this there's an issue with the ball count unit and game over relay sometimes kicking a ball out at game over. So after you've drained ball 5 you get another ball in the shooter lane even though the coil power has been killed so you just have to plunge it and get it back to the outhole.
• The right roto target doesn't register
• The right outlane switch doesn't register. This is supposed to score the right roto target value so assume these two are linked.
• The roto target doesn't seem properly centered to me. Might be linked to the above 2. issues or might be just how it is

The good news is, if I can't get it sorted then Lucky Strike is working fine even though it's been stored in my Dad's garage since last Pinfest

 

[Biff]

Nice one as usual mate, love rota targets

 

[Jay Walker]

Linked to this there's an issue with the ball count unit and game over relay sometimes kicking a ball out at game over. So after you've drained ball 5 you get another ball in the shooter lane even though the coil power has been killed so you just have to plunge it and get it back to the outhole

This problem was also showing on the Spin Out I owned - the final ball draining didn't trigger the Ball in Play counter to step to Game Over, but the switch in the trough did it as a fail-safe. Leaving the flippers dead even when a new game was started; the ball had to be returned to the outhole to pass through the trough again. There were contacts worn away on the disc of the Ball in Play unit, which should've been picking up on the last ball draining, but weren't.

You're correct about the roto target/outlane switches; they're in parallel. I was fooled by the outlane switches not registering, and spent ages tweaking them, only to find that the 'roto disc' was slipping on its shaft, and not lining up with its wiper disc, which knocked out both target and outlane switches.

For Free Play, jumper the contacts on the credit counter which are open with no credits showing. Or alter the front door wiring, so the start button works as a coin switch (provided the coin switch is set to 1 coin 1 play).

 

[ronsplooter]

Thanks @Jay Walker you are a legend mate I'll have a play about with your suggestions this evening

 

[ronsplooter]

Roto target issues sorted It wasn't fully on the disc contacts so aligned it so the targets looked right to me on the top of the playfield and that sorted out both the right target not working when hit directly as well as the right outlane switch not scoring it

Next up to look at is the ball count unit and game over. Nice one @Jay Walker

 

[ronsplooter]

Question for you @Jay Walker on your one, when you score the number 4 target and make a set of 4 or more roto target numbers does it reset? It doesn't seem to on mine even if you get all 7 and not even at the start of a new ball. I know the relay bank reset coil works as it does it at the start of a new game during the reset process (it's also not firing the knocker).

 

[ronsplooter]

Free play is sorted but it looks like I am going to have to do some level of cleaning to the ball count unit as it behaves inconsistently and is probably the cause of the issues with ball kick out at game over etc. I was really hoping not to have to mess with this ahead of Pinfest

 

[Jay Walker]

The 1 to 7 sequence bank doesn't reset during play, only at the start of a game. Neither does the A-B-C-D bank for the top lanes.

 

[ronsplooter]

Thanks @Jay Walker that's one less thing to look at then

 

[ronsplooter]

In the words of Paula Abdul, I take two steps forward, I take 4 steps back! We're not coming together 'cause opposites don't attract.

I partially stripped the ball count unit, cleaned the switches and cleaned and lubed the disc. Now the trough switch doesn't register and the coil power to the playfield is off. I'm assuming I've introduced an issue with the ball count unit so will need to have a proper look tomorrow. I'm sure it must be something simple as there's not that many switches to mess with on it.

 

[MajesticPinball]

The extra ball at game over is quite a common issue on this era of wedgehead machine - I had a Spin Out in the workshop earlier on in the year which was doing the same thing and a few others I've stumbled across have had the same issue - there is a lovely writeup on it as well as all the potential cures here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/t...ter-game-over”-in-a-gottlieb-single-player-em

 

[ronsplooter]

Nice one James @MajesticPinball I think I'll be revisiting that info tomorrow.

Took the ball count unit apart again this evening but this time completely stripped and polished up the switch stack on it. I also noticed that one of the wires had come loose from one of the snow shoes so soldered in some new wire rather than mess about with the strands of hair that Gottlieb used and...........

It lives again and is now working better than before as the match lights are coming on



It plays though a game but is still kicking that extra ball out at game over but seeing as I've sorted some of the things in that Pinside thread there's not much left to check so I'm pretty confident I can fix it tomorrow, Then I just need to earth bond it and we're good to go

Pinfest is back on!!!!!!!

 

[Biff]

Bugger, missed most of this thread in real time... Any more progress on the kick out issue?