I get a lot of requests for Party Zone, and I have been sending them your way. These look like a pretty difficult ramp to make...nice work!

And before anyone mentions it, I know I had mentioned doing this and made a couple for testing, but Larry and I agreed to just have him do it since he already does the ramps. We try to make sure we don't duplicate each other's work so more different ramps get made.

Another thing to keep in mind is how archaic the assembly and playfield hole drilling process at the factory was and still is to this day. Factory workers lay a template on a playfield and then drill all the holes on location using drill bushings as locators. Being in the tool and die field myself, I am here to tell you...those bushings will wear over time after thousands of cycles which will allow the drill locations to drift a bit. Some holes were not even drilled using templates...they were just drilled on the dimple location, which is even worse for repeatability! Also, I am not convinced that the template always lays perfectly flat, or stays perfectly in position as they drill all the holes. Secondly, if there are multiple lines making the same game, that means multiple templates had to be made...and most were made by hand. So now you have another source of possible variance. Having to "massage" the location of a mounting point at the factory was not out of the realm of possibility. Why companies like Stern are not CNC machining screw holes in playfields in 2022 is a head scratcher for me.

Another thing to keep in mind...some ramps had to be flexed a bit to be installed at the factory. After being in a machine for 20 or 30 years, they have taken a "set" to them and conformed to their installed position. A new ramp made on original tooling will still need to be flexed into its mounting position again, just like they did in the past at the factory. Why do I know this? Because some ramps I have taken out of machines to remake now have negative geometry that would be impossible to vacuum form in their current shape. Over time, they conformed to the installed position, and the vertical faces have sloped a bit in the other direction.

Also, it was not at all uncommon to have ramp change made throughout a run as production issues were found. I have 3 different versions of the Gottlieb Spring Break ramp in my possession, and I have heard Comet had several running changes made as well. Same thing with ramp covers...most were added after the fact due to air ball issues. Early production games often did not have them.

Big ramps equal bigger headaches, and I am glad Larry has taken some of these difficult projects on...Whitewater, Party Zone and NBAFB give me heart palpitations just thinking about trying to produce them! Anyone installing a new ramp needs to go into it with the expectation of possibly having to do some massaging to make things fit together