DIY Plans for a Race Simulator Cockpit?

[Duke]

Overnight I decided to mod the rig as I felt the top area wasn't large enough to provide enough room for both a monitor & PC box on top of it as I need to do. So here is what I came up with.
I have to say even these little mods took a while to get right which makes the original plans even more impressive.
I also brought the shifter brace closer towards the seat using 3" long pipes instead of the 4.5" pipes on the original design. It's a common mod many builders of this rig do.


XL Taptop Mod by Duke6amer, on Flickr


XL Tabletop Mod by Duke6amer, on Flickr

[Exar Kun]

Looking really good mate. This was one of those things I always really wanted to do but never got around to. And then a child happened...

[Duke]

Ah fear not Exar, it's taken me 9yrs since my 1st born & 5yrs since my last born to do as I wanted with a sim rig. Suffice to say I'm not sure what the wife thinks but I use the excuse I'm building it for my 9yr old boy too.

[matticooper]

stupid question time Flinty. Are you going to fill the pipes with something (such as water/sand) to add rigidity? or leave it hollow?

[Duke]

Nope the pipes will be left hollow, there is some discussion around filling them on the ISR forum where I found the plans but the consesus is it isn't really necesary.
With a (car) seat, monitor & PC on it then a human sitting in it I doubt it's going to move.
Plus I intend to mount some lockable caster wheels to it eventually so I can move it around easier & it will make it sit a little higher so it is a bit easier to get in & out of.

[KNAPPO]

Looking great Finty.

[Duke]

Finally after weeks of fixing the garage, where my rig is going to live then after weeks of sickness with my wife getting the Shingles then I having Chicken Pox, here is an update of what I did last w/end.

Built a lockable castor-wheel trolley for the rig. Now I can freely move it around as needed plus the extra height makes it easier to get in & out of as I'm only getting older. The added benefit it it doesn't tip up now if someone was to sit on the front of it.
Worked out the mounting of the seat using 70x35mm structural pine attached to the seat rails. It still needs fixing to the rig but this will be done after I have the pedals & wheel mounted to ensure I get the best placement & full range of seat adjustment.
Bought the table-top to go onto it. It needs cutting down still.
by the way the trolley has probably cost more than the PVC did...

All going well I reckon I'll have it finished & hopefully operational this weekend sometime as the PC going onto it is making it's way from my mates this weekend also.


Trolley 1 by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Seat Mounting Test by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Table Selected by Duke6amer, on Flickr

[NeilPearson]

Looking good flinty!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Vilante]

Looks great mate. I'm still working out how to mount my wheel to my flimsy glass topped desk so I can do some sort of driving again. Stupid tiny apartment!!

[Zorn]

That looks awesome flinty, thinking of doing something similar, but need to get a wheel first lol. Thinking of the g27

Also, I only registered because of your thread as I hadn't heard about this forum before, bu thanks to google I am now another proud aussie here

[Zorn]

can't wait to see it finished

[Duke]

can't wait to see it finished

Welcome zorn & glad you found this & like it.
Once you do get a wheel it would be great to see you build one & if you do make sure to keep us updated.

[Duke]

So I'm hoping someone here can help me out with something, will be setting up the rig with an adjustable tilt deck for the wheel like in the pic below.
But I want to get dimensions for the Fanatec CSW Base so that I make the tilt section large enough to cater for it as I hope to one day buy one.
So does anyone here have a CSW base & can measure it for me or know where I might find the measurements as it would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: Found what I was looking for, but I'd be happy for anyone to double check it for me then?
http://au.fanatec.com/download/CSRE-CSW ... dapter.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://au.fanatec.com/download/CSRE-CSW ... dapter.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Duke]

Well she's practically operational, finally. Fitted the seat (what an absolute A.R.S.E pain that was), pedal deck, pedals & the table-top today.
But there is still a little bit to do including bolting the wheel on properly & doing the h-shifter mount.
At this stage I am not doing the tilt-able steering mod as I don't see it's needed right now, I'll just see how it goes the first in the few months of use.
I'll post more tomorrow hopefully, including putting the monitor, pc & hopefully a keyboard once I work out the mount for one.


Seat Clamps by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Operational except H-shifter by Duke6amer, on Flickr

Something else I'm also keen to change in the future is to turn it into a multi-function rig after seeing a guy on the ISR forum adapt his for flight/combat simming. It's a pretty quick & easy mod apart from working out a quick release or dual pedal system to swap car pedals for rudder pedals.
For now I'll work on a design & see if I want to do it before painting the rig, which won't happen for a few months once more favourable weather is around.

[NeilPearson]

Looks good Flinty!!

[Duke]

Well finally the initial build is finito, pretty stoked with how it's all come together & my handywork. So apologies this post is photo heavy.
Today I also got to use my Grandad's old B&D Jigsaw to do the shifter mount, it has got to be close to 30yrs old I reckon.
Funnily though after checking these photo's I think I'm going to lop of the top of the shifter mount, where the u-bolts go through as it sticks up a bit high.

The PC going on it is all but ready too. The best news being it's an old AMD Phenom II X2 550 that my mate has been able to unlock to a Quad Core & OC to 3.6GHz on stock voltage. It may even have a touch more in it given it's got a ANTEC 620 Kuhler liquid cooler on it.
I'll hopefully have it tomorrow night then I can work out the placement of the monitor then bolt it & the PC case down.

I still want to add a keyboard mount & also a dead pedal to rest the clutch foot when needed. I'm also considering the tilt-deck mod for the wheel but these can happen after I have had time in it. Can't wait now!!!


Shifter Jigsaw 1 by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Shifter Mount by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Shifter Mounted by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Shifter Mount External by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Cockpit Closeup by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Build Finito by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Packed Up by Duke6amer, on Flickr

[NeilPearson]

looks good flinty. Hurry up and use it!!

[Duke]

looks good flinty. Hurry up and use it!!

Yeah I know, this week hopefully but if not it'll definitely be next weekend.

[Duke]

Oh dear I think I have undertaken an never ending project after seeing the originator of the design do this mod using of all thing springs like that from a trampoline to create a passive motion sim. His vision is to use transducers with simvibe but he also says that the movement from simply moving the hardware while playing has heightened the experience 10 fold.

[youtube] [/youtube]

[SE1Z]

Looks good!

I wonder what it will be like driving with the pedals on that angle, after having had them flat on the floor all these years?

Great job!
Interested to read your review once you get your PC and have had a good run with it!

[Duke]

Well I finally had a test run in the rig last night albeit using my mates PC running LFS. This was while he was over to drop off the PC that he's built me to put on the rig.
Mind the mess it is only temporary but you can see why I extended the desktop to allow for the PC to sit on it & be a totally independent system.
I've got to say it was sensational but man am I rusty as hell. Anyway I am very happy with the positioning as it was very comfy while it lasted.

But after about 45mins my warranty replaced practically brand new (used 4 times in last 3yrs) G25 developed this fault. Which it turns out is quite common but also very difficult to fix properly without a 3rd party part... Suffice to say I have ordered one of these & now need to wait about 10 days for it to arrive. But at least it will never happen again.

In the meantime I am trying the temporary fix of gluing the broken part back together, hopefully it will last until the new one arrives so at the very least I can load all my race-sims & set them up.


Test Run 1 by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Broken G25 by Duke6amer, on Flickr


Offending Part by Duke6amer, on Flickr

[plastik8]

Nice!

Does the monitor move at all considering it's on the same base as the wheel? How about the whole frame moving, considering it's on wheels?

All you need yo do now is paint it, and start using it

[Duke]

Nice!

Does the monitor move at all considering it's on the same base as the wheel? How about the whole frame moving, considering it's on wheels?

All you need yo do now is paint it, and start using it

In the very short time I have used it so far there is some minor movement but probably not much more than a wooden desk tbh.
Either way it's not really noticeable when driving & it just adds to the experience.
The castor wheels are lockable & rated at 140kg each, they were the biggest, baddest wheels I could get from Bunnings & they do a great job of holding the rig in place, I guess it's overall weight helps alot too.
The monitor didn't move at all, it has a huge metal base plate which I will be bolting through to the desk once I've settled on it's best position.
I'm also bolting the PC to the desk through the feet of the case. Mainly so when I need to move it there is no chance of anything falling off.
I'll try get a video of it in use soon.

Painting is going to wait until warmer weather which in itself is going to be a huge job.
Disassemble, sand, clean, prep solvent PVC, paint (primer, colour & clear coats) then reassemble isn't something I'm looking forward to.

[Duke]

So as you know this rig started out for me to get reacquainted with GPL. But as it has progressed the more it has become my own little shrine to sim racing.
Sims of old, sims of new or even some sims that are indifferent will find a home on this rig & to that end this arrived today.

RBR.jpg

What astounded me in my research of RBR is that this is still considered the most realistic & true to its genre race sim ever.
Also that it still has a pretty descent (underground) community at rallyesim who not only continue to release mods but also host online racing.

[KNAPPO]

Nice work Flinty. You have inspired me to make my rig movable.

Last weekend I built a subframe setup for my Obutto r3volution on 6 lockable castes and a 7th in the center of the frame. I almost went with the same casters but the overall height was a bit too tall for what I was aiming for so went with a set that were 55kg per caster and added 3 to the center of the frame where you tend to stand/put weight when you climb in. The Obutto is close to 100kg and a real pain in the arse to move, 2 person job. Now i can tuck it away when not in use.

I gotta say now the rig is 170mm higher off the ground its much easier to get out of. More like climbing out of a car then peeling your arse up out of a go kart.

Next stage is to build some sides and box in the seat frame area of the Obutto to hide some of the steel frame work but that will come later.