Sunday, April 5, 2009

My Sim Racing Project.

Ok, so i like playing Racing sim games on PC, i tend to play alot of LiveForSpeed (LFS) i decided to buy myself a logitech steering wheel to use, i decided not to spend too much money and go with something cheap for the time being, i ended up getting the Logitech Momo, its a good wheel but very basic, only has brake and accelerator, after a few months i decided to upgrade to the Logitech G25 and also decided to get the Gamer Buttkicker as well...
This picture shows the G25, Momo, and the buttkicker.

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I've also added some pictures of the contents of the ButtKicker box.

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Here is the Buttkicker, its basicly a eltro-magnetic piston inside. Mounting is easy, it should mount onto almost any type of chair that has any tpe of rod or leg.
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Here you can see the ButtKicker Amp, Showing controls such as Cutoff, volume, and hpf/lpf switch.
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At the back you can see the power switch & plug, line in, and the output for the Buttkicker.
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Here is the Logitech G25 out of the box, with all the cables, shifter, peddles and of course the wheel, all the conponets connect into the underside of the steering wheel base.
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Frame building and mounting.

I started with a big sheet of MDF cut to the size i need for the base, i screwed in some lengths of wood to hold the dash section.
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my dog checking out all the fuss...
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I have a dash from a Toyota GT Starlet, i have cut it in half to use as my "real" dash, i have screwed it to the frame.
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i considered using the original steering wheel from the Starlet here is a rough mount up.

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i decided not to use it as it would take too long to get it mounted to the G25.

Now to the peddles, i opened up the G25 peddles and removed them from thier case, i have decided to mount them upside down so they are like real peddles.

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Mounting them wasnt too hard, just took a little time to get the possition right.
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Mounting the steering wheel took about as long as the peddles, i made a flat sheet of wood for it to mount to, with a support under it.
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Here is the steering wheel all mounted.
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Making of the side sections was as easy as placing a length of wood on the side and drawing an outline of the dash and cutting to size.
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I decided not to use the original centre concole as it sits too low, so i made one up, it also allows for all my cabling to run up it.
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While i was at it i decided to pull apart an old game pad and use it as an anolog handbrake, nothing too hard here.

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Now for the front, under the hood.
i mounted a motherboard tray in here, this is where all my hardware is going.
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As i will be using watercooling i got the Startlet heaterbox/fan and mounted that in as well, they use 12volts so its perfect to cool my radiator.
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Ok, so i now have all my hardware mounted inside the front. The list of parts include:
DFI UT P35 t2r
Intel Q6600 @ 3.6
GSkill F2-8500 2GB 4-4-4-12@1000
Inno3d GTX285
XFX 9800GTX xxx
Thermaltake Toughpower 750w
generic psu for heater fan
Gamer ButtKicker
Western digital 120 sata 2
Swiftech apogee, res and pump
heater core
Dell 2009wfp X 3
Multi monitor mount
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i have mounted the seat with rails, i have also changed the shifter to a CST shifter
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I have also gotten a hold of a CST SLI, LCD and plasma board the plasma board will allow me to use the LCD so i can view things from rpm, oil & water temp, lap times etc, it also has a heap pf programable inputs for such things as a button box to analog inputs.
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So far im yet to paint and carpet it, i still have to make a button box as well. i've been thinking over the last few days about making another race sim out of boxed tube to keep the weight down something along the lines like the eds1. Using this sim is fun, the ButtKicker adds alot more realism to the games, its well worth the money, just those simple things like running over ripple strips makes such a difference. I use Softth to run my 3 monitors, works well.

Ok so i have done a little more work on my Sim Racer, i have mounted the front speakers, and have also taken the buttons out of the g25 shifter and mounted to the dash untill i can make a button box for the center console.
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I have also redesigned the hand brake, i used a pot from a fan controller and wired it to the button controller as a Y axis, works perfect.
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So far so good, i'll make a button box next, then look at mounting the keyboard, and covering the handbrake, the the carpet and paint.

Ok, i have made the button box and fitted it to the centre concole, work really well, better than trying to remember what buttons on the keyboard you need to press. i still need to lable them. Here's a few more pictures.

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So next up will be to mount the small LCD into the dash behind the steering wheel, and then carpet and paint!

RACE SIM HAS BEEN CANCELED! I have decided to pull it apart and make a steel frame race sim, the main body and dash are free to good home.!