Thought i'd post a few pics of my home made race cockpit, i haven't finished it fully yet, but i guess i'll post as i go
I didn't work to any plans set in stone, i just thought about how i could do it for a couple of weeks, got a basic idea, and went with the flow.
I think its looking pretty cool and its great to race in!
It was built in my cellar and is too big to get out now so i guess we are living here forever! lol

(Click image to enlarge)

STAGE 1 - Build the frame
I started with a 2' by 4' piece of MDF, mounted the seat on one side, and constructed an 'A' frame to mount the wheel



The timber i used was mostly 2"x4" and 2"x2" mainly for strength and rigidity, i wanted it to be rock solid, and it is!



I pulled the G25's pedals apart and mounted them upside down to add more realism and mimick a real car, i think they are way more comfortable and more suited to sitting down low (with legs almost horizontal)



Then built up the back to form the frame for the monitor stand...



And strengthened it, its going to be taking a 32" LCD monitor, dont need it wobbling about with that on!



Added some MDF as a Monitor stand...



Then covered the rest of the front making sure all wires from the pedals were routed correctly



Now its starting to take shape



Added the frame for the dash-display face, will leave the face of this till last as it will hold all auxiliary buttons



Measured and jigsawed out the two side panels...



And added the top dash cover



View from the seat



Solid structure, absolutely no movement in it at all



Just before hooking it all up, was getting excited at this point



Added the shifter into the perfect position, and also added a handbrake from a Range Rover that i bought from eBay for £6...



All in all up yet the major costs were...

Materials, timber, MDF, screws = £80 (B&Q)
5.1 system = £40 (eBay)
32" LCD TV = £200 (eBay)
Handbrake = £6 (eBay)
Gamepad for handbrake switch = £2 (eBay)

The dash now has some controls, i ripped apart a USB control pad and soldered in some switches and buttons...

(Click image to enlarge)


Also added a USB keypad to the right of the wheel...


Have also added some rough labels so i know what i want where, i can change them around till i feel comfortable with the setup, im gonna add some more button on the dash too...















This is how my cockpit looks at the moment...




































Finally, got my Digi-dash installed and set-up and working correctly!
Took about 2 months to do all the wiring and build it into my cockpit, but its finally done and working fantastically, im loving it!

A couple of pics of the wiring i had to complete...


30 odd bits of wire, 60 odd solders, was hell on a stick, needed more patience than i have



After completing the solders and building it in, the first time i tested it there was a problem with the 4x 7-seg speed readout, it wasn't functioning correctly, turns out it was a dodgy solder and after re-soldering the first 4 i did, it now works perfectly
In the end it turned out good







I have also uploaded a video of the digi-dash to YouTube if anyone is interested...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8-Zabcvv64

Nice!

Great setup.


Interesting thread title, Reminds me of this....

http://www.thewayiplay.com/mainforum/index.php?action=forum

bloody hell
very nice work u done there
looks the business.

Cheers fellas, like i say the project is a work in progress, so i guess it will never be fully finished, but will update this post as i go on...
Im thinking of covering the dash in a vinyl wrap with carbon fibre print, i know it wont be realistic as real cars dont have carbon fibre dashboards, but i think it might look the nuts...?
Next big step i think has got to be a ButtKicker, im so craving getting one but am not willing to pay £160+ for it, when they are sold elsewhere in the world (e.g. US) for less than half that! I might have a go at building my own, cheaper and prolly better in a way as it would be bespoke to my cockpit, but would it be as good and effective as a ButtKicker?
I have a birthday coming up, i might start dropping a few hints to the missus Keep your fingers crossed

Just painting it in general, eg black or chrome would still look a million bucks.

Have fun!

Quote from B1gch0pper :

Cheers fellas, like i say the project is a work in progress, so i guess it will never be fully finished, but will update this post as i go on...
Im thinking of covering the dash in a vinyl wrap with carbon fibre print, i know it wont be realistic as real cars dont have carbon fibre dashboards, but i think it might look the nuts...?
Next big step i think has got to be a ButtKicker, im so craving getting one but am not willing to pay £160+ for it, when they are sold elsewhere in the world (e.g. US) for less than half that! I might have a go at building my own, cheaper and prolly better in a way as it would be bespoke to my cockpit, but would it be as good and effective as a ButtKicker?
I have a birthday coming up, i might start dropping a few hints to the missus Keep your fingers crossed

if you have a sub from the 5.1 (or 7.1) sound, mount it just under the wheel with the air channel facing the chair. this should give a nice rumble to replicate the engine. (front mounted engine though ) it will even blow some air out at you.

Wow! Great work!!! I could never do anything like that.
Great job

very nice dedication

Quote from dadge :

if you have a sub from the 5.1 (or 7.1) sound, mount it just under the wheel with the air channel facing the chair. this should give a nice rumble to replicate the engine. (front mounted engine though ) it will even blow some air out at you.

Now that sounds like a pretty darn good idea matee, get the rumble of the engine through the wheel like you would on any big front engined beast.
Not sure my sub would fit into the gap, but will defo look into it bud, i like the idea in principal

Quote from harjun :

bloody hell
very nice work u done there
looks the business.

Nice..love builders. Like the Car Mouse...Nice touch.

AAnt

Thanks guys, im very proud of it and use it everyday, missus hates it
Im currently thinking about the design of a mini cockpit for my lad, he's nearly 4 and loves racing games, especially a go-karting sim we have, should be fun

Gotta love slapping bits of wood together to make your own little cockpit

You get exactly what you want, pretty cheaply, and much more satisfaction when it`s all done.

Enjoy the fruits of your labours, sir

Awesome man.

can i get that FZR sound in the youtube vid btw?

Quote from B1gch0pper :

Thanks guys, im very proud of it and use it everyday, missus hates it
Im currently thinking about the design of a mini cockpit for my lad, he's nearly 4 and loves racing games, especially a go-karting sim we have, should be fun

You might want to think about slapping and extra seat in there and taking the missus for a moon lit ride..

Ant

Talk with this chap,http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=69021 he's a great builder, love the way you did the speakers, but IMHO it's always best with rumble headphones.

I did look up CAR MOUSE...that's choice, really nice touch.

AAnt

Quote from Zay :

Wow! Great work!!! I could never do anything like that.
Great job

Yes you could, never sell yourself short. Never let them see you blink.......now go and run free...

Quote from B1gch0pper :

Thanks guys, im very proud of it and use it everyday, missus hates it
Im currently thinking about the design of a mini cockpit for my lad, he's nearly 4 and loves racing games, especially a go-karting sim we have, should be fun

Had an inspiration! Get the lad one of those electric cars/truck and make it a portable LFS rig.

Quote from unseen :

Gotta love slapping bits of wood together to make your own little cockpit

You get exactly what you want, pretty cheaply, and much more satisfaction when it`s all done.

Enjoy the fruits of your labours, sir

Exactamundo matee, bespoke build, to my specifications, enjoyed designing it in my head, loved building it, and think its fantastic to race in

Quote from jrd.racer :

Awesome man.

can i get that FZR sound in the youtube vid btw?

Thanks dude
The car being used in the vid is the main car i drive, the FXR with my own tweaked sound...

Quote from AtomAnt :

You might want to think about slapping and extra seat in there and taking the missus for a moon lit ride..

Ant

Ha ha, nice idea bud, do you think i would actually get any driving done?

Quote from AtomAnt :

Had an inspiration! Get the lad one of those electric cars/truck and make it a portable LFS rig.

Now that is a fantastic idea matee, i may pursue that ingenious thought further. Im thinking local free ads paper or even the tip, get a non working electric (or pedal i guess) car, and build it into that! Awesome stuff dude, nice thinking!

thats some ****ing awesome build man,
looking into doing something similar myself
intime for Gt5 and stuff.

Any chance of a rough dimension sketch?

that A frame looks perfect, i wanted to do something like that so i can mount the pedals like u got.

Some huge improvements to 'the project' in the last few months, here is a few pics of whats been happening...

The ButtKicker

Managed to talk the missus into buying me a brand new Buttkicker Gamer 2 for my birthday last year, it works extremely well on most games, F1 2010 and Simbins Race series prolly work the best along with iRacing and GTR2, basically any games with curbs I feel really well and also get a nice amount of engine vibration from the low burbley cars.
On LFS though its pants, no curb feedback and it picks up the bass tones from the wind (??) so shakes according to how fast you are going, even with the wind noise turned down, which is naff, LFS is one of the only race games i play with it turned off...

(Click image to enlarge)






Triple Screens

I managed to get a really good deal on 3x 22" LG Flatron factory reconditioned screens from eBay, and so could not resist.
The result is astounding, the immersion is immense, its improved both my enjoyment and i think my capabilities too as i can see MUCH more of the track and hit apexs much more as i can see them earlier.
Apologies for the poor quality of pics i wasn't completely down with how my new phone camera worked...





Some screenshots of how I play Race 07 in 5040x1080...






Have also uploaded a few vids if your interested how it looks...

The missus having a go in LX6 around Westhill

Replay of a race I just ran in Race 07

DiRT2 Rally Croatia in Mitsubishi Evo 10

Quote from B1gch0pper :

DiRT2 Rally Croatia in Mitsubishi Evo 10

i think i still hold the wr in the impreza at that stage. malli allen pass i think it's called.

I remade the skid/crash/gravel/grass sounds in LFS to include 40hz sine waves in them. They are what I use to activate my home made 'butt kicker' and the system works reasonably well. Mind you, mine doesnt react to wind noise so it might be a little different to yours? Youre welcome to borrow the sounds if you like. Let me know via PM and ill attach them as a zip to this thread.

Quote from dynofiend :

I remade the skid/crash/gravel/grass sounds in LFS to include 40hz sine waves in them. They are what I use to activate my home made 'butt kicker' and the system works reasonably well. Mind you, mine doesnt react to wind noise so it might be a little different to yours? Youre welcome to borrow the sounds if you like. Let me know via PM and ill attach them as a zip to this thread.

Hi mate, yes I would be very interested in giving it a try, whats to lose?
Thanks very much buddy, look forward to giving it a test drive