ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 So I've started on the shifter housing. I've read a lot of threads and seen quite a few ways people have tried tackling these. The shifter seems to be beat up more than any other part of the arcade controls. People just slam on them. In other builds I've seen they're either mounted directly to the dashboard, which makes you unnaturally reach out for the shifter - not like a true car at all. Or, the shifter is precariously hanging off the console and wiggles around, looking as if it will break off at any moment. It needed to come out away from the dashboard to be in a "real" driving position. It needed to mount to the cabinet in a straightforward way so I could easily remove it in the future. I also wanted it to look as attractive as possible. Oh, and it needed to be build like a tank. Hmmmmm. Here was my solution : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Now, to mount the shifter housing to the cab. Like I mentioned, I wanted this thing to be SOLID. I drilled four pilot holes, clamped it in place and drilled 1/4" holes for the 3" bolts. I also used over-sized washers and those locking nylon threaded nuts to really help hold this thing in place. I can literally grab the shifter and move the entire cabinet back and forth without any wiggle. SOLID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Before I permanently mounted the shifter housing I wanted to get the dashboard made up to be sure everything fit together nicely. First things first, the top piece of 3/4" MDF needed to be attached to the dashboard - this piece will cover the upper gap between the dashboard and the glass. I also cut a template for the steering wheel, traced it to the dashboard and made my cuts on a scroll saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Time to attach the bottom piece of 3/4" MDF to the dashboard. This piece tightly fits between the shifter housing and the main board in the cabinet. Everything fit together perfectly! It's actually kind of starting to look like a racing cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Next step is to break out the router and cut the slot for the dashboard's t-molding. This will just be regular black t-molding, but I wanted a durable surface so the dashboard wouldn't get messed up pulling the steering wheel in and out. Not to mention it looks much nicer than painted MDF. I also rounded the corners of the dashboard to give it a cleaner look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Next up - some glitz & glam - I normally feel that LEDs and glowing computer fans are gaudy and take away from the overall appearance of most things. "Let the machine be the show" is my usual stance, but then I saw gbeef's build and how well he integrated the LEDs into the cabinet. Not over-the-top, in-your-face LED's - just a little bit of a light show to accent the cabinet. And beyond that, you can easily turn them off if they're too distracting. I dropped the IR down through an existing hole in the main cabinet board, you can barely see it, but it does pretty well picking up the remote from across the room. The controller is mounted toward the right-hand wall of the cabinet and I'm using a 12v 4a power supply from an old laptop (I originally used a 12v 1a power supply and blew it up. Whoops! Should have checked the label.). I also installed a "green" HP power strip so when the PC/PS3 turns on, everything else turns on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 I had to add a board to the bottom of the seat base to accommodate the LED strips. I wanted the light to be as even as possible so I purchased some 90° elbows off eBay for the LED strips. Bad move... these things are terrible and I DO NOT recommend them. Save yourself the trouble and just solder the connections yourself. I think I'm going to flip the cabinet over and solder every connection point by hand. What a waste of time and money. I guess that's what happens when you try to take shortcuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 With the LED strips all pinned in place I used 1/2" split loom to hide the wiring. I also cut a single piece of LEDs to use as a test - if these turn on and the rest of the cab is dark, at least I know the power supply and controller are okay. Forgot to mention the LED strips I'm using are RGB 5050's with the weather-proof rubber on them. I used these for our halloween costumes this year and they took abuse from a 2-year-old and I running around all night. They also can do WAY more colors than the 3528's. Well worth the few extra dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazzardActual Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 How much did you pay for those light strip elbow adapters? That woulda saved me a ton of time on my first cab build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 They're terrible. I thought they would save me a lot of time, but they have been nothing but problems. Every connection that I soldered myself, perfect. Every connection with an elbow, flaky at best. I would strongly suggest soldering each connection by hand on your next build. Here they are if you want to check them out, but don't say I didn't warn you. : eBay Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Here she is, all lit up. If you've never seen these LED kits, they're pretty cool - you can fade, flash, brighten, darken, even create a "custom" color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 This may be a little off-topic, but I have a confession to make. I'm messy. Very, very messy. After losing my drill for well over 15 minutes (it was behind me) I figured it was time to clean up my work space a little bit. Here's the before and after - hopefully a few of you can relate. I'm sure it will degrade again quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 18, 2014 Author Share Posted December 18, 2014 Moving on! My faux carbon fiber vinyl finally arrived! Time to wrap the shifter housing. I was sure to wrap the bottom as well - you never know when someone might fall on the floor and look up at the hideous, bare MDF... what is wrong with me... I'm glad I did the shifter housing first, as opposed to the actual cabinet decals. There's definitely a learning curve to getting the razor blade to cut just right. My advice for cutting vinyl is to use a brand new razor blade. Cutting at a 30°-45° angle away from the wood really seemed to be the sweet spot for accurate cuts. I also put some t-molding on the shifter housing so you can start to get an idea of the art-direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Here's the top of the shifter housing being mounted to the cabinet. It's solid as a rock. There are a few other things that need to be addressed before permanently mounting the shifter so we'll come back to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Let's cut some diamond plate. This isn't the really thick diamond plate, it's the thin, embossed type of sheet you can get at Home Depot. We'll see how well it holds up, but I don't intend to put this thing on route. I roughed up the underside of the diamond plate and the places I would be gluing it to. Sprayed it with a little bit of water and used Gorilla Glue to glue it down. I used Irwin clamps (love them) whenever I could, but for the large plate at the base of the cabinet I just used heavy blocks of wood to apply pressure. I also made some corner/edge protectors that I'll be painting black. They're a little thick, keeping the seat base from mating with the cabinet well. I may end up pulling these if I can find a thinner 90° piece of metal. I used a #8 countersink so the screws would sit flat in the metal trim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazzardActual Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 this is one of the more in depth builds on here lately, keep it coming dude! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THK Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Awesome mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 The next two steps kind of went hand-in-hand. I needed to build the base for the steering wheel and also needed to take into account a shelf for the Z-5500's sub woofer. This would be a VERY tight fit between the two, not to mention the steering wheel base needed to be at an angle to bring the steering wheel to a more natural position. Here's how I made the shelf for the sub woofer : After cutting the shelf to size I realized it was going to block most of the airflow from the lower part of the cabinet. I drilled out two holes for 80mm fans and two holes for cabling running up the sides of the cab. Then it was time to cut the angled pieces along the sides of the cab. I tried to keep the sub woofer shelf as level as possible since the inner board in the cabinet slopes down toward the back of the cabinet. Now I can easily remove the shelf without disturbing any cabling, mounting brackets, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 After consulting my wife, she and I both felt that the steering wheel position was too far from the driver when the seat was pushed back for a 5'8"or larger person. So, I threw caution to the wind and purchased an additional set of seat rails. In the pictures you will first see the base, then the steering wheel mounting board with the t-molding slot cut. You can get an idea of how steep the angle needed to be to get the wheel facing down toward the driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Here's the upper board that the steering wheel will be mounted to. After mounting the rails I realized I would need to drill holes into the steering wheel plastic so it would sit flat against the board. Kind of nerve-racking, drilling into a brand new toy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Faux carbon fiber wrap applied with some black t-molding to help everything blend in with the dashboard. I'm trying to keep the entire steering wheel mounting and slider as hidden as possible. I also had to recess the bolts that lock the steering wheel in place so the slider lever could move freely. In the end, adding these sliders gives the wheel about 2-inches of travel. That may not sound like a lot, but it's a HUGE difference. Now, even with the seat all the way back for a 6'5" body, it feels just right. VERY happy that I put in the extra effort for the sliders. You may notice that the bottom slider rails have washers under the bolts, while the top slider rails do not. The washers made everything fit snugly, so there is very little wiggle when FFB kicks in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Black trim pieces for the diamond plate are painted and mounted. Also peeled the protective layer from the diamond plate to expose the chrome. It's finally starting to feel like an arcade. So many little steps are finally adding up to something tangible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 I came home to find a package leaning against the front door. Clear the dining room table sweetie! It's time to get this build moving! Originally, I went over to a local sign store to get a quote for the decals. $600+ after tax. Crazy. Speaking with the salesman, I could tell that he had never printed decals for a project quite like this and his suggestions on the material were questionable. Spending that much money on an educated guess wasn't good enough for me to pull the trigger. Then, I remembered that Lucian045 had offered his printing services to the community. I contacted him, we chatted for an hour and I could tell my artwork was in good hands. As I mentioned in my first post, Lucian045 is a huge asset to this community. I made the artwork - he made it a reality. He is knowledgeable, helpful, and got the artwork to my door very quickly. If there's any question in your mind whom to use for your next set of decals, Lucian045 (Brad) is the best. Hands down. http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?14155-Decals-and-Printing-for-your-HyperSpin-Cabinet The packaging was top-notch. It had an outer layer of protective paper and it even came with an applicator! Thanks, Brad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Time for some fun! 3/4" t-molding never seems to cover 3/4" wood. There always seems to be the slightest gap showing so I used a glossy black Sharpie paint pen to paint the t-molding channel edges. After the first decal was applied and cut to shape, the edge of the artwork had white showing. I hit it again with the Sharpie paint pen which hid the edge nicely. Orange t-molding applied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetoprobe Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 On to the left side... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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