Showroom Building Journey of "Crate" Racing Cockpit

New video with completed rig and profile. What do you think about the movement?

looks good there

Nice work!!

Lookin good

Thanks guys

great job. time for some racing, fasten your seat-belt.

Ok, encountered first major setback with this project. My Oculus Rift DK1 died . It worked the other day perfectly, but the next day the image was messed up, I Googled the symptoms and found out it suffers serious case of "Haunted Rift", where image updates very, very slowly. Well, after realizing it is beyond repair at reasonable effort, I dried my tears and decided to search my storage for my old screens. Now I have set of four lcd screens and every single one of them is different size and manufacturer. Image settings, gamma, colortemp etc... are impossible to adjust to match each other.

This Frankenstein is only temporary until I get my hands on Rift DK2 or CV.



I use free software called SoftTH (I gues many here allready know this software) to provide game image to three of these screens and iSpeed for 1 telemetry screen. I must say, I was spoiled by the Rift and now major part of what made this rig, well, to BE this rig, is missing. However, I admit I enjoy crisp image again and seeing my lap data all the time above me really is useful and helps practicing new tracks. This is far from those impressive triplehead systems many of you guys have, but hey, this cost me nothing extra I used old stuff I allready had, SoftTH is amazing peace of software in this matter, you don't have to have identical screens or GPUs. Just a little patience and time to measure and calculate settings so everything lines up correctly between screens.

Added also a final touch to the Rig it self:

Proper keyring!

Yeah, if I come across VERY cheap DK1 or reasonably prized DK2, I may buy it, but I can wait for the CV. It is actually pretty nice to play with GOOD graphics for a change I bought yet another lcd display from a friend for 10€ and now my three screen setup is symetrical, much better to drive now

Yupee, got my self a new pedal set with a very reasonable prize from another sim enthusiast. It is used g27 set but with a twist: it is equipped with TSS hydraulic brake mod and it feels fantastic! Bolted it to my rig and added aluminum plate not so much for looks but to keep it in place and for durability, because now you must really push the brake pedal. Using shoes now...




Here prepared for Suzuka, racing there with friends this weekend along real F1 event



No, I'm not using helmet, that is just for show

Ok, more stuff breaks. Now I lost my powerswitch (key) and/or safetyswitch. They were cheap parts from ebay, but thought they would not be even near their max operating currents. Ordered new, better quality parts to replace them, but if they break too, I may need to connect main power to the motors through relay.

If you are using a AC rated switch for high current DC I'm not surprised that it has failed - they do not stand up well to the high back EMF that you can get breaking a DC circuit. We have had this same conversation in a past thread. They work, just not for long.

Well, @noorbeast, rig is in heavy use, so parts breaking up is something I'm prepared for. But @SeatTime nailed it, my switches were AC rated, I should have known better! The ones I ordered for replacements are 12V DC, so got that one right.

Oh yes! Most of my seat time in sim is practice though, every new week in iRacing Skippy series brings new track to learn. About 95% of practice, 1% on Timetrial, 2% of Qualify and 2% of actual Racing. But that last 2% usually is worth every single second spent on practicing. This weeks race takes place at Sonoma and I just can't get grip of that track. Hate it even...

I ordered a tm1638, another arduino and from Symprojects their button controller for 24 switches or 12 rotary encoders, two SimScreen mfd's, and Pro-Gauge board to control real car gauges. I consider their stuff pretty affordable considering how easy and versatile their setup seems to be.

Hope to get lights blinking and gauges moving soon behind my wheel

Took a break from iRacing and decided to try something less serious for a change. Downloaded Dirt 3 and it's a blast, Rally bits that is. I hate drifting, donuts, block breaking and everythin "cool, sweet and sick". Just stupid. And some of those you must play through to advance.

I also little modified my desk to get screens closer and to better angle. Pitty Dirt 3 has no angle correction.


Welcome aboard:


Also made early version of gauge rack and second frame to attach buttons:

Dashboard build got a good start! Everything from Symprojects worked almost plug and play fashion with gauges from local car parts dealer, very simple setup. And with iRacing, softwares work side by side with simtools, but not with Dirt 3. Well, you can't have it all

Some problems I have with tm1638, Fergos client aplication does not always find iRacing for some reason.

But overall, very pleased with the dash so far. Haven't decided yet whether I paint, brush or cover panels with carbon fiber/vinyl. And SimScreens are held in place with tape atm, Need to fabricate supports for them also.

Edit. 13.11.14
Added details for pictures.

At first, I used cardboard to design basic layout and to find place for everything. Space was actually pretty limited, because at the background there is this frame where front plates are attached and gauges cannot be placed to this area. I realized that I must attach SimScreens with separate frames to be able to fit them to dash at all.

When I was pleased, I took sheet of cardboard to my "shop" and made corrections to hand drawn dimensions so angles, gauge positions etc. are correct. I had some 0,7mm thick aluminium plates and thought lets give them a try. It is easy to drill, cut, bend etc, but it is too thin. It still is surprisingly rigid when bent and attached to the frame. I'm fine with it but still, I would advice to use atleast 1mm thick aluminium.

I transferred the silhouette of the wheel straight from the cardboard, but calculated other lines, because on the cardboard they were just estimates. I used sharp screwdriver as a marker for aluminium. NOTICE! When handling raw aluminium, always wear (additionally to your glasses and mask) gloves! Raw aluminium can cause allergic reactions or even poisoning! Thin working gloves are good, so you still can use your pencil etc while wearing them.


I used a cheap Dremel-kinda tool to cut curved lines and angle grinder to cut straight lines. I'm limited with tools here and I know angle grinder is not the best tool for this, but did the job well. Breathing mask is a must!


Test fitting and attached to the frame.


Next phase is actually the most time consuming and propably thats why I forgot to take pictures during this phase. Cutting holes for gauges and MFD's.

I used the same classic method for square and round holes:
1. Mark outer lines for the hole to the aluminium
2. Drill small (2-4mm) holes side by side along outer lines, keep every drillhole inside the outer lines, but as close as possible
3. Use dremel, other cutting tool or even pliers to cut material between the holes you just drilled. After that, the center falls of and you have a hole with very rough edges
4. Use dremel and/or file to smooth edges
5. Hole ready

Same to every other hole You might want to make holes just a little loose if you're planning to use vinyl for covering your panels. I wasn't sure at this point, so I made them pretty tight and later after deciding to put vinyl on them... It wasn't fun to squeeze gauges back.


And test fitting