bmw e36 racing sim project wip

Congratulations friend, the dive has to be very good, now you should draw your copilot on the left wall to give more amplitude to your simulator

hey yall..... i got updates....... (man there flying out now) #manonamission

i got the small death hazard sorted with a caravan plug i "borrowed from the old tree house that no longer used, well mum likes to sit up there and read books so hopefully, she won't notice till i can get her a new one installed,



then i was trying to use a S**ty projector from eBay but as you can see it didn't work well at all,



I'm a bit worried about the 2 DOF motion side of things with the handbrake where it is and am asking if it is worth removing the stock handbrake or move it over with a custom center console, ( im very good a fiberglass work so i could make one)

anyway, i got this 32" tv lying around so i thought id wall mount it for the time being so i can see it, i will be getting a better projector or 2 more 32" screens I'm not sure, and all i can say is damn windows 10 updates......



here is me doing some cable sleeving..... man it took a long time, but it looks nice, its the power for the turbo gauge





and here is the turbo gauge powered on but having got a signal did not get that far started getting hot so il be working in about 20 mins from me typing this message so expect some more photos and question later on today





IS ANYONE ABLE TO HELP WITH THE 2 DOF MOTION SIDE OF THE SIM WITH REGARDS OF THE HANDBRAKE?????

ok so technically its the next day but only by 4 minutes,

the turbo gauge calibrated, "edit ish"

you may notice I had to change the gauge face this is temporary till I get one designed and ordered from black cat customs automotive,



you'll find out soon what the red LEDs are for or if you look at my youtube channel you see a video of the concept

here is a RATs nest for anyone who wants a trigger

its triggering me and will be sorted soon i promise



lets play a guessing game what have i ordered these 3 things for???????

hey guys, some updates from yesterday didn't have time to get them online last night,

so I've been thinking about the handbrake and not been able to put the center console on the right way so I decided to address this issue,

below was the old method that you can see i did further up,



so I decided to use a turn style pot and making use of the pivot point of the handbrake




you can see I have put a bolt through it like this one



and the idea was this

I drilled a hole and threaded the pot on the bolt worked very well which I didn't think would work..... have faith they say

so I use the l bracket above to mount the pot, had to fill out the already made hole





so I get some epoxy




and this is how it turned out, really happy with it




here is a screenshot of it in the windows game controller settings




I have used a code from AMstudio for now but I think I've got my own code that as analog and digital inputs with a switch to turn between them

here it is with center console in place





then I wanted air con (OK blowers but air con sounds better )

so I got this, now before you say anything yes I really did try this... didn't work......... was F**kin LOUD AS F.......

800 watts of pure silly



so im going to have to go to the scrap yard again...... yay i love the big boy playground

and get the heater blower from the E36 so i can get it working properly

the leaf blower was a great idea but it was tooo loud even as a low speed

and i leave you with this last picture...... " a bangin stereo for me tunes" James may top gear)

Okay I got some big news, like bigger then anyone get think on, as most of you know I have kidney failure and require dialysis every other day to survive, we I got a call a week ago and they said they have FOUND A LIVING DONOR FOR ME , I am going to have to op in July 9th or around that time so I may be in active for a while,

Reason for not posting here is my health and other thing getting in the way, but I have been working on the sim and I got some goooooood pics to show you



First off I went to the scrap hard in to a blower motor and gear boot and handbrake boot



They don’t look as good as I thought they would so I’ll come back to that in a bit


I got the blower motor from a Ford Focus



The plan was to get the speed control working but

1 fire risk

2 I couldn’t figure out the wiring even with been a mechanic for 8 years I look on auto data but for what ever reason it wasn’t working


So here below are some pics of me trying to get the speed controls working










So conculsion is I didn’t bother having a speed controller,

And as for the hand brake and gear boot I had to go on eBay and buy these pretty !!!



Now after this I had brake for a couple weeks,

But I soon got back at it

And I starting installing these pretty switches












I have been out in the shed today but I’ve been working on the mould for the adaptor to make the Ford blower fit the bmw dash vent inputs, but I didn’t take any pics of the and to be honest it was so hot and I was on a roll I forgot

But money I’ll see if I can get some pics taken and uploaded soon as

Tata for now

Andy

Good idea for the monster motor shield but the continuous current is 14A

I’m not sure what the ford blower motor draws,

but the idea for the blower was to has some cooling for the shed when I’m racing as it’ll get very hot in there even with the door open,

but if there’s a chance that the blower motor won’t draw more the 14A continuous (I’ll have to run some tests) then I’ll go for it,

I may not use game dash with the blowers as I’ll want to control the speed with a switch but some simple code on the Arduino will sort that out

My brother codes games and has tested games at rockstar so he is very clued up on coding c++ most of all, so he’s been showing me it and I’m on a online course to learn Arduino and it’s code

I’ll be at my other brothers workshop tomorrow we’ll today, as I’ll have access to the lathe so I can get a part don’t for the gear shifter I’ve been planing

Hopefully the rain hold off tomorrow/today so when I get back I can get on with the sim shed


Note to all of you, as I’ll be having a transplant in July please expect this post to go quite for a few weeks as I’ll have to recover and I’ll have a lot of driving back and forth to the hospital for test to make sure everything goes okay

I will try to get back to full strength after the op

But for now I want to get as much stuff done with the sim shed before I have to go for the op so expect a few posts to come in the next few weeks

Thanks noorbeast for the idea i will look in to it

Tata for now

Andy

Hey guys,

so you may have guessed it been a very long time,

a lot has gone on with my health and the last thing I could do was get in the workshop and sim shed,

I'll be honest with you guys I didn't get the transplant, I have some sort of infection and what made it worse is I saw the person who was getting the kidney
I was supposed to have, I sat in that ward overnight with the guy next to me knowing he was getting my kidney,

so, in turn, it sent me down a big hole mentally,

I'm getting back on my toes and as we all know Xmas is on the way and it's getting cold,

just been wanting to stay indoors and not too much,

anyway enough of the jibber jabber, I've started to think about my simulator again and yes I did get the bit for the gear shifter machined on the lathe

ill have pics when I can find them for you all, I've also got a BMW M3 gear knob to go with it,

getting a new role cab toolbox for Xmas so ill have some sorting and organizing to do which might make me get things done faster,

well as fast and my money income will let me

I may do a post tomorrow or Sunday when I can get on the pc and look for the photos I did before I got ill,

also going to be with family over Xmas so an ill update here and there

but if anyone is wondering no this project is far from dead and ill be back in the spring working away,

I did get myself a weld last weeks so you can expect some cool things to happen soon regarding motion

thanks for your patience



kind regards

andy

hey, again 2 posts in 1 hour am I feeling okay lol,

well I thought I may as well find the pictures of the gear shift extension so here they are


so first I brought the BMW M3 gear knob that comes with a cool key ring




then I went about making an adaptor to fit a push fit gear knob to the fanatec shifter





and here it is fitted, these were taken a while back but i thought id give you all something to look at





very happy with how it turned out

kind regards

andy

hey, all so its been a while and a phone call later for a transplant and then 10 minutes later called off again, getting fed up of this transplant waiting list but hay oh,

got me some new toys







and for when I'm in the house sim racing I got me a wheelbase for the wheel but I will use this wheel for the sim shed


and I've also got a pedal set order for the in-office setup as I need to get some racing in now while the sim shed is been built






and for the grand finale here my order from simracingbay.com






that it, for now, can't wait for the motor to come going to scrap yard on Friday for some more bits on bob steering column been one of them and maybe a carpet

hey guys so I've had an operation today and I'm in a lot of pain but it went well and hopefully be back to full strength soon, been told to rest my arm no heavy lifting so had to get my bro to help me open my package that came today




yes after some time I've finally made the order, still need to get the simucube but didn't order it now as won't be able to use to till its welded in,

if this next picture gives you an idea of what I'm planning.....



yes, a steering column, got it before I had the op and am planning of cutting it down and fitting the motor on the end somehow might have to have a play with the lathe and see what I can come up with,

but got to go down to the metal yard and get som 20mm steel box and some plate for this to work, I'm also thinking of getting doing some cad drawing made up tonight and see if I can get the laser cut as I don't think ill use the mount that came with the MIGE but ill see,

I kept the surround to the column as I want it to look stock is like the BMW E36 was, and I'm going to try to get the indicators and light and washer to work too, going to have a play with the ignition but as I got it from a scrap yard I didn't get a key so I'm thinking of getting a new barrel and key made and see if I can use the ignition to turn most of the rig on, don't know how I'm going to do that but I think I can do something with arudino and relays,


ass you can see I kept the steering wheel bolt so I can get a boss to go from original to the fanatec aadaptor

when a couple weeks have passed I may have pics of inside the rig depending on what the doc says about my arm,

maybe before if he gives me the go ahead,

also, the MIGE motor is the 30NM so I've got a lot of room to play with,

well that's all I've got for now
hope your all well and like this project and not getting bored about how long it's taking but you know stuff gets in the way sometimes

peace

right so its 10.18 am and it's a little later then id want, but I had to go to the metal yard and get supplies for today's task,

I've been cleared to start working again,

so here are some pictures of what I've got

some 2.5m 40x40mm box section should be strong enough for the motor and with 3mm plate so I can screw it to the shed walls





also, I've run out of gas for my weld so I picked up a bottle for today




also some m8 and m10 nuts bolts and washers



final a big mess where I left it all a while ago,

the first task is to move the motorbike from its stand and to the new parking space and then drag all the crap out and sort it out for the games to begin





I haven't started work yet but you'll see some pictures most little at dinner time and some more by the end of the day


wish me luck

so it been a crappy morning, I don't have an argon regulator for the weld so I've not got a lot done

here is some progress on the steering column though

I started by cutting down the steering column as there's not a lot of room behind the dash,




and then i relocated the mounting bracket



welded it up with CO2 but ive runnig on fumes so im going to make a trim in the next 10 minutes to get what i need,

also made a phone cal for custom bearings as in pic below


i need the inter shaft stable and atm it wobbles around alot so ive rang and waiting for a price for a bearing you can see where ill be fitting it




and here is it sort of moked up



im going to make a peice on the lathe to insert in the inner shaft of the steering colume to connect to the MIGE motor but ill have to go to my brother workshop to do that as trhe lathe is there

thats all ive got im working on it more updates to come tonight but i thought id keep you updated,

im off to the shops to get me a argon regulator and then i vcan get back and get on

right, so I got my argon regulator,

but betime I had mccys and got back it was dark so I could do anything

anyway, I found a good way of connecting the MIGE motor to the column,

welding and the lathe is required so I can get on with that tomorrow

no pictures as I didn't get as much done as I wanted,

but tomorrow a new day and some more tools coming to finish what I started,

hope amazon come earlier tomorrow so I can get stuff done

so the list of things to get done tomorrow is

1. make an adaptor for steering column to MIGE motor

2. fit the motor into sim shed with 40x40mm box supports

3. welding for supports

4. tidy up a little in the sim shed

5. any time left in the day and ill think of something to do in there with the stuff I have

WOW, what a day,

so I think I'll jump straight into the pictures as a lot has happened

first, I got to the lathe and had this made for me,



it's press-fitted into the 6 bolt to 4 bolt plate that came with the SIMRACINGBAY's MIGE motor

It'll be TIG welded to ensure perfect alignment I've never TIG welded so ill get my brother to so that,

here is it on the steering shaft



this shaft needs to be shortened but you'll see that later

this is a picture of it in the steering column housing it needs shortening and I have done that but needed to get the motor mounted to find out how much shorter it needed to be you'll see that later,

I'm in the processing of having a bearing made to go between the smaller shaft to the black housing of the column as there isn't one there due to the way the column was made for the BMW E36



so then I when on to making a support for the above column to fit behind the dashboard


here are the end pieces that screw to the shed walls




here is what it'll weld to




so I got the Argon installed and this is the first time I've welded with argon in 5 years and I don't think I did too bad, soon picked it back up





this is the complete support





then I went on to fit it behind the dash






as you can see there is nothing for the column to attach too

so I measured and made a plate to weld on for the column to mount too





here is the column in place




I'm not happy with the bracket that came with the steering column that I moved so I'm thinking of making a plate and cutting the old what up to make it fit better


so I then needed to make a MOTOR mount that is strong enough to bolt to the shed walls and support the weight and use of the motor

here is a couple of photos of me making it




as you can see I stupidly self the polystyrene on the floor and yes I had a small fire in my workshop that was fun


here is the final piece without holes for bolts and screws and fresh from the welding bench







so then I had to lift this heavy motor into place so first, I mounted the mounts that came with the motor

and you can see the orientation the motor is going to be in





here is the motor all mounted up..... not fun to lift it under the dashboard





then I was worried about the cables up soon found I could turn the inside enough to clear the rear of the shed





and finally I cut down the shaft for the steering column and here you can also see how it's going to come together






today has been a good day and it's been very tiring considering I have kidney failure and heart problems

happy with what I've got done,

now as for the next couple to 3 weeks I don't know if I'll be able to get any work done as due a big operation on my arm again and it's worse then I had the other day

recovery is going to be longer and ill be going under general anesthetic

so ill be on hospital a couple of days and my arm blownup like a ballon

ill keep you all informed with imback at it again

thanks for understanding and hope you enjoyed this update

peace

Hey so I’m in hospital I’ve had my operation on my arm all went well, they say I’ll be 3 to 4 weeks before I can get back working outside and going to the gym,

Tuesday when I was outside I did have a worry about the strength of the mount for the motor so I desired to make a bolt system so it also mounts to the cross brace that the steering column is going to mount to





So that’s It it feels stronger and looks it too

I won’t be making an update for a while now so I’m sorry about that but I’ll be back in full spring soon enough

so here's an unexpected update for you all

I managed to get in the workshop and tweak a few things I wasn't happy with on the steering column I didn't do too much as I cant with my arm this soon after surgery


so here is the new plate with beautiful welding from myself I'm very happy with it




as you can see here I managed to remove the ignition lock without a key and ordered a new one from eBay and should come end of the month with ill be working in the Sim Shed again








now the picture above you can see the round tube that the main column goes in and I did ring up to have a bearing made but turns out its an odd size (which I knew) but nothing could be turned down on the lathe they said to fit so my brother main this for me







that fits on to the steering column shaft like so





you can now see how it'll all go together








and here's a picture of it all blown apart before it gets welded but it needs aligning first but can't do that for another 2 weeks so bare with me guys I will get back in there




peace for now

so its been a while and my arm is recovered enough for me to start working on the sim rig again, I went out for the first time last week and remounted the might motor,

the doctor told me not to do too much so I haven't, I've mainly been in the workshop tidying and organizing it all,

ive sadly let go of a 23-Year-old friend yesterday

my weld of 23 years was my dads before it was mine



cat woundering where the welder is going








but I got me a new toy in the post today and got it set up





havntplayed with it yet as i need wire and the wire from the old machine went with it and forgot to order some more before this come,

no i have hit a little problem with working for about a week i drilled a brand new sharp 11mm drive bit in to my hand and had to go to A and E to have it X-rayed and stitched up, silly bugger I was holding the piece i was drilling i should know better been doing this sort of work for years now, vise next time, and if anyone wants to know yes I did the hole drilled lol


so ill be off for another week but still in the workshop playing with the bits and bob just not big stuff in the sim shed

peace