**** Please read through the whole thread before starting to give you a good idea of how everything fits together ****
Hi,
I've had a few requests for the plans for my racing pod. I didn't make any to start with so I decided to put some together. I've already seen other people and their work in progress (and now completed versions) and how they are suggesting improvements for the design which is really cool.
So if you want to build one of these ....
... I'll do my best to show you how.
Any questions or suggestions, just ask.
Part 1 - Base unit.
It's important that the base is very sturdy so I've constructed this out of 18mm MDF. I am suggesting a improvement to my original design in these plans. The front section of the base doesn't really require the complexity of the 'tongue and groove' system I used. This I think will be a much neater and simpler option.
This picture may clarify the plans further.
If the plans are confusing in any way, please let me know.
Suggestions:
1. Consider the seat you are going to use and whether the dimensions are suitable.
2. Are you going to attach a Buttkicker? You may want to think about how to mount it. I cut out a hole in the base and ended up attaching a small table leg to directly to the bottom of the seat. The following image shows the leg which I originally attached to the base. The effect wasn't enough, so I attached it directly to the seat. I then blew my amp so am now going to buy a mini LFE, but that's another story.
3. I'm 6' 2" tall. You may want to consider how you might adjust your seating position if you are going to use a bucket seat. I used wooden blocks between the base unit and the bottom of the seat. This allowed me to adjust the height and recline of the seat. It's now infinitely more comfortable than my real car.
Part 1 - Ancillary details
Hopefully the enclosed picture will help clarify things further.
The bucket seat I have came with 4 bolts to mount it. I bought some longer versions of these bolts (roofing bolts). I simply drilled holes in the top panel of the base and mounted the seat using these bolts. The bolts look very similar to the one below:
The next picture shows the approximate location of the bolts and also the wood block used to raise and tilt the seat. There is a thicker one on the front to increase the incline of the seat. The heads of the seat bolts are large so the holes that you drill for them can be quite large as well. I would recommend drilling and cutting everything on the top panel first as things can be quite tight. I wanted mine to be as small as possible.
The 15cm table leg was bought from a hardware store (B&Q in England). You can probably find something suitable if you have a look around. With the Buttkicker Mini-LFE, you can attach it directly to the bottom of the seat without the need to use anything else. You would only need something like this for the Buttkicker Gamer unit.
Part 2:
Here's a plan for part of the nose section. Apologies for the quality of the scan; if anyone fancies reproducing these in an art/CAD package, please feel free to do so.
Side plan of the nose section:
You may want to create a template first:
Here's a picture of the cut panel leaning against the footwell.
Considerations / Suggestions:
1. Make and assemble the seat base fist. This will determine whether the dimensions of this section are right for you. Several people of varying shapes and sizes have used my pod and these dimensions seem to be ok for them although things may be different for you.
2. I would suggest waiting until you have completed the foot well before starting on this section. It will give you a better idea of the fit as your feet and the pedals will be raised off the ground.
3. Use a 10" dinner plate to get the curve at the front of the pod. You can use cups and other kitchen items to get the curves right between the other angles.
Part 3:
This part will concentrate on building the footwell. As mentioned in the previous post, I used 12mm MDF so it was lighter and more transportable. The whole section is pretty stable but I would recommend using 18mm MDF if you are not going to move it around; no point in using a thiner material unnecessarily. The seemingly odd cut at the side allows for doubling up on the thickness which further improves the sturdiness on the design. When the nose section is assembled, you will see how we can improve things still further by overlapping the two sections.
Footwell plans:
*** Correction to above, Front Board should be the same width as the foot board i.e. 38cm or 36.5cm - sorry!
Once complete, it should look similar to this:
To give you an idea of how it looks from the inside with everything assembled:
Considerations:
Don't glue everything together just yet, the sides of the panels will need to be cut further. This will be done after the nose section has been completed.
Raising the foot board off the ground using the wood strip provides a better area to screw the sides onto.
I would be inclined to not attach the front panel of the seat base just yet. This section will need to ensure that the footwell section can slide underneath unobstructed and will need modifying to do so. This diagram may help to explain (ignore the 'tongue in here' bit, it's the 'sides in here' bit we're interested in):
I have used a length of 100cm fo the footwell. You may be able to get away with slightly less than this. The footwell retracts under the base of the seat for adjustability. Here are some pictures to show how this works (please ignore the 'tongue' setup here, the new design used will be much cleaner. If I'm honest, this was to make up for a mistake where I inadvertantly sawed off more than I should have! looks good anyway though).
The overlap on the plans is important if you don't want the footboard base showing with the side panels attached.
Part 4:
Right, here's the last main entry, I guess anything further will focus on cosmetic and general finishing.
One thing to mention first. It goes without saying that any pair of panels (base sides, nose section and footwell) should be cut at the same time to ensure they match.
This section will complete the build of the nose section and only 4 panels are required to do this. Here's the plan:
The panels 1,2,3 and 4 attach in the positions shown in this plan:
The next step will be to overlap the side sections with the footwell. Wood strip will be used to attach the panels to (approx 20mm x 20mm cross section will be fine) the front of the nose cone so remember to allow for this. Draw around the nose section onto the front of the side panels on the footwell section. Basically we want to get from this:
To this:
To give you an idea of how it will look when attached, this a front view:
Ok, I hope you are with me so far. Any questions, please ask.
The next step will be to assemble the sides and panels 1 and 3. Once this has been done, the nose can be glued 'n screwed to the front although it may be worthwhile doing a dry run and ensuring you can attach panel 2 before gluing it all together. It's important that the front board of the footwell section is as far forward as it can be without poking outfrom the bottom curve of the nose side panels. This will ensure that you have sufficient leg room in the pod.
Once it's all be attached, it should look something line this from the top:
The next things will be to cut a section of wood beading which will glue to the top and bottom of panel 1 at the front of the nose section. Here's a picture with it in place:
When it's all completed, it should look like this:
Step 5:
Finishing and General suggestions/ideas:
A few final tips to get the pod complete. I'm enclosing some pictures from various angles to clarify a few things. On the plans for the nose section I have suggested removing a section from the lower top panel. This picture shows this in more detail and how I've finished off the 'dashboard'.
If your wheel has cables which don't attach underneath the base, you may also want to cut a hole for them in the top panel. If you're going to use a g25 only, you could consider removing a smaller piece of the top panel so you can hide the wires completely. The cables can then run between panels 3 and 4. I'll almost certainly do this and make another 'leather-look' top to hide the hole for the cables.
The slotted sections may be worthwhile making but it depends on how you're going to use your pedals. Essentially it provides an adjustable backboard for any set of pedals to push up against. It's fairly basic in principle but works well.
I'll run you through the process of making them and then you can decide if this will work for you.
First I made the slots to attach to the inside of the pod.
Then I made the backboard and the pedal stand. You can see a block of wood sticking out of the back of the inclined stand which fits into the hole in the backboard. The backboard fits into the slots on the inside of the pod.
This is how my XBOX 360 pedals looked one attached to the pedal base:
Extras/Add-ons:
Ok, here are the plans for the shifter. The total height of the design is 46cm.
Please note that due to the way this structure was designed and the width of the material that I happend to use, it is important that the widths of the braces supporting the diagonals are validated. This is best achieved by cutting the pieces, laying them down on the floor and drawing around them. This will ensure that the dimensions are correct. I have done my best to ensure accuracy but dealing with angles and multiple pieces of wood can make taking measurements difficult.
Suggestions/issues:
The height of the stand is built around the height of my seat. You may find that the stand needs to be raised/lowered slightly. This can be done by adjusting the length of section 3.
Once the 15cm x 12cm top plate has been cut, simply insert into the g25 shifter, draw around it then cut with a jigsaw.
I have used 12mm MDF for the braces to give a sleaker look. To attach the braces, I would recommend gluing, leaving it to dry and then securing with screws.
You may want to use thicker wood that the 42mm cross section I have. Mine is pretty stable and the overall stability is really determined by how and to what it is secured. The structure itself doesn't move much at all.
