I completed the shifter not long after the last post and also made some slight mods to it. The main change being that the shaft is now much shorter than the original one.
This is the shifter in it’s current state:
Also, since completing the shifter, I broke one of my design rules – the ‘Small/Storable/Dissasemblable” rule. There were various reasons for this but the main one was that i just could not get the ergonomics right when sitting at a desk/table. It mean that regardless of how i laid it out, it just didn’t feel right. Not only that, I decided to utlise an old 32″ HD CRT TV that i had and it weighs about 50kg. It’s not something i wanted to put on a rickety desk.
I proceeded to make a metal frame placing the pedals, shifter and wheel at comparable distances to my real car. The seat came later….
With the basic frame complete, I was in the hunt for a seat. Ideally i wanted to use a real car seat. Not necessarily a real racing seat but perhaps just a slightly bucketed seat from a sports car (something still nice and comfy). That is still the intention but for now, i’ve mounted an old school style plastic chair to it. It’s not overly comfy and still doesn’t feel quite right but does the trick for the time being. I also added some adjustable feet to the frame.
This is pretty much how it is today:
The only change i have made since this image was taken is the addition of a handbrake. This helps immensely for drifting and offroad driving. It uses an extra axis on the mjoy. It’s noting spectacular and ideally needs more sprung force on it but is very functional.
