Need some help identifying parts for a gaming cockpit

  • Thread starter jizzmirk
  • 68 comments
  • 15,173 views
Jizzmirk

They look like scaffold joints to me, old ones might just need a rub down with some glasspaper and a lick of paint. or maybe check ebay for old DIY stuff. just some ideas.

Check with a local scaffolding company, they might have old connections they don't need and maybe some poles.


Jay
 
I think the joints that you are looking for ar industrial handrail joints. look in "Harbor freight" they may have them. Good luck:)
 
Jizzmirk- Actually 2 sheets of MDF and 1 small sheet of pressboard (there are 3 thicknesses) and several weekends for me because I was kind of new at this and needed to use my Dad's tools at his house. I had to buy a dowel jig as well ($30).
Wood cost was about $40 with plenty to spare.
 
Originally posted by 8400RPM
Jizzmirk- Actually 2 sheets of MDF and 1 small sheet of pressboard (there are 3 thicknesses) and several weekends for me because I was kind of new at this and needed to use my Dad's tools at his house. I had to buy a dowel jig as well ($30).
Wood cost was about $40 with plenty to spare.
Click to expand...

Looks like it turned out very well! Looks alot smaller than mine but we kind of went for the "arcade" look. I like my tv screen right behind the wheel that way it seems like your looking out the windsheild. Sometimes I take the tv stand off and set it in front of the 60". I have always liked the racebase it looks kind of F1 or something.
 
silviadrifter , no problem. Good luck with your project.

JayJam, thanks for the suggestion. Time to start looking for local scaffolding companies. The project just may be viable again. :)

8400, Is that set up fairly portable? I know you can fold it up, but does it put away nicely?

Kwik, I'll give my local Harbor Freight a shot. Oh, and you like the F1 look? Did you see these SimChassis setups?

SC-F1.jpg


SC-NASCAR.jpg
 
Jiz, those are SWEEEEEEET! I really like the second one. Good luck on your project hope you find what you need. I work at 3M (comercial graphics corp.) and happened to think about your post when I seen the handrailings.
 
Jizzmirk- Yeah, the nose slides back into the seat area, then you can stand it on end so makes for a small footprint. I usually just slide the nose back and move it out of the way though, it's pretty light. If I made it again, I would use a little thicker wood as it is a little flexible. The sides are 1/2 inch and seat is 5/8. I would use 5/8 all around. It's still very stable while driving.

In that second picture above, how do you get in and out of that thing? Looks cool anyway.

Mr. Kwik, your's is nice as well, especially being your own design. I had to steal(purchase) someone elses. I need to make some graphics for mine too. How did you do yours?
 
Originally posted by 8400RPM
Jizzmirk- Yeah, the nose slides back into the seat area, then you can stand it on end so makes for a small footprint. I usually just slide the nose back and move it out of the way though, it's pretty light. If I made it again, I would use a little thicker wood as it is a little flexible. The sides are 1/2 inch and seat is 5/8. I would use 5/8 all around. It's still very stable while driving.

In that second picture above, how do you get in and out of that thing? Looks cool anyway.

Mr. Kwik, your's is nice as well, especially being your own design. I had to steal(purchase) someone elses. I need to make some graphics for mine too. How did you do yours?
Click to expand...

I work for 3M comercial graphics, we make film there, not film for your camera but the film you see on signs buses car pinstripes, airplanes boats you name it we make it.
 
Do you get to sneak in a personal design now and then? :)

In the warmer seasons I do a lot of RC car bodies - and if I could get my hands on even a Stikas vinyl sticker maker, I would be like a happy little boy! :) The stuff you use must be gigantic.
 
Hey **** we share common interests I have raced RC's in the K.C MO area. I only raced electric though, I ran the buggy class. I had a JRX pro (Team Losi) and an RC10 back then. That was in my younger days (mid 90's) I am sure they have come along way since then. We don't make the design part of the graphics, we make the film in bulk like 60"wide x4000 yards long.
 
Hehe - Yeah, I'm exclusively electrics as well, but I play with the on-road stuff and have been learning to drift my RC car (only because I don't get the chance to race other people too often). If you ever try to get into the sport, technology hasn't evolved drastically - you'll have to familiarize yourself with the new Nickel-Metal Hydride battery technology (batteries that do not suffer from the old Ni-Cd memory problems) and faster and cheaper electric motors.

Funny story, I was pretty hardcore about RC cars for a long time - got my first RC car, a Grasshopper, as a wee little lad and ran that thing to the ground...long enough for me to be able to afford my own RC cars (barely). I fell out of the hobby for a few years and then came back with the King Cab and bought a TA-02 Cobra as well. I fell out of the hobby again then for some reason picked up my Cobra again and bought all the mods that I couldn't afford 7 years ago (though they were a lot harder to find). I then bought another RC car and had a blast painting the car body. My friends all loved my paint job and next thing you know ALL of my friends got back into the hobby.

So Tamiya and HPI, if you're reading this somehow...YOU OWE ME A CUT of all the stuff they bought. :)

Anyway, if any of you reading want to see some of the RC bodies that I did last year, have a look at: http://members.cox.net/jizzmirk/pictures/rc_cars/rc_cars_.html

As for my effort to bring this back to topic - The NASCAR chassis and the F1 chassis are both great designs, but I honestly can't see myself spending the $600 for either of them. Though, through my messed up logic, would probably end us spending that much to make the design that I want to do.
 
Glad you like it. Sadly, that car is not part of my personal collection - I painted it for my best friend. The S2000 down on that page was actually for his wife. Also of note is the Associated truck. I painted that with an airbrush paint called Spaz Stix. It has a color change that goes from red to black to purple.

I have a question about your Racebase. If I built one of those, is it practical enough that I could bring it from my house to my buddy's house with minimal hassle? I remember buying MDF for the MAME cabinet project we're doing and it is heavy stuff.
 
Do you mean moving it from house to house on a regular basis? If that's the case I would say it will probably be a pain. It is a little heavy and there is potential for damage. I have yet to move mine anywhere but if you just wanted to move it once every couple of months it's likely no big deal. Hope that helps.
 
****, we move ours all of the time. They are very heavy though, it takes two people to move them. I would say the racebase is very mobile. Hey if it's racing it's worth it. Oh by the way I collected a few colors and will send monday.
 
I found this company which sells exactly what we would be looking for. Coincidentally they have a shop that is in the next town over from me. I made a list of all the parts from the two original images and e-mailed them asking for a quote. I also showed them the two images and let them know if the price was reasonable then there could be a lot more people (you guys) interested in ordering from them. Once I get a response I will let you know. :)
 
Originally posted by o2sk8
I found this company which sells exactly what we would be looking for. Coincidentally they have a shop that is in the next town over from me. I made a list of all the parts from the two original images and e-mailed them asking for a quote. I also showed them the two images and let them know if the price was reasonable then there could be a lot more people (you guys) interested in ordering from them. Once I get a response I will let you know. :)
Click to expand...
Great! Keep us posted. ;)
 
Sorry to get anyones hopes up, but they quoted me with each part being around $10 - $12, so multiply that by 32, add pipes, yeah, it's a lot. :banghead: I think I will probably go with one of those Racebase kits. We'll see.
 
It's the Hollaender parts. They're almost industry standard so it's no surprise that the parts are very expensive. I found some cheaper alternatives for some of the connectors, but these companies don't offer the variety of connectors that Hollaender does.

I'm working out other options using the handrailing items - but using less connectors and piping.
 
Kickass, keep looking around and see what you can come up with. I really want to come up with a design that is light, stable, and portable (possibly by being broken down to fewer pieces)
 
I've got a design now using the Hollaender railing parts. It significantly cheaper with less parts, but it still would run about $300. It also seems that it wouldn't be too immobile if placed on a hardwood floor (I designed it minus the feet in the initial photos). I don't have a working scanner anymore so I won't be able to scan the design anytime soon - but I could model it in 3D in a few minutes (if it weren't so late in the evening - technically early in the morning).

BTW: that's about $250 in connectors. You'd still have to factor in piping, some extra sheet metal and the seat.
 
OK...here's the new design (please don't make fun of the render - I didn't spend too much time on it). It uses less parts than the original version on page 1.

GTRacingFrame.jpg


It uses (aside from the seat and the wheel):

  • 1.25" piping -
  • 90 degree elbows X 6
  • Adjustable elbows X 4
  • Side out elbows (i.e. lower back corners) X 4
  • Side out tees AKA 90 degree 2 socket tees (i.e. connectors closest to feet) X 2
  • Heavy gauge sheet metal (possibly diamond plate)
  • Box tube to mount the seat

The Hollaender and Kee Klamp connectors are really expensive, but I've heard of NuLine connectors that are about half the price - I just haven't been able to track down any further information about them.
 
Originally posted by jizzmirk
OK...here's the new design (please don't make fun of the render - I didn't spend too much time on it). It uses less parts than the original version on page 1.

GTRacingFrame.jpg


It uses (aside from the seat and the wheel):

  • 1.25" piping -
  • 90 degree elbows X 6
  • Adjustable elbows X 4
  • Side out elbows (i.e. lower back corners) X 4
  • Side out tees AKA 90 degree 2 socket tees (i.e. connectors closest to feet) X 2
  • Heavy gauge sheet metal (possibly diamond plate)
  • Box tube to mount the seat

The Hollaender and Kee Klamp connectors are really expensive, but I've heard of NuLine connectors that are about half the price - I just haven't been able to track down any further information about them.
Click to expand...

What's the final price for this setup, using the Hollaender connectors? (minus the seat, and diamond plate)

Just a rough estimate would be sufficient. ;)
 
Thanks Kwik.

Here you go, silviaD:

Here's the pricing breakdown - I found the link as well.

The first price is for NuLine Connectors and the second price is the Hollaender Connectors.

  • 90 degree elbows X 6 - $7.00 ~ $9.55
  • Adjustable elbows X 4 - $6.90 ~ $14.52
  • Side out elbows (i.e. lower back corners) X 4 - $8.92 ~ $13.00
  • Side out tees AKA 90 degree 2 socket tees (i.e. connectors closest to feet) X 2 - $7.33 ~ $14.45

The final three components are standard home improvement store items, so pricing varies
  • 1.25" piping ~ $50
  • Heavy gauge sheet metal (possibly diamond plate) ~ $20
  • Box tube to mount the seat ~ $10

I cannot find any information on the NuLine Connectors (no website, etc.), but their price is so good, it makes you wonder about its quality.

The site that quoted these prices was www.mscdirect.com.

So rough estimates have going in at $200 if you went with the NuLine version and $275 for the Hollaender setup. The price difference isn't so big here, but if you were to go with the setup from the first page, it'd be a significantly larger margin.
 
I think they busted your link. I'd pop it on ebay all the same - I'd be wary of publicizing here as you might get in trouble.
 
Originally posted by 8400RPM
Oh yes, socks are a must with these pedals.

I ordered the kit for $65 US from Australia which includes full size plans, all the hardware, instructions (which are very good), and even decals! Just had to buy the wood and build it.

Yo Jizzmirk, since you are in San Diego, I have a seat from a Honda Accord that I was trying to use in a homemade cockpit that never quite worked out. It's a pretty decent seat I paid $50 at a junkyard for. If you need a seat for your project, you can have it.
Click to expand...

dude nice cockpit guys. can you give me the details on where you got the kit. please PM me. thanx.:D

EDIT: can you give me the blue prints instead. or do you need the whole kit?
 

Latest Posts

Back