Twin Cabinet Build

[Fursphere]

I'm getting ready to start a twin cabinet project.   I'm on the fence between the older Sega Model 2 cabinets (Original Daytona, wood variety for example), or the somewhat newer Sega RingWide Cabinets (Sega Classic Racing for example). 

The supply of used driving cabinets seems to have run out, or people want stupid money for them.  And twin cabinets?  Forget it.  So I'm just going to build my own.  I had to tear down my old cabinet a few years ago, but I'm at a point where I can jump back in.  (Old cab was based on the more modern Sega Classic style)

For me, I like the look of the modern Sega Classic cabinet, but the Daytona has that nostalgic charm (and more room for PCs and gear behind the monitor is a huge bonus).   For gear I've got Fanatec setups (CSW 2.5 and a DD), as I'm somewhere in the SimCade world (love Arcade games and silly stuff like Burnout Paradise, but also like modern PC racers like Dirt Rally and AC).   I'm building a twin because my boys want to get in on the action now too. 

If you were going to build one, which one would you choose, and why?

[Malenko]

I built a "Dayclona"


http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,155515.0.html

[lilshawn]

actually, that's pretty friggin' good for a copy if i say so.

 

[buttersoft]

I'd pick a cabinet based on the game I like better or the cab i like the look of more. STCC was a big one for me, a little more classy than the common Daytonas and Sega Rally's. But i hear you about having more space in the cab to house the PC and gear.

And for sure, while i don't agree with everything he did, Malenkos build is awesome.

[MrThunderwing]

I'd choose the old style Daytona cabinet. fueled by nostalgia 100%, but I just think it looks nicer than the more modern Sega Racing Classics one.

[Fursphere]

Interesting, you guys seem to be leaning the opposite way I am. 

I do not like the huge silly marquee on the newer cabs. I used sketchup to layout the basic design for my first cabinet.  I've been tooling around with that design for the past few days improving on it.   (I have a full 3d sketchup model of the Model 2 daytona cabinets, so I should be able to replicate it if I choose to go that route).  Its been raining like crazy here, so I haven't picked up any wood yet.  And at $90 a sheet for plywood, I'm in no hurry. 

Here is my take so far on a modern SR Cabinet.   There are some weird geometry problems I haven't quite figured out yet in the model, but the basic idea is there, and its modeled full size so I can dimension it out for cut sheets.

[buttersoft]

OMG there's no room for a CRT in that!

It looks good tho, but as with any build it's going to be about the finishing touches and art

[lilshawn]

OMG there's no room for a CRT in that!

that's okay... you probably couldn't get one unless you already had one anyway. 

[buttersoft]

that's okay... you probably couldn't get one unless you already had one anyway. 

C'mon, you need two. Then they breed by themselves

[Fursphere]

The only 32" CRT that I'm familiar with was the Sony WEGAs.   And they weighed a TON.  (Bought one new way back in the day).    Also had a 36" Song WEGA at one point too....   no thank you.   Ridiculously heavy.  Somewhere around 200 lbs I think.   

The 32" LCDs I picked up for the cabinets are 17 lbs each. 

[lilshawn]

yeah, my uncle had a giant panasonic 36" home theater series CRT... it took the 2 of us everything we had to pick up and move that bastard.

[Fursphere]

Change of plans.   This happened today.  Looks like I'll be building a Daytona Twin.   

[bobbyb13]

Certainly will be cool!
If you had decided on a Rush2049 I could have helped with cabinet templates.
A solid sit down driver is quite the undertaking.

If you change your mind I can double check my old cut list for you!

[Fursphere]

Thanks, but I think I'm going to stick with the Daytona cab design at this point.   After picking up the marquee/topper (that thing is heavier than it looks!) I drew up this last night.    I think its pretty close to dimensional accurate.  I'll probably tweak it a little more.  Once I'm happy with it, I'll break it apart and make cut sheets with all the dimensions.  The checkerboard stripes were just visual reference points for the Daytona artwork as it sits on the cabinet.

[bobbyb13]

Great work.
What a cool build this will be.

Are you going to use plywood so that it doesn't weigh 1,000 lbs?

[Fursphere]

Rain here in California has been holding me up on this.  I had to roll my table saw out in the driveway to rip down 4x8 sheets, so rain puts a hold on that. 

I've been looking at these seats:   https://www.modifystreet.com/product/pair-of-reclinable-racing-seats-w-silders/

Still not decided though.   Last cab had felt based material on the seat.  Never again!  Everything stuck to that thing.

I'll start a proper project thread once I start cutting.  I was able to pickup the plywood on Saturday during a break in the rain.  Stupid expensive right now. 
 

[bobbyb13]

For a home use machine those look like really nice seats!

Bare minimum quality ply to use for a cabinet here is $75/sheet at the moment.
Curious to know what it is there.

[Fursphere]

It was about $90/sheet for 3/4".  1/2" was $65/sheet.

When I built my very first cab about 13 years ago, it was $33/sheet for really high quality stuff.  Stupid inflation. 

[buttersoft]

It was about $90/sheet for 3/4".  1/2" was $65/sheet.

When I built my very first cab about 13 years ago, it was $33/sheet for really high quality stuff.  Stupid inflation.

Man i know that feeling. I went to build a bed base the other week, to replace the ---smurfy--- spring-slats our new bed came with, and my god the prices. Cost more to get the hardwood for new slats than the bed itself had.

[Fursphere]

Quick update on progress:
-Basic bases built
-Stands built
-Heads built
-Seats are here, working on mounting them
-Monitors are here, working on mounting them
-casters and levels are installed on each base (4 each), debating on adding center casters and levels

Its all just pocket hole screwed together right now.  Its stable, but needs more bracing.  The horizontal monitor mount will add a lot, but I need more vertical stability.  The twin topper is heavy, and I want it to be stable.  So that's on the to do list.  I'll probably pull them apart (unscrew) when I'm ready to cut the t-molding channels, then glue them up on re-assembly.   May even biscuit join them like I did on my first cabinet.   

I also picked up a set of Daytona 2 almost complete control panels for $20 each - so I've got all the VR buttons and plastic dash.  One is cracked pretty bad, but I can bondo/fiberglass it.   I'm not sure I'm even going to use them - but they were so cheap grabbed them just in case.  Also grabbed an over-under coin door to build the coin box that goes in between the two cabinets and joins them. 

As far as I can tell, they're pretty close to dimension-ally accurate of 'real' Daytona wood cabinets, accept I made the inner width of each 'head' 30" wide instead of 29" wide to give just a little more wiggle room for the 32" LCDs.

And lastly, within seconds of pulling the plastic off one of the seats and putting it on the seat base, one of my cats decided it was now her happy place. 

[Malenko]

those look great, good job.   

[buttersoft]

looks good. What seat are you using?

[Fursphere]

looks good. What seat are you using?

After looking at too many seats, I took a chance on these.  More than I wanted to spend, but at some point I just gave up looking.  I'm happy with them so far.   
https://www.modifystreet.com/product/pair-of-fabric-bucket-racing-seats-w-silders-black-wider-design/

The only thing I doesn't like is that they've got their logo stitched into the headrest area in white thread - something that's not in the photos online.  My wife offered to thread-rip it out, but I'm not sure yet. 

What caught my eye was the 'wider' design.  I'm a bigger guy at 6' 1", so any extra room is always welcome.   My old Jeep had Mastercraft Baja buckets in it, and I almost went that way, but they're more than double the cost.  (buying two of everything adds up).

[baritonomarchetto]

I am late to the party, but...
even if I am a CRT fan (all my cabs still have their factory CRT or a good replacement for it), I must admit that (emulated) racing games of the 3D era run great on LCDs.
Ok, I said it 

[Fursphere]

Quick update.  Nothing fancy.

Got the floor boards in, which took longer than it should have.  Added a cross brace to the base around the center mark inside the base.  Got the monitor mounts cut out and ready to install (not in the pic). 

Currently working on getting the seat in the right place.   Now that I've got the floor in, I can put the pedals down and start test fitting based on the wheel / seat / pedal placement.  The shaft on the Fanatec DD is longer than the shaft on the CSW v2.5, so the wheel will stick out a little further based on the mounting hole placement (assuming I make them identical). 

I have a rough idea on where to put the shifter and hand brake, but I'm not 100% on that yet.   Possibly near the shifter location on the original Daytona cabinet.  The Fanatec shifter unit is about the same size as the original Daytona shifter surprisingly.   I'll have to grab a pic of them side by side for next time.

[Fursphere]

Update:

Screens are in, and both PCs are functional (left cab is a laptop, which i'm not happy with, but its what I have for now).   Haven't got the wheel on the right side connected yet.   
Seats are bolted down, but might be a little too low, haven't decided yet.  Working on pedal boards (Setting them to approx. a 20 degree angle) and speaker mounts next.

I opened up the topper and was surprised to find all the lights inside are 110v.  (and all the bulbs missing).

[MrThunderwing]

Looking good!

[Fursphere]

Start working on a dashboard over the weekend.  Used some 2020 aluminum extrusion I had from other project (3D printer build), printed some brackets, and added some hardboard  So far so good.  Also made the speaker panels, which have the 4" speakers pointing downward at a 45 degree angle.  This is a departure from the original Daytona cabinets, but I'm happy with it. 

I've been working on my twin cabinet alignment issues as well.   I noticed that the with the 'heads' aligned and bolted together with the marquee topper, the bases were in a "V" shape, with about 1" difference.  So I made a solid steel brace for the rear of the bases to lock them together, and now I need to realign the heads.  Player 1 is now 'tweaked' a little.   Not sure how I want to fix that yet.  But I have to tear everything apart, so I figure its time to cut the t-molding too. 

[bobbyb13]

Those steering wheel braces are slick.
 
Gotta love when you have stuff laying around that you can use for something that comes out that nice.

[Fursphere]

Still (slowly) working on this thing.   Got the t-molding channels cut on one half, and I'm working on the paint now.   Once this half is done, I'll tear the other one apart and do the same.  I managed to pickup a legit center coin box / housing too.  Dang thing weigh 60 lbs!  I tried to build one first, but just wasn't happy with how it was turning out.  The spacing on my cabinets is a little wider than 'stock', so I'm going to have to machine some heavy duty spacers on the lathe to mount the coin box in the center properly. 

[bobbyb13]

Yeah, those coin vaults are ridiculous.
Like what is in my Rush cabinets it appears.

Looking good!

[Fursphere]

Another update.   I got the bases painted and the coin vault mounted.  I intended to machine some aluminum spacers for the coin vault, but took the lazy route and 3D printed some instead.  The bases are significantly more rigid with the coin vault clamped in-between them.  I used the angle iron in the picture to align the two bases to be flat / consistent with each other.   I also cut to 1.5" holes in the coin vault in the opposite side to convert it into twin version, vs just having holes in one side for single cabs.  I'm going to wire one coin chute to each PC (I might put coin buttons there instead... not sure?).  And somewhere I saw someone else put there audio amps in the lower part of the coin vault, I'll probably do the same. 

Still need to pickup some angle iron (maybe stainless steel if its not too pricey) to finish the seat bases.

[buttersoft]

Coming together nicely! (pun intended)

[Fursphere]

I was looking at the Sega Dashboards I picked up last night, I think I can mount the Fanatec DD Pro to the metal plate behind the plastic dash and poke it through.  I'd have to do some machine work on the metal mount plate, and a little work on the plastic dash, but it should work. 

It will not work with the Fanatec Clubsport v2.5 base I have, due the the steering wheel shaft being 1-2 inches shorter than the DD Pro.  So I'd have to upgrade that to make them match if I go down that route.

The part I'm hung up on is the Sega Daytona (and similar) style dashboards - the steering wheel is mounted about off center to the left of the entire assembly.  So to center the plastic dashboard in the cabinet, the wheel would be slightly off.   I guess this is normal...?  but it just bugs me for some reason.

[BadMouth]

The wheel being off center varied by game.

I know because I ended up with a plastic dashboard and metal frame from different games with offset holes.

But I don't remember which games were centered and which were off center.

You may be able to tell from the gauge overlay.  I think this one is from Outrun 2 and is off center.  I think Daytona was centered.

I ended up cutting a new centered hole in the metal frame. 

[BadMouth]

Found a pic from an ebay auction of the same overlay with a centered hole.

[Fursphere]

Interesting.   Mine are from Daytona 2 cabinets, I suspect they were pulled from a twin cabinet setup.  (they were on pallets when I bought them...  never saw the original cabinets).  One of them is cracked on the top pretty bad (but not broken), so its going to take some epoxy / bondo work to repair it. 

[Fursphere]

Here is mine (offset) for reference. 

[Fursphere]

Got the Fanatec CSL DD Base and wheel mounted up with the Sega Dashboard.   Still some work to do, but it fits overall.   Its a shame the Fanatec Nascar theme wheel is so much for what is essentially a button less wheel.

[BadMouth]

Sweet!

I'd cover the stainleas view button plate carbon fiber vinyl wrap so it matches the gauge cluster.