Let's make VROOM VROOM with the HONK HONK!!

[griffindodd]

A racing cab in a weekend.

Here is my basic layout and dimensions. Unfortunately the sizes don't make for very efficient use of 8'x4' sheets so I'll probably end up with enough offcuts to make a few bar-tops, ahh well.

[griffindodd]

Controls: Thrustmaster T248 Wheel & Pedal Set, 8BitDo Ultimate 2.4g Wireless Controller, Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Keyboard
Driving Frame: GT Omega Steering Wheel Stand and Seat Stand
Seat: JEGS Pro High Back II Race Seat | Black Polyethylene
Monitor: AOC CQ32G2S 32" Curved Frameless Gaming Monitor
Marquee: LG 26WQ500-B 26 Inch Class 21:9 UltraWide
Audio: BESTISAN Soundbar
Computer: AMD Ryzen 400G, 16GB DDR4, 1TB NVME, 2TB NVME on PCIe Adapter, Radeon RX 6600, 550W PSU

[griffindodd]

Headed to the local hardware store and bought a bunch of 5/8" MDF, some 2x4's and some 1x4 pine then got the young man working the saw to cut me a pretty decent pile of panels. He did a really good job so I threw him a ten spot when the manager wasn't looking. 

[griffindodd]

With the big cuts done I measured out the rest of the profile by hand. I decided to leave the rear angle off as I like to use the top of my cabs to display all kinds of toys and goodies in my bar which, in my opinion, makes the machines more fun to look at.

Cut both sides at once by hand with a jigsaw, tidy up the rounded corners with an orbital sander and route out the t-mold slots.

[griffindodd]

As I'm using a curved monitor, I'd like the shelf to follow the same contour as the screen itself. T-mold slots cut too.

[griffindodd]

Blocking out the different shelves with the 2x4's. I wanted this cab to be easy to disassemble as I will need to move it to the upstairs bar when it's ready (I live on a hill so the main living area is on the 2nd floor).

2x4s Are nailed and glued to the side panels, shelves are screwed to the 2x4's.

[griffindodd]

Satin black paint and primer with a roller for all the exposed areas except the side art

[griffindodd]

Building the seat base. I made it half an inch thinner than the inside of the cab so it can slide in snug but leave a little room for t-mold.

You gotta have diamond plate, you just gotta.    But this is floor vinyl which is way cheaper and easier to work with. 

[griffindodd]

Wrapped the base with some self adhesive checkered vinyl I found on Amazon. Black-chrome-black T-mold and the base is done.

[griffindodd]

With everything blocked out and fitting together, I moved all the pieces upstairs into the bar for assembly, much easier to move it all piece by piece.

Reassemble everything and stand up the beasty. (uh oh I forgot to paint the inside of the rear panel 

[griffindodd]

Install the rig in the back of the cab and a multi-strip with a 10ft cable.

[griffindodd]

Monitor and computer working, happy with the curve fit and finish.

[griffindodd]

White kills blocker rolled onto the exteriors of the side panels, gives a nice bright base to lay the artwork over later. Painted in the rear panel interior with same satin black as the rest of the cabinet.

Installed the marquee monitor.

[griffindodd]

Mounted the driving frame and hardware to the base. Added a seat position adjuster too. This thing is HEAVY!!!!

[griffindodd]

Slide the base into the main cab and hook up the controls through the gap at the back of the monitor/cpu shelf. Starting to really come together now

[griffindodd]

I'm using CoinOPS Legends 4 MAX for my FE and then stripping it down to just the driving games I want, will also add some custom PC games later. 2nd Monitor marquee support is built into this build of CoinOPS and I really like the quality of their FE artwork and effects.

[griffindodd]

Not bad for a weekend of building. 

I need to raise the base up about another 4 inches or so, my seating height isn't where I want it. I'll just build a second riser and place it under this one as I dont want to add any more weight to the first and I definitely don't want to pull that all apart again.

I have some RGB light poles coming today that I intend to slot either side of the marquee. Going to play with the settings, hopefully they will look good reacting to the sound coming from the cabinet.

[griffindodd]

For the side art I used stable diffusion AI to create a style that was reminiscent of 80's and 90's gaming, something without any text or logos, not too specific to any particular genre but still compliments the game art displayed by the marquee and bezels on the main monitor.

In the end I settled on this which I personally feel hits the right tone.

[MrThunderwing]

Nice work! I really dig those front ends that change the marquee to match the game. That's pretty awesome as well that it actually displays the game in the correct aspect ratio and fills in the other bits of the screen with a monitor bezel that matches the game. Not bad for a weekend's work at all!

[griffindodd]

Thanks. Yeah the CoinOPS FE is very slick.

Light bars arrived, they are great and a perfect fit either side of the marquee. Sound sensitive.

[firedance]

Wow, awesome work for a weekend project, not much left to do now, try not to play it too much before it's finished 

[griffindodd]

Lol I probably play my cabs less than everyone else in the house.

Here’s a quick video of the lighting effect

[javeryh]

This is absolutely incredible especially for a weekend of work.  I love the curved monitor and the marquee - you really knocked it out of the park.  How do the games feel?  Is it comfortable?  No racing games in my house at all - they look super fun but I never really played them as a kid so I there's no attachment to them... some day!   

[griffindodd]

Thanks!  So far it's feeling great, you have to configure every game individually so that's going to be a lot of slow and steady work that I can do over time. Once I get the seat position higher it will feel very comfortable.

[griffindodd]

I made a 3D checkered flag design for the top and bottom edges of the marquee frame and a slotted mask for the sides that goes in front of the bouncing LED bars. Hoping this will add to the theme with a little retro feel.

[griffindodd]

They came out ok printing over night. Now to print the checkered rails.

[yotsuya]

Hey Griff, long time no see!

I thought you were working on real cars now? :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bobbyb13]

Whoa-
That is a beast of a machine.
 

[griffindodd]

Hey Griff, long time no see!

I thought you were working on real cars now? :-)

Hey Bud. I managed to keep myself away from the money pit of restoring cars. But I did dive into classic cabs for a long time then turned my focus to home theater, built a whole dedicated movie space and bar in the house. Feels good to be doing some custom builds again, I have a few other projects that are just moving out of the planning stages so I’ll be posting about those soon too.

Hope you are well.

[yotsuya]

Hey Griff, long time no see!

I thought you were working on real cars now? :-)

Hey Bud. I managed to keep myself away from the money pit of restoring cars. But I did dive into classic cabs for a long time then turned my focus to home theater, built a whole dedicated movie space and bar in the house. Feels good to be doing some custom builds again, I have a few other projects that are just moving out of the planning stages so I’ll be posting about those soon too.

Hope you are well.

I am, looking forward to seeing what you build! I still have the Moon Patrol cabinet I picked up from you many, many moons ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[griffindodd]

I built a booster base out of offcuts to raise the seating position, this is much more comfortable now

[griffindodd]

One of my managers doing some quality control testing.

[griffindodd]

3D printed the frame for the marquee and light bars, now for some light sanding prep and paint. I'll mount this on some thin plexi that will cover the whole area.

[griffindodd]

Prepped the art files today ready to send to Game On Grafix. I introduced a heavy screen effect for the printing to also give it an older feel and look less 'digital'.

[Mike A]

3D printed the frame for the marquee and light bars, now for some light sanding prep and paint. I'll mount this on some thin plexi that will cover the whole area.

Would it have been easier to just mask off and paint the plexi?

[griffindodd]

I want a bit of a 3D effect to it.

[Mike A]

That makes sense.

You do good work.

[javeryh]

This is looking great.  It's important to play-test!

[Wyo]

This is funny…I was literally just wondering the other day what you’ve been up to all these years…I figured you were done with the hobby…and you are one of the top original creative masters of this hobby in my opinion.

I haven’t logged on here in a long time but I just popped in and started viewing this thread without paying attention to who posted it….first thing I noticed how cool this project was going to be….then I noticed the unique and familiar looking bar in the background…then I noticed all the sunshine in the windows….and I was like, “no way! It can’t be!”  So I scroll up and I see it’s you posting again. Haha.

That’s awesome man, so glad to see you back at it.  And you’ve picked up right we’re you left off….this build is once again, amazing.  I love how you always mix old and new technology and effects to enhance everything you’re creating.

Glad you’re well man!

[griffindodd]

This is funny…I was literally just wondering the other day what you’ve been up to all these years…I figured you were done with the hobby…and you are one of the top original creative masters of this hobby in my opinion.

I haven’t logged on here in a long time but I just popped in and started viewing this thread without paying attention to who posted it….first thing I noticed how cool this project was going to be….then I noticed the unique and familiar looking bar in the background…then I noticed all the sunshine in the windows….and I was like, “no way! It can’t be!”  So I scroll up and I see it’s you posting again. Haha.

That’s awesome man, so glad to see you back at it.  And you’ve picked up right we’re you left off….this build is once again, amazing.  I love how you always mix old and new technology and effects to enhance everything you’re creating.

Glad you’re well man!

Hey Wyo!!!!!

Great to hear from you. Yeah it's been about 10 years since I last built a proper custom cab, and then ironically I end up building two at the same time. It's fun to come back at it and try new things with new tools and tech more available. Thanks for your kind words, I see there are a few of the old veterans still hanging around and of course plenty of new faces.