New upright driver project--working title: was"Jacked-Up" NOW "Shell-raiser"

[menace]

Ok here's the plan:

4 swappable panels with fold out gas and brake (no clutch)

panel 1:  2 x 360 wheels (super sprint control panel actually)
panel 2:  270 wheel with shifter
panel 3: standard street fighter layout
Panel 4: dedicated spy hunter panel converted to usb years ago

I want the pedals to flip out so that when used in "street fighter" mode they aren't in the way.

I would love to make the cabinet height adjustable so the kids can play it easy so if anyone has some thoughts on that, please feel free to fire away..

[Howard_Casto]

It seemed like a good plan until you mentioned kids.  Upright racers are the bane of every child's existence... either you can't reach the pedals or can't reach the wheel.  Also be wary about swap out panels with young-in's afoot.  As adults we have sense enough not to hang off the wheel and therefore a removable panel doesn't have to be that sturdy...kids on the other hand just see controls as a hand-hold to get a better view. 

Where turbo outrun's control panel is almost vertical, I don't know how well you could play street fighter on it either. 

I'm not trying to be negative, just pointing out issues you may face.  I hope some of it is helpful.

[yotsuya]

Howard brings up good points. I'm not sure how you'd do height-adjustible when you're factoring kids in the the equation. What parts to you want to actually adjust? If you want to bring the monitor and controls DOWN while keeping the pedal on the floor, then the whole middle part has to compact. That's how I'm visualizing it, anyway.

[menace]

Yup - no worries--My boys are 8 and 7 and tall for their age.  I am still waffling on the idea of building it short and then "stretching" it as they get older.  There's about 10" of dead space between the pedals and the rest of the cabinet that could be taken out without changing the design much.  What I am really hoping is one of you clever buggers will say: "hey have you seen this device, it will automatically raise and lower the cabinet by 10"" 

Thankfully all the control panels are from an arcade so they were built to take the abuse.  The joystick/button panel will be made so as to drop in and end up being about 10 degrees or so.

[Howard_Casto]

Well I'm not referring to the panels themselves, but rather the mounts.  It should be able to hold up your most mischievous child, or their fattest friend that will undoubtedly try to climb the thing the second you aren't looking. 

Even if you've got really well minded children (which I'm sure you do) I'm always amazed at how excited kids get around an arcade machine... it's worse then giving them a bag of sugar and telling them to go nuts. 

In terms of the adjustability thing it's possible.  I've seen people over-engineer stuff with massive worm gears to give some height adjustment to their cabs, but in all honestly if you are going to go to that much trouble and expense, it's time to just build a dedicated racing cab and a dedicated general purpose cab. 

[Le Chuck]

  What I am really hoping is one of you clever buggers will say: "hey have you seen this device, it will automatically raise and lower the cabinet by 10"" 

Barstool pneumatic cylinder. Sleeve the outer over an inner box so you can raise and lower. Run through bolts for support. Just don't use a CRT TV or you'll never get it to go back up. 

Boom! Free chicken!!!!

[menace]

I like what you are thinking!  How about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Scissor-Auto-Jack-Lift/dp/B000P0RP0I

(And yes I admit the whole idea of raising and lowering it, is probably never going to happen but its kind of fun to see what comes of it...)

I just sat the kids down in one of the chairs we will use and I think I can make the pedals adjustable quite easily..I'm now leaning heavily on a sit down minus the dedicated seat

[gpasko]

I like what you are thinking!  How about this:

http://www.amazon.com/Electric-Scissor-Auto-Jack-Lift/dp/B000P0RP0I

(And yes I admit the whole idea of raising and lowering it, is probably never going to happen but its kind of fun to see what comes of it...)

I just sat the kids down in one of the chairs we will use and I think I can make the pedals adjustable quite easily..I'm now leaning heavily on a sit down minus the dedicated seat

I like the electric scissor jack!  The bottom base of the cabinet would just need to telescope into the main cabinet body.  For the guides I'd use heavy duty drawer rails; you might need 4 of them.  For example, if the cabinet was laying on its back w/o the scissor lift you'd be able to slide the base in and out like a drawer.  The scissor jack would just need to be mounted on center for best weight distribution/alignment.  I'd make sure to used something mechanical to stop the travel and not just rely on the drawer rails.  Additionally, you probably should put in some locking system for when you are moving this around.  You wouldn't want the base to slide freely!

At first I thought this sounds like more trouble than it's worth, but I think this simplifies it 10X, at least in my mind.  

In my opinion, I'd skip the multiple control panels and stick with one style of game play ... -ie- RACING!!!  Build a second cabinet for fighting, etc...

[Generic Eric]

http://www.amazon.com/OmniMount-LIFT70-Tilt-Mount-46-65/dp/B00DLKE91C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398782413&sr=8-1&keywords=tv+lift

[gpasko]

http://www.amazon.com/OmniMount-LIFT70-Tilt-Mount-46-65/dp/B00DLKE91C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398782413&sr=8-1&keywords=tv+lift

The description doesn't give a weight handling maximum.  Most TVs are light these days.  I'm not sure what your concept would be with using something like this.  Would your intent be to adjust the monitor's position in the cabinet or the controls?

[Generic Eric]

http://www.amazon.com/OmniMount-LIFT70-Tilt-Mount-46-65/dp/B00DLKE91C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398782413&sr=8-1&keywords=tv+lift

The description doesn't give a weight handling maximum.  Most TVs are light these days.  I'm not sure what your concept would be with using something like this.  Would your intent be to adjust the monitor's position in the cabinet or the controls?

He mentioned lifting the tv.  This is a approximately a third of the cost of other models that do that.

(And yes I admit the whole idea of raising and lowering it, is probably never going to happen but its kind of fun to see what comes of it...)

[menace]

If I found one of these local I would seriously do this....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/ctm/Motorcycle-motorbike-Quad-Bike-Hydraulic-Jack-Lift-

[menace]

I found one!  100$ if the guy still has it.  If he does I am totally building an elevator-lifting multi-driving uber-super deluxe driving cabinet 

For no other reason than because I can

[MrThunderwing]

Yup - no worries--My boys are 8 and 7 and tall for their age.  I am still waffling on the idea of building it short and then "stretching" it as they get older.

Here's the perfect solution for little un's who's legs aren't quite long enough to reach the pedals  .

[menace]

LOL - it's so tiny--I think my cat DOES need a hobby...hmmmm...

[menace]

Ok so today marks day 1:  I picked up a full hydraulic scissor lift on kijiji for free! (woohoo) only thing is the hydraulics were shot--even refilled, they hissed out as soon as pressure was applied.  So I had a brainstorm, hit the hardware store and bought a 4 ton jack for $9 and kludged it in:

here's the old piston



Here's the new one:



Here's the jack at lowest setting (16" height)



And max height (32")



this thing is all plate aluminum and heavy as a boat anchor so no worries about it tipping over. 

This should be fun...

[yotsuya]

Make sure your gaps are tight. I'd hate to see little fingers get stuck in between the two parts of the cab before it compresses. 

[Howard_Casto]

I'm just setting here trying to figure out how in the world this is going to help his problem.  It's not just that kids won't be able to reach the wheel, but the pedals as well.  So I guess you'd have to put it in the middle portion of the cab to reduce the gap between the two, which is the actual problem. 

Just be careful, this seems pretty unsafe to me unless properly designed.

[menace]

SOme updates over the weekend--update the drawings a bit..

First--the stock side panel:



now one showing it with the hydraulic box underneath--the control panel also has two positions depending on whether the wheel/controller is meant to be more of a spy hunter orientation or the more traditional upright panel:





I got the one sheet cut up to make a box to house by hydraulic scissor jack:

[menace]

The wife then asked me to make a "veggie-trunk"  We went to a store to buy one but they were back ordered till June...Having a decent picture, we bought $70 worth of cedar and I cranked this out in the afternoon--works like a charm and the wife is happy to let me continue monopolizing the garage.  It's a win-win 

[menace]

For a name for my (arcade) creation I'm thinking...wait for it...

"Jacked-Up"

what do you think?

and for the marquee--some font with the word "up" onto top of a scissor lift above the word "jacked"

[Generic Eric]

The wife then asked me to make a "veggie-trunk"  We went to a store to buy one but they were back ordered till June...Having a decent picture, we bought $70 worth of cedar and I cranked this out in the afternoon--works like a charm and the wife is happy to let me continue monopolizing the garage.  It's a win-win 

Is that a triangle shaped raised bed?

[menace]

It is!  The filter fabric lets it drain and shape lends itself to veggie growing (apparently)--beats digging up the yard IMHO (we have tough clay soil).

[Generic Eric]

It is!  The filter fabric lets it drain and shape lends itself to veggie growing (apparently)--beats digging up the yard IMHO (we have tough clay soil).

That is cool.  We potted some jalapenos and tomatoes.  Were the vertical posts cedar too?

[yotsuya]

For a name for my (arcade) creation I'm thinking...wait for it...

"Jacked-Up"

what do you think?

and for the marquee--some font with the word "up" onto top of a scissor lift above the word "jacked"

Your game is jacked up, bro.

What are you going to use to make sure the transition up and down goes smoothly? Cabinet rails of some sort? Or just wood on woos with the jack doing the work?

[menace]

Yup just the outer cabinet sleeved over the jack in the box.  I can always put some plastic on the inside of the outer box to reduce friction if need be

@ eric:  Oh and yes the whole box is cedar..2x4 legs and 1x6 for the rest of it.  I used 5' lengths on the body to minimize cuts

[ChanceKJ]

The wife then asked me to make a "veggie-trunk"  We went to a store to buy one but they were back ordered till June...Having a decent picture, we bought $70 worth of cedar and I cranked this out in the afternoon--works like a charm and the wife is happy to let me continue monopolizing the garage.  It's a win-win 

Is that a triangle shaped raised bed?

Most. Uncomfortable. Futon. EVER.

[menace]

And now back to our "non veggie-trunk" programming...

Got the one side cut today.  I just need to square the edges with some sanding then get myself a flush trim router bit so I can do some template matching with the router...

[menace]

At last--I was able to sneak into the garage enough times to get all the wood cut.  Now for a test fitting:



Some of my mitre cuts were a bit off but overall I think it's coming together nicely.

Next step is to get the lift in there, cut out some access ports to get to the hydraulic controls, get the control panel cut...oh man...

[menace]

At long last an update! with photos!!

So I finally got the jack handle and release handle installed (only jack handle visible in this photo.  It does glide easily up and down but it is a bit wobbly at full height so i'll come up with some stabilizing pins or something to look the two sections together



Next it was the control panel module.  The plan is to have it rotate through about 90 degrees-- so in one configuration it holds the traditional control panel or the dual steering wheels (pedals will be resting on the floor when needed)





The gap down below the panel will have special spacer that sticks in with velcro so i can pop it out if i need to rotate the panel box.

And at long last, the control panel can be rotated down and in, allowing room for my USB spy hunter control panel that I bought like 10 Years ago and have never used--just thought it was a cool thing to be able to use and its one game in mame I haven't played in forever (with buttons etc.)

[Superfrog]

Just jump in for the first time.
It's a real challenging project you started 

Bud was a pair of these boots for the kids not cheaper and easier 
And they look cool to 

[menace]

Received some design input and a request for a theme change--the boys are 8 and 7--any guesses?



I guess we are heading for a turtles based theme...

[Louis Tully]

.

[menace]

Finding artwork for this theme is like shooting fish in a barrel!   Put this together from some wallpapers:

[menace]

I saw this art in another thread and really dig it--not sure how to tie it all together though...

[Superfrog]

Plus 10 for me on this artwork.
Nice crunchy look 

[menace]

So the kids rejected the "cooler" artwork and chose something a bit more cartoon-y:

I could use some input on the marquee on how to blend the various styles (and having a picture of their actual toy in there was reportedly awesome so it stays...)



Here's the control panel:

[Superfrog]

Sometimes you have to overrule the kids 
And this is the time to DO IT 

[yamatetsu]

+1

Either that or you'll have to build a second cab ... 

[yotsuya]

I say keep it the way the kids want it...after all, that's why you have the jack part installed in the first place, right?