Starting the NFS Shift cabinet. Anyone build this one and have advice??

[zmartin34]

Hi all it's been awhile! A few years back I completed my first build which was a 27" 2 player mame cab. It turned out very well and gets used a lot to this day!

I'm getting the itch again and this time am going to build the need for speed shift cab.

http://docs.docstoc.com/pdf/2062959/2516870f-b012-460d-adb5-814efb7c8487.pdf

Has anyone built one of these? Any tips, advice or otherwise r greatly appreciated!! 

[BadMouth]

Been lots of talk about it and people asking for the plans, but so far I haven't seen any built.  

Have a look at the Driving Cab Information Thread link in my signature for info on controls & emulators.
(If it's going to be PC based)

[zmartin34]

Hey bad thx for the response and nice cab! I was going to simply go with a console on this build. More interested in state of the art games than emulation on this one. Obviously pc's can do this as well, I just figured a console would cost less and do it well. I'm not opposed to building a pc for this if it would be cheaper though.

I'll check out your link for more info on controls.

[mattmayhem]

I have seen this and wondered about building it myself, but I would def design one myself before I built this one. Its a little too "enclosed" for my taste and appears to be very large. If anything, I would want to find a gutted 2 player daytona usa or cruisin usa and convert them to consoles with 23" LCD TVs. What console did you have in mind?

I built 2 arcade racers about 7 years ago for Gran Turismo 4 for the PS2. It was a simple design and worked well. It was basicly just MDF and 2X's for the cabinet, 2 25" TV's, 2 logitech GT steering wheels, 2 car seats out of my parts car at the time, 2 PS2's, and 2 copys of GT4. I used to host a lot of meetings for my car club at the time, and while waiting for members to show up, it was always fun to race each other. The first cab was 100% finished, but I never got around to finishing the second one 100% before moving and eventually I had to get rid of both of them because they just took up way to much room. I do however miss them and I want to remake a 2 player racer cabinet for the PS3. I still have to Logitech GT wheels, but everything else would have to be replaced.

I have looked on the forums high and low for other racer cabinet projects and cant find any, so if you decide to go through the build, I am very interested in following your progress. Hell, as soon as I can convince the old lady into letting me take up even more room, I will be building a custom 2 player racer cab for GT5 now that its out, just have to make her understand that ts not a want, but a need 

[zmartin34]

Hey Matt,

Yea it is a large build. Going to prob be about 3'6" w x 7' d. I like the look though and am prob going to go for the 46" monitor so its a good fit for me.

Haven't decided on the console yet. Either 360 (which i own) and go with forza and the Fanatec Wheel or buy a ps3 and go with logitech g27. One big deciding factor for this will be 3D development. I think it would be great if the tech fleshes out and actually looks good to buy a 3d compatible TV and hope that a dev puts a great game out in 3d. I'm going to have a much better shot at this with a PS3 I believe.

I would luv to go with a dual setup but its simply going to require too much room

I've never posted a build --BINGO! Either that, or I was attempting to say "before" but it was too many letters to type--. Maybe I will on this one. Got the hardware yesterday; time to start the process!

[BadMouth]

Ya gotta post the build pics.  We've been teased too many times by people who say they are going to build it, then are never heard from again.

[DirtyDachshunds]

I have plans for this build as well (hopefully sometime in 2011 after I finish my mame cab).  I'm planning on using a PS3 with the G27.

Don't go with the xbox, the G27 is the best wheel out there and is a must for a cabinet like this.  I own a G27, and it's amazing, you won't regret it.

Definitely keep us posted, I love the design of this...the only thing I don't like is the size.

[zmartin34]

You peeps r getting me more fired up on this lol. I'm gonna build it, ya only live once

Alright I guess Ill take pics and do it up for everyone. It may take a couple months but I'll post 'em up. Going to buy the rest of the hardware 2nite. Will grab materials after the new year and start ripping wood!

@Dirty - Thx for the advice; I heard the Fanatec is incredible as well though

[DirtyDachshunds]

One other thing that I am going to do when I build this is add bass shakers to the seat.  That way you get some vibration to a throttling engine or a wreck.

[mattmayhem]

Def post the build, I would love to see how you do it, and it will def help me out when I build mine (as soon as I get the extra room). There are some great video's out there of other peoples race simulators, with motion, seat rockers, deal car dashes, real racing seats, etc.. and 9 out of 10 times they are using a g25 or g27 wheel. There is actually someone out there (I forget where, maybe ebay?) that sells a steering wheel adapter so you can remove the logitech wheel and install a real steering wheel (momo, grant, sparco, etc..) and a spring that makes the stick shift feel more authentic and you can use whatever screw on shift knob. I also noticed a lot of people take the pedals apart and mount them upside down so they are top mounted like in a real car. I have seen some great setups, and I have a million idea's floating around for when I am ready and I would love to see what someone else does. Good luck on the build and keep us posted of your progress!

[zmartin34]

One other thing that I am going to do when I build this is add bass shakers to the seat.  That way you get some vibration to a throttling engine or a wreck.

Like this Can u give me a link on these? How do they hook to the sound system (sub out or something)?

[zmartin34]

Def post the build, I would love to see how you do it, and it will def help me out when I build mine (as soon as I get the extra room). There are some great video's out there of other peoples race simulators, with motion, seat rockers, deal car dashes, real racing seats, etc.. and 9 out of 10 times they are using a g25 or g27 wheel. There is actually someone out there (I forget where, maybe ebay?) that sells a steering wheel adapter so you can remove the logitech wheel and install a real steering wheel (momo, grant, sparco, etc..) and a spring that makes the stick shift feel more authentic and you can use whatever screw on shift knob. I also noticed a lot of people take the pedals apart and mount them upside down so they are top mounted like in a real car. I have seen some great setups, and I have a million idea's floating around for when I am ready and I would love to see what someone else does. Good luck on the build and keep us posted of your progress!

Good info thx! Your way ahead of me hear lol. Any links for this stuff or is it on this forum in which case I can search. Any info is appreciated. I just sort of dreamed this up spur of the moment lol

[mattmayhem]

Here is a link to a bad ass motion racing sim (PC)



Here is a minimal PS3 sim



and here is another console sim with real car parts



As for the g25/27 steering wheel adaptor, you can find it on ebay. Here are some vids of it, the pedal reverse mod, and the e-brake mod.







and the rest of this guys console race sim

http://www.youtube.com/user/chilicoke#p/u/25/ZNW0uA5xePY

If you just look around, there are all kinds of sim cabinets for racing, you just have to know what you want and go from there. You can go very minimalistic, or way over the top. I like chilicoke's because it is somewhere in between. He has come up with some great mods (ebrake and pedals) for a more authentic controls. Its just like anything else, the sky is the limit, it all depends on how much time and money you want to throw into it. I can see spending about $1300 total for a full setup including parts, TV, console, etc..

Personally, I would copy a setup similar to his, but enclose it a bit more and make it 2 players. Racing games are fun, but just like every other game out there, they are 100x more fun when you have someone to race!

I hope this gives you some good idea's on where to start. Just keep searching other peoples idea's and projects and use what they have done to make something of your own. Good luck!





 

[zmartin34]

Thanks for that! Very good resources!

I've got all of the hardware at this point. Going to start cutting wood after the new year. Merry Xmas all!