77 replies to this topic

[Shaun Cole]

We recently did an episode on the show about building your own rig or DIY rig. We showed every step and have posted the drawings and plans here. There is also a link to the video if you would like to watch us build it and follow along.

The tools that we need for the job are:
SAFETY GLASSES
A stable work bench
A "C" clamp
Circular saw (to cut the wood)
Electric drill with a small drill bit for pilot holes ( 9/64" )
Rechargeable drill with Phillips Head
Phillips Screw Driver
Tape Measure
Straight edge
Pencil
Paintbrush

Materials Needed:
4 - 2" x 4" (8 Foot)
1 - 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 (6 foot)
1 - 11" MDF Shelving (8 Foot) ours was 1" MDF, plywood also works but has rougher edges, solid board is fine also
2 1/2" Wood Screws (Large Box 1lb.)
1 5/8" Wood Screws (Small box 30)
#12 Wood Screws 1 1/4" (4)
Paint

The only trick cuts are for the wheel deck upright supports. I literally held them in place and marked them with a pencil and cut them to match my rig. It turns out the pieces are 32" long on the longer edge and cut to 30 degrees on one end with 60 degree cut on the other. Double check how it lines up before cutting.

Here is a picture of the initial sketches:


This is a 3d drawing showing the position of the pieces:


Here is a list of wood pieces that will need to be cut:


Here is a link to the video:

[dragracer]

Looks good guys. I might have to build one of these because it looked like a ton of fun. I already built the simul8r rig so I cant wait to see how yours turns out.
Darren maybe I need to talk the wife into going to Cali for vacation this year instead and issue a challenge to that camaro of yours with one of my mustangs
Shaun the builder, can we build it.....yes we can. I didnt get whats so odd about the overhauls, I grew up in a small town "1200 people or so" and it was a farming comunity so they were common attire.

[SlyDrJ]

Very cool show ! As always...
So guys, Did i hear during that EPIC video that there is a contest for us locals to get a chance to win this epic rig?
I'm Jason, from HayaRacing.com and live just down the road
Sly

[paulinho]

This was a good show guys, thanks

[SMOK3Y]

enjoyed the show guys looks great i reckon

[billsmithem]

Great show. I'm looking forward to seeing the PVC rig build.

One thing you didn't mention that would be useful information for those of us that can't leave our rigs set up permanently is what the Deathmobile weighs. One of the things I'd want on mine would be a short extension of the frame behind the seat with some wheels configured such that the wheels contact the floor when you tilt up the front of the rig. Then I could just grab one end and wheel it around.

Another interesting possibility would be rigging it so that you could fold the seat and rotate it 90 degrees, storing it on it's back to take up less room when you're not racing.

My current rig is a home built two legged table with hinges on the legs so the entire thing folds flat and stands against the wall when stored. The other side has a 2x2 attached a couple inches back from the edge. I unfold the legs, set the lip on the edge of my desk, and attach it with a couple of Quick-Grip clamps underneath each side. The whole thing is rock solid and the G25 and shifter are permanently screwed to it so they can't come loose during a race.

The main disadvantage of the setup is using a desk chair instead of a decent seat. I ended up building a platform that attaches to the chair (actually, the tube sticking out the bottom of the chair sits in a "shoe" on the pedal platform that keeps it from moving no matter how hard I push on the pedals) to keep them from sliding away on the carpet.

The Deathmobile would work pretty well slid up to my desk if I could figure out how to store it. Not a lot of room in the condo for toys.

[Paul H]

A pleasure to watch guys. I thoroughly enjoyed the build and to be honest, the death mobile doesn't look half bad!!

Thanks and best wishes,

Paul

[Yokel]

so for the last video in this series, are you guys going to build an F1 car with a monitor mounted on it?

[chewy3939]

Great show guys. I enjoyed it. Im building a DIY Rig right now too. Its a RS1 DIY Sim Rig.

[soups]

nice rig you got there ! I just finished my own rig and i am definitely proud of it . It is a lot of fun to build your own rig.i posted it earlier this week . feels good when you see people posting good comments about something you took your time to build.

[Lorimer]

Just watced the video. Great job guys, as always.

But the rig after the next -PVC- one, please make it out of 80/20 profiles.

[Steff]

Nice to watch you guys work

Keep rocking!

[BK_NC]

I was pretty skeptical, on how it would look, when I started watching the video but it actually turned out looking very good once painted and stickered up. And you can't beat the price of that build. And, as you mentioned in the video, some paneling on parts of it would make it look even better especially if it was shaped like a cockpit with paneling on the front.

One addition someone could make to this is to use metal brackets on the wheel deck along with nuts and bolts instead of screws to tie it to the horizontal supports along with a series of holes at different heights so you could move the deck up and down to adjust the height. And also some type of pivot bracket to adjust the angle of the deck.

I don't have the room at the moment for a full sim rig, but when I do I had been considering building an 80/20 aluminum tubing rig or galvanized plated perforated steel tubing from the Lowe's hardware section although that stuff is about as expensive at the 80/20 stuff. I found a DIY rig made out of that on another forum that I really liked that used the Lowe's steel tubing. But given the costs of aluminum or steel tubing, this wood rig looks very good for the money.

[simul8r]

Shaun, Darin - enjoyed the video. Reminded me of the day when I first began designing and mocking up my PVC rig. I believe it was a 5 gallon bucket I was sitting on whilst taking some rough measurements.

BTW Shaun, I'm more of a first gen Celica admirer myself but from what I could see of your Datsun 240z looks pretty sweet.

sim

[left888]

Reminds me of one of my first rigs years ago, great for the person on a tight budget. Should be rig of the week? Very nice work Shaun.

[TheHire99]

I noticed in the video that you ran into an issue mounting the seat. In the plans listed here at the beggining of the thread, did you change the measurements to reflect this problem? I'm thinking of building this same rig myself.

[yper]

Great Episode, enjoyed it a lot.

Decided to take the drawings and make something that you might enjoy, I drew the thing up in Google Sketchup 8 for all your viewing pleasure (including the adjustments made during the show).

I also made a file in which I "cleaned" up the measurements according to my model that outlines all the cuts that are needed.

Hope you'll enjoy it.


Find the files here:
Sketchup File http://dl.dropbox.co...ng-wood-rig.skp
Measurements files:
PDF http://dl.dropbox.co...ng-wood-rig.pdf
Excel http://dl.dropbox.co...ng-wood-rig.xls
Numbers http://dl.dropbox.co...ood-rig.numbers

[BK_NC]

@yper Good job with the Sketchup. But it looks like your picture has the wood seat rail mount off center like it is in the video which was a mistake they made and offsetting them was their fix for it on the fly. So you may want to correct your measurements to make the base a little wider if that was the problem. I don't know if Shaun's initial drawings and measurements were off a bit or if they made a mistake during the cutting of the base rails for the width of the rig.

As a side note, I've been trying to use Sketchup to come up with the scale of Darin's old 80/20 rig he profiled on Episode 43 back in Aug '09. I really dig that design and want something like that in 80/20 one day when I have the room for it. Although its been hard since no still from that show really shows the full rig well enough to see all the parts. And I've had to guess at the length of a few pieces so Sketchup could guesstimate the rest.

I would like to see them do an 80/20 rig for this DIY series one day.

[yper]

BK_NC,
thanks and indeed the wood seat rail mount is off center as they did it in the show. I was hoping to represent the finished product as closely as possible.
My assumption was that the drawings and measurements that are put up by the ISR team are the ones they correctly followed on the show and that the "error" was in the preparation and not execution, Shaun looked like a pro with that saw.

Anyway, the sketchup model is broken in to components so all measurements can easily be edited if just the real ones come out.

[BK_NC]

Darin & Shaun:

For one of your DIY projects, how about you guys try to replicate this rig out of wood and maybe steel or 80/20 aluminum