Okay, time for some progress updates... in this part I will explain (as best as I can) how I mounted the kart's steering wheel on the Logitech base and how I mounted the base to the kart so that it is secure...
1. Mounting the base to the kart:
In order to mount the base to the kart, I simply tried to create a small "table top" onto which the base can attach. There are plenty of different ways to do this, but I used what I had in front of me. I decided to take the brackets that hold the kart's bib in place (the nose cone) and faced them backward to the seat (as seen in the picture below):
These brackets are solid and when tightened they wont move down even when I tried pushing them down, so there was no need to build support struts of any kind
After the brackets were bent backward, I took a small piece of wood (plankie), and positioned it on top of the brackets to see if the wheel will be able to be fastened to it. And what do you know - it worked like a charm. As seen in the picture below, the base fits perfectly. After I fit it, I made some L-brackets to attach the wood to the brackets, and I also cut the wood in the shape of the base so that it has no sharp parts sticking out. I also cut off the part of the steel brackets that were sticking out underneath the base.
There are plenty of other ways to do this, but this method works so I am sticking with it. I intend on covering the wood with black vinyl sticker so that it looks nice and tidy. Now that the base was attached to the kart, the next step was to get a nice suede racing steering wheel on there....
2. Mounting the kart's steering wheel to the Logitech base:
In order to mount the kart's wheel, I had to remove the original wheel from the Logitech base. This was fairly easy, since the wheel just attaches to the base via 4 screws and a small connector plug for the buttons. The center button clips loose (I used a small surgical blade to pop it loose) and then you can see the screws that need to be loosened. As soon as you loosen the screws, there is a small connector plug for the buttons. Simply unplug it and your wheel is now loose.
After this, you will have only the base with 4 holes as seen in the pictures below:
Now that the wheel was off, I needed to figure out a way to get the kart's steering wheel onto the base of the Logitech. My original goal was (and still is) to only use stuff lying around the house, so I started looking in the garage...I found a PVC round box and decided that this will be my steering boss.
What I did was really simple - I drilled holes into the back of the PVC round box. 4 Holes for it to screw onto the Logitech base and 3 holes for the kart's steering wheel to be bolted with small bolts and lock nuts. The picture below shows the round box and where I made the holes.
It is really simplistic and there are a ton of better ways probably to do it, but my idea was not to spend money. You can always get a thick piece of plastic disc and drill holes into it (for example round plastic drink coasters) or machine something out of aluminium. My point is - there are plenty of ways to improve it, and your feedback is as always appreciated. I went with the round box since we had plenty lying around
I screwed the round box onto the Logitech base after I switched it on so that the Logitech is in position zero. After the round box was attached to the Logitech base, I lined up the kart's steering wheel and drilled the holes and fastened it with 3 long bolts and small 10 size lock nuts. There is absolutely zero flex or weakness and it works perfectly thanks to the strong PVC material. It also spaces the kart's wheel from the base so that the wheel is close to me (since you lie back in a kart).
The image below shows the wheel fitted to the base (the round box is being removed this weekend to get a black coat of spray paint )
Now that this part is out of the way...I will start making a tutorial of the rest of the build. Until then, at the bottom of this reply is a picture of the rig as it is at the moment...
Next pictures still to come will be where I modded the pots a little to be attached to the pedals, and my simple home-made stand that I made so that it is low enough to be at eye level when the kart is on the ground.
List of unfinished things:
> Better brackets for the pots, and covering them up so that only the links to the pedals are exposed
> Wrapping the stand for the screens in black
> The stand will get finishing touches so that the legs cannot be seen
> Seat needs to be lined with HD foam
> Clean the damn thing (again)
Here is a pic that was taken in the back of my garage after it was built to test it. As you can see, I removed all the plastics (side pods and front bumper) to keep it small and compact. It looks much better with the plastics on, but unfortunately my fianceé doesn't agree
1. Mounting the base to the kart:
In order to mount the base to the kart, I simply tried to create a small "table top" onto which the base can attach. There are plenty of different ways to do this, but I used what I had in front of me. I decided to take the brackets that hold the kart's bib in place (the nose cone) and faced them backward to the seat (as seen in the picture below):
These brackets are solid and when tightened they wont move down even when I tried pushing them down, so there was no need to build support struts of any kind
After the brackets were bent backward, I took a small piece of wood (plankie), and positioned it on top of the brackets to see if the wheel will be able to be fastened to it. And what do you know - it worked like a charm. As seen in the picture below, the base fits perfectly. After I fit it, I made some L-brackets to attach the wood to the brackets, and I also cut the wood in the shape of the base so that it has no sharp parts sticking out. I also cut off the part of the steel brackets that were sticking out underneath the base.
There are plenty of other ways to do this, but this method works so I am sticking with it. I intend on covering the wood with black vinyl sticker so that it looks nice and tidy. Now that the base was attached to the kart, the next step was to get a nice suede racing steering wheel on there....
2. Mounting the kart's steering wheel to the Logitech base:
In order to mount the kart's wheel, I had to remove the original wheel from the Logitech base. This was fairly easy, since the wheel just attaches to the base via 4 screws and a small connector plug for the buttons. The center button clips loose (I used a small surgical blade to pop it loose) and then you can see the screws that need to be loosened. As soon as you loosen the screws, there is a small connector plug for the buttons. Simply unplug it and your wheel is now loose.
After this, you will have only the base with 4 holes as seen in the pictures below:
Now that the wheel was off, I needed to figure out a way to get the kart's steering wheel onto the base of the Logitech. My original goal was (and still is) to only use stuff lying around the house, so I started looking in the garage...I found a PVC round box and decided that this will be my steering boss.
What I did was really simple - I drilled holes into the back of the PVC round box. 4 Holes for it to screw onto the Logitech base and 3 holes for the kart's steering wheel to be bolted with small bolts and lock nuts. The picture below shows the round box and where I made the holes.
It is really simplistic and there are a ton of better ways probably to do it, but my idea was not to spend money. You can always get a thick piece of plastic disc and drill holes into it (for example round plastic drink coasters) or machine something out of aluminium. My point is - there are plenty of ways to improve it, and your feedback is as always appreciated. I went with the round box since we had plenty lying around
I screwed the round box onto the Logitech base after I switched it on so that the Logitech is in position zero. After the round box was attached to the Logitech base, I lined up the kart's steering wheel and drilled the holes and fastened it with 3 long bolts and small 10 size lock nuts. There is absolutely zero flex or weakness and it works perfectly thanks to the strong PVC material. It also spaces the kart's wheel from the base so that the wheel is close to me (since you lie back in a kart).
The image below shows the wheel fitted to the base (the round box is being removed this weekend to get a black coat of spray paint )
Now that this part is out of the way...I will start making a tutorial of the rest of the build. Until then, at the bottom of this reply is a picture of the rig as it is at the moment...
Next pictures still to come will be where I modded the pots a little to be attached to the pedals, and my simple home-made stand that I made so that it is low enough to be at eye level when the kart is on the ground.
List of unfinished things:
> Better brackets for the pots, and covering them up so that only the links to the pedals are exposed
> Wrapping the stand for the screens in black
> The stand will get finishing touches so that the legs cannot be seen
> Seat needs to be lined with HD foam
> Clean the damn thing (again)
Here is a pic that was taken in the back of my garage after it was built to test it. As you can see, I removed all the plastics (side pods and front bumper) to keep it small and compact. It looks much better with the plastics on, but unfortunately my fianceé doesn't agree