Chaps,
I know this forum is primarily used by aircraf enthusiasts however i need some advice on the difficulty of a project.

I am in need of a robust sequential shifter for my racing rig, however the costs of a quality shifter are high. Whilst doing some research on this front i came across this video.



This guy uses a shifter from a BMW modded to run as a sim shifter. Given that I can pick up a sequential shifter for about £30 on ebay i believe i should be able to make a shifter as robust as they come for significantly less than if i pick up a pre built one from one of the better suppliers (Frex, TSW etc).

However i am unsure of the possible difficulty of this. What are your guys thoughts on how difficult this could be and is it a realistic goal for someone with little mechanical engineering skills to complete?

Any other thoughts on how to do it would also be appreciated.

Cheers
Marcus.

This is not a sequential shifter but here is a great thread on building your own H-shifter. That might give you inspiration to build your shifter though.

http://www.x-simulator.de/forum/diy-h-shifter-by-willynovi-working-t2323.html

I'd say it's less about skills, and more about tenacity and willingness to learn! (The right tools can make an otherwise painful job easy, though)

Regardless, the electronics side of this project would be a good (relatively simple) one for a beginner. You'll only need two buttons, for up and down shift, and a way to get the button inputs into the computer.

To do that, you either use something like the BU0836, or (which will be cheaper in this case) any cheap joystick that has buttons, and replace two of the buttons with your own ones.

The difficulty of the mechanical side of the project depends on what the shifter comes with - is it just the stick, or does it include it's pivot / base? It will be a lot easier if you just need to mount the shifter base, rather than come up with the momentary pivot.

Thanks for the link Propnut but at the moment i think i am going to stick with a sequential.

Julian, the one i have an eye on comes as a complete unit. Base, pivot, shifter handle, the lot all for a little over £32. As a Frex costs £91 plus shipping from Japan plus a Bodnar board or gamepad.. I just wonder whether it is actually doable with my lack of experience.. I think i may give it a go.

Go for it - you don't need any prior experience. A bit of research and a few questions in here and you'll be fine!

Once the bug has bitten you, you'll be salvaging dashboards and seats from scrapyards, fitting servo driven dials and fiddling with projector settings before you know it!

I have orderd a BMW e46 steptronic shifter from ebay... just waiting for that to arrive. Whilst i am waiting i am going to pick up a cheap gamepad to wire it to.

My main concern after further research is how to actually mount it to my Gameracer racing rig. There appears to be no quick and easy way to do it. I shall think of something i suspect.

Hi chaps, looking for some advice regarding my build from any electronics chaps.

I have a question about where to solder, best explained in a picture i think.



Any assistance happily accepted.

Thanks.

Hi Myrig,

You'll get the info here:

http://www.tycoelectronics.com/catalog/b...;RQPN=5749180-1

If you download the Product drawing (it's a PDF file. It has the pins numbered at front and bottom. It's for a shielded version but the pins are the same.

Cheers,

Andy

Brilliant, thanks Andy.

Marcus.

ok chaps,
I have made the shifter. It was much, much easier than expected. However now comes the hard part.

how do i get this:



attached to this:


Please bear in mind that i live in a typical 3 up 2 down UK terraced house with NO fabrication area other than the kitchen and the only tools i have are a power drill, a jigsaw and a saw horse.

Any suggestions gratefully appreciated.

Thanks.

Depends on how adjustable you want it to be, I guess. I'd have a trip to some place like IKEA to see if there's any sort of cheap box that can be cut with the jigsaw to be sandwiched underneath the steering wheel, with another portion cut and stuck to one side to hold the shift lever. If you look at rally cars the gear shift is usually pretty high up near the steering wheel, to keep the pilot's hands on the wheel as much as possible. I recognize that keyboard, good catch! they don't make them anymore, I think.