A couple of vids for you - these are with the settings I listed above, 10 car grids, probably bad lighting/weather for frame rate, but achieving average 80+FPS which is fine
Porsche 911 RSR at Silverstone Classic GP
In my defence of the above, I'd done about 3 laps of that circuit before that race, so lines are probably far from on-point. I'd also never driven the 911 RSR believe it or not, I guess I never got around to it
Sauber Mercedes C9 at Silverstone (modern) GP, being stuffed into the barriers to demonstrate how throttle steer-able it is and definitely not due to any driver shortcomings or me pushing too hard chasing that yellow car
The "plans" for building my rig are as follows:
Shopping list
Ebay
40x 4040 90-degree aluminium corner pieces (I'd brought from a Chinese seller, saved me a bunch)
100x M8 T Slot nuts (I'd buy these from China too, unless you can find a UK source at a sensible price)
100x M8x16mm Stainless Steel (optional) Socket Cap Head bolts. Kays or GWR fasteners on ebay are usually a good price and very quick delivery
KJN Engineering
https://www.aluminium-profile.co.uk
Note: I use them because they're right next door to work so I can go collect it. They're shut right now due to Corona but will be open fairly soon. I found them to be the best price also however its been 2yr nearly since I brought these pieces
8040 BR Profile Aluminium extrusion
A 480mm long x5 pieces - these set the overall width *1
B 1400mm long x2 pieces - these set the overall length *2
C 330mm long x3 pieces - these make up the horizontal fore-aft sections *3
D 500mm long x4 pieces - these make up the vertical sections *4
4040 BR Profile Aluminium extrusion
E 300mm long x2 pieces - upright for gearshifter (optional)
F 500mm long x2 pieces - seat mounts *5
G 480mm long x2 pieces - pedal mounts *6
Notes
*1 You can make it wider if you want, I think this is fairly representative of a car width/trans tunnel position but I have no provision for mounting keyboards, mice, etc I don't have the space. If you make this wider, see note 6
*2 This is long enough for me, I'm 5ft11" and have about 10-12" additional "length" I could adjust into, however if you're really tall or want to "lie down" (formula car, etc) then maybe add 200mm. If you make this longer see note 3
*3 If you make the rig longer (note 2) make these longer too for more stiffness. If you don't have a shifter then just order 2x sections
*4 I don't have screens, I'm 100% VR. I wish I had the space for triple monitors too but I don't! If you DO, then you could make two of these lengths longer and use them as the upright supports for your screens. I'd recommend making two of them 1000-1200mm long - these would be the two closest to you! At 1000mm long that puts the middle of the monitor about level with the top of my head, so you have room for adjustment up/down
*5 If you make the rig longer or want more adjustment then you could make these longer. This is long enough for a side-mount seat bracket with about 4" fore-aft adjustment. If you want to fit your seat onto seat runners then you don't need these - can mount the runners directly to the left/right pieces
*6 If you made the rig wider then make these wider to match too!
You will also need some brackets and things to mount your wheelbase - I'm not going to get into that because its too specific depending what you're using. I think for fanatec you should have lots of options to mount it to BR profile aluminium or make a simple mounting plate!
I'm also assuming you're using similar pedals to mine, in which case the pedal mounting plate will bolt straight to the BR profile too
Method for building the rig:
Get the two long pieces (B) and 2x 480mm pieces (A) and bolt them to form a square base frame. Align the A pieces with the ends of the B pieces, you want the sections oriented so they're 40mm wide and 80mm tall if that makes sense..
Get another piece 480mm long (A) and fit it between the long pieces (B) and measure about 500mm in from the end so the structure looks like this..
Get two 500mm long 4040 sections (F) and fit them fore-aft over the top of the two A sections which are 500mm apart, and centralise them with a width apart to suit your seat mounting scheme, so the structure looks like this..
Get two 480mm long 4040 sections (G) and fit them at the other end so they align at the top with the top of the 4080 side rails. Fit them so they're roughly where you want your pedals to be (around 200mm in from the end isn't a bad starting point for the "front" one). Your structure should look something like this..
Get 2x 500mm long uprights (D) and fit them vertically to the front corners of the rig so they align at the front or thereabouts
Get 2x 330mm long horizontal pieces (C) and fit them horizontally to the front uprights facing rearwards, lining up at the top of the uprights
Get 2x 500mm long (or longer for monitors) uprights (D) and fit them vertically to the top of the rigs side rails, and slide them down to meet the horizontal pieces (C) you just fitted
Get 2x remaining 480mm 8040 pieces and fit them across the width between the uprights
This will effectively build a box around your pedals which should look something like this..
Fit one remaining 330mm piece (C) to one of the rearmost vertical legs (left or right, depending where you want the gear shifter
Fit the two 300mm long 4040 sections (E) so they fit vertically under the horizontal piece you just fitted, so the rearmost one lines-up with the back end of the horizontal piece. You want the centers of these to be around 70mm apart to suit a Fanatec Club Sport or Club Sport SQ shifter
This will make a frame that looks like this...
Your rig will basically be done at this stage, HOWEVER expect a lot of tweaking, adjusting and tightening / loosening to get it how you want it! You will be fed-up with T-Nuts by the time this is over
If you're using a Fanatec CS / CS SQ shifter, then download this DXF file and have someone cut one out and bend it for you per the drawing - Graham, I have a spare you can have if you want it. Needs to be bent 90-degrees inline with the back edge, 1mm internal bend radius, 1mm steel plate
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqufquqKoHGjjZsDULq ... g?e=CJ4aJC
To use this method, you will also need to grind the tabs off one side of a pair of 90-degree brackets to mount the shifter using my method. Mount the 90-degree brackets to the underside of the shifter on whichever side will be the innermost face. Mount the bracket to the same side of the shifter using the supplied bolts and t nuts. Drop the whole lot onto the outside of the rig, put two T-Nuts into the top profile and bolt the bracket down. The whole thing should look something like the images below and makes for a good rigid mounting! If you're getting in/out that side of your rig like me then i apologise for your shins in advance! You will only do it once, trust me...
If you wanted to make the front upright legs longer then you could use taller pieces as I mentioned..
Add two horizontal bars to this to suit a VESA type TV mounting bracket and set the height
You could also add four 4040 hinges and four more "wings" to mount two side monitors too, however if you're using big screens I'd fit out rigger legs so they don't droop!
NOTE: I've never done the monitor thing, I don't have space, just an idea how you could do it and keep it all together. If I were going with three screens, for the extra 40-50 quid I'd probably build a completely separate monitor stand so you can move it relative to your rig, a-la Versario and the like. Also you can then position them correctly using the online calculators and things available so you don't feel like you're driving a toy car, or you're a midget in a monster truck.. 99% of the screen placement I've seen on peoples rigs in real life and online is TERRIBLE
Hope that helps
image-20200429_211053 by graham Ridgway, on Flickr
