Sep/092
I’m Home! – Pedals/Wheel attached | Cowling Cutting & Fixing
Hey Guys! I’m back from Italy after an incredible 8 days in Milan. The Grand Prix was fantastic. Now I’m back in the real World and I want to get this cockpit finished!
I’ve lost track of whats left, but as far as I can remember this is it:
- Steering wheel cowling
- Mount Pedals
- Mount Steering Wheel
- Decals/Stickers
- Carpet Front Section
- Final Coat of Paint & Touch Up
- ARC Wheel
So, really there’s not all that much left, the decals are out of my hands. I’m waiting for a response on those. I need more carpet, which I will get ordered.
Anyway, last night I started on the Pedals, Steering Wheel and Cowling – and a quick test 
I began with the task of attaching and fixing the pedals in the cockpit. I put the pedals in the front section, rested on the back edge. They stood up quite nicely under their own weight. I got into the cockpit and found the nicest position for them. Unfortunately this was about 2 inches from the back of the cockpit – so they wouldn’t be able to rest and get fixed right there. I marked where the pedals rested, bottom, top, sides – so I could fix them in the exact same place.
I needed a solution and after some ideas of using wooden batons, I went with a carpet gripper! I cut a carpet gripper to the exact width of the front section, two pieces. One part for the bottom, this would prevent the pedals slipping down and it gave a lip for them to sit in. I hammered the sharp grippers down and it proved to give a clean look whilst doing it’s job. For holding the pedals at the correct angle, I used the second piece. This was a bit longer, 3 inches on either side. I used a vice to bend the final 3 inches on the ends around, 90 degrees to the main section. This would allow me to screw it into the side of the cockpit and use the main length to rest the pedals in! Because the carpet gripper already has holes in, I only needed to drill an additional two holes through the metal to fix it to the cockpit and prevent it twisting.
I placed the pedals in and they fitted snugly and completely secure. I put a lot of force in every direction on the pedals and they didn’t move, so just driving won’t be a problem at all.
The next job was fixing the wheel to the cockpit. I already had a section of wood about 30cm long, 0.75in deep and wide enough for an extremely tight fit within the cockpit. I found it quite difficult to find the best position for the wheel and it was very tight with my knees. The clamps on the bottom of the wheel base were about 1cm away from making contact with my legs. I decided it was ok. :-O
I marked where the board was in the same way I did with the pedals and then removed it. I decided it was far too deep, un-necessarily. The wheel base is only about 18cm, so this was sparing 12cm or so which wasn’t needed. So I sawed the unused part off in favour of a smaller support section.
I used 4, 90 degree metal brackets to attach the support to the cockpit. Attaching it to the support first and then screwing it into the cockpit. Because of the tight fit, it was supported under it’s own weight whilst I tightened the screws.
The final thing I wanted achieve last night was the wheel cowling. I had a few ideas, as I had done in my mockups. I was initially going to place a section over the wheel, flush with the top of the cockpit. However, the G25 base proved too high. There was about 4mm clearance from the top of it to the surface of the cockpit. Not enough. I decided to place the wooden cowling ontop of the cockpit surface. It was 0.5mm ply board. Easy to cut, easy to sand, easy to paint.
I firstly decided on the rough outline of it, using a pencil, marker pen and a ruler. I cut it a little too bit so I could sand it down, rather than it be too short and have to cut it all again! I used a jigsaw to cut it out. After doing so I used a fine sandpaper to smooth it all, round the corners and remove any possibility of splinters.
Now, for the fixing. I put a line of wood glue around bottom of it. This dries transparent so any excess squeezing out wasn’t a problem. I used 0.75in hardboard pins. They are just like panel pins but brass and a bit stronger. I used 8 in total, spacing them evenly. There was no possibility of the MDF or Ply board splitting with these. Finally, I used a damn cloth to remove the excess wood glue.
This will need to be primed, undercoated and painted red to match the cockpit.
Now all in place, the final thing to do was to have a quick test! My first outing with it! The perspective with the Display was different and will take a little getting used to. But the wheel felt completely solid, the pedals felt solid and everything went smoothly.
So, this leaves me with the following:
- Decals/Stickers
- Carpet Front Section
- Final Coat of Paint & Touch Up
- ARC Wheel
Enjoy the pics!
Sep/090
Carpeting the back half of the Cockpit
Yes yes, I said no more updates until the 17th, but I found a bit of time tonight and took on the carpeting.
After about 15 minutes I realised I wouldn’t have enough to do the full thing – sigh! I managed to do the back half with a few scraps left over. So I will need to order a bit more.
I started off by measuring the base, adding an extra inch or two at both ends and top and bottom. This would be so it would rise up the sides a little and also hang over the edge, so I could ensure a better line down the front of the cockpit.
I cut this out, sprayed the back with adhesive – which incidentally ran out after covering this piece. Luckily I had a second can, well, my Dad did. I pushed the bottom piece into place, squeezed it into the corners and made sure it was completely stuck on. I had to cut the corners off at the back, so the carpet didn’t scrunch up. For now, I left the overhang in place.
I chose to do the back next, this would overlap the bottom piece and run along the sides of the cockpit by an inch or so. I trimmed the edges slightly to fit in with the two pieces of wood. I didn’t want any scrunching or folds, so this made it need. I used a combination of scissors and a knife.
Next, I chose to do the two small uprights, but only up to the top of the first piece of wood – not the whole side. I used the same process as the bottom. This side bit overlapped the bottom piece than ran an inch up the side. Once this was stuck down, I used a knife to cut at 45 degrees into the edge (corner) to take the excess off this section. I repeated this for the other side.
Following this, the only remaining pieces were the two main sides. Again, I used exactly the same process as before. overlapping each end and then cutting it at 45 degrees in the join to keep it neat.
The final thing to do was to cut the front overlapping sections off. I used scissors for this. There were still a few bits to touch up, mainly at the back with the angled wood. I just cut off small pieces of carpet and stuck them in. Because the carpet is black it totally absorbs any lines.
I don’t think it’s perfect and I will never be a carpeter, but it does the job and it looks the business. All I need now is more carpet for the front!
Sep/090
Seat Covering
Firstly, sorry for the lack of updates recently, I’ve been stupidly busy with other stuff and only got around to doing the seat covering tonight. Unfortunately, from this blog post, there won’t be another until the 17th September. I’m busy until Monday and I go on holiday on Tuesday for 8 days so there will be no progress.
Anyway, down to the seat covering details.
I used black faux suede to cover the seat and a heavy duty spray adhesive to stick it on. I would warn you, this spray is like nothing I’ve ever seen or used, it is incredibly sticky. Get it on your clothes, you will not get it off. Don’t breathe it in – it literally takes your breath away. It’s difficult to direct so make sure everything around is covered with a sheet. After finishing I think I probably had about 10% of the can left, so go easy when applying it.
The first thing I did was to put the whole piece of suede over the seat and figure out the best way to cover it. I had two options:
- Put it on in one piece, leaving no join lines but having a large number of creases – some possibly on the bottom also.
- Put it on in sections, making cuts/slits through the fabric, overlaying it. This would leave a few lines where it overlaps, but there would be no creases and no air pockets in the fabric.
I chose option two.
I decided to cover the sides first, one at a time. So I cut a section from the fabric. Enough to cover the length with a 2 inch overlap at either end and an inch or so at the bottom, with 3 inches at the top. Initially I sprayed the adhesive onto the seat itself and pushed the fabric on. But before long I realised it was better to spray the fabric. This adhesive is so strong that it melts the seat, if you spray it too closely to the seat, it will be very concentrated, you can push your finger right into the seat, it’s like marshmallow. I found it better to spray it from about 12 inches away. This gave a better covering as well. I also found it better to push the Suede on with the palm of my hand to prevent indenting the seat. I made sure there were no creases and bubbles.
Down the inside edge of the seat I cut the fabric where the creases would lie. I sprayed the edge first and stuck it down and then sprayed each individual cut and stuck them down. Each overlapping the next.
I completed the other side. This takes longer than you would expect and I would suggest using two people. I got my dad to help with mine. One person to stretch the material and the other to press it on. Be careful as the adhesive also melts the fabric if you apply too much!
I decided to stick the middle section on in one piece. I cut this roughly to size with enough material to overlap the edges by about 4 inches.
I stuck the back down first, and then the bottom. After that, I stuck either leg section down. The sides of the middle section were still completely unstuck and full of creases. I used exactly the same process as I did for the sides. Cut along the creases and stuck each cut piece down, followed by the next which would overlap it.
The seat is now covered. It looks fantastic, pictures don’t do it justice. They show up the smallest of floors. Remember that space inhibitors are used down the side, inside the cockpit, so the sides, front and back of the seat will not be seen – only the main area. Which is near perfect.
Now the seat is finished, I can say this is definitely the way to go. It’s super comfortable, looks fantastic and wasn’t much more expensive than buying a bucket seat – which isn’t moulded!