Nov/090
More carpeting and Track Map Holder
Wow, I finally got around to doing some more work on the cockpit. I suddenly had an urge to finish the carpet, so I spent a couple of hours finishing it tonight.
Before starting this I fixed in the rear brackets on the wheel shelf, I forgot to secure this before.
I chose to do the bottom section first off, measuring the length and width needed and leaving enough for an inch of overlap on each side. I was only carpeting up to the edge of the carpet gripper, where the pedals start. Nothing else is visible, from either inside or out.
I was more accurate than when I did the back half, so cutting things too small wasn’t an issue. After fixing the bottom piece, I chose to do the large vertical face at the bottom. This would overlap the extra inch from the bottom section and be trimmed at the edge for a clean line.
Next up, I did the sides, inside. These sections would go over the brackets for holding the wheel shelf. Again, I left an inch of overlap. This would be trimmed to the edge afterwards. Next I wanted to cover the vertical face going up the sides. I used one rectangular piece for either side. This would overlap the sides inside and leave no line visible.
Next, I needed to make custom shapes to fit in the top corners (see images). I did some brief measuring and ended up with a shape that somehow looked like the cockpit itself! I got these two stuck in.
Finally I decided to cover the wheel shelf. In hope it might deaden the sound of my wheel just a bit. There were a few tiny little gaps in the material so I just used some of the offcuts and filled them. Once the glue is perfectly dry I will brush off any excess glue that has got onto the front of the carpet.
Very happy with the final result of the carpeting, like the back half, it really absorbs the corners, it’s great to sit in.
Finally, just for a little touch, I added a plastic Business Card Pocket. This would hold a track map.
Not much more left to do now. Decals, Wheel, Final touch ups and hopefully two button boxes if someone can make them for me!
I’m thinking of covering the wheel cowling in the carbon fibre I’ve got left over. It’s either that or painting it.
Aug/092
Taking apart G25 Pedals & Re-Mounting
-
- Lovely!
-
- Pedal fronts re-fitted
-
- Pedals fixed 2
-
- Pedals fixed
-
- Bolts in place
-
- Ready to fix the pedals
-
- Holes drilled
-
- Cut to size
-
- All the pedal stuff
-
- Even more markings
-
- More markings
-
- Basic markings
-
- Spade connectors
-
- Unused Clutch wires
-
- After taking the base off
-
- G25 Pedals
After finishing the cockpit sanding I set about destroying dismantling my pedals. There are a number of screws on the bottom – they all need to be removed, the silver and also black ones. There are two small silver screws below the carpet gripper also. Next, you need to remove the fronts of the pedals with an allen key. Once this is done the bottom will come out fairly easily, but the pedals will be loose and still have wires attached. There are two screws holding the wires in place at the back of the pedal base, remove these and it will free them.
The rest of it is fairly simple. I decided to get rid of the clutch pedal totally, as I don’t ever use it. You need to remove the spade connectors (metal ends on the wires). They just push off with a screwdriver. I taped up the ends of the clutch pedal wires individually and then grouped them. Next I needed to mark up the aluminium for where the pedals will go and also be drilled. There are two holes at the end that I will use to attach them to the base. The holes have a pre-drilled thread, so you will need threaded bolts that fit them.
I set the workbench up, got a straight-edged piece of wood and measured the distance between the wood and the blade. The wood was there as a guide, so I could just press against it and it would follow the line. I clamped both the aluminium and wood to the bench. It’s better to let the jigsaw do the work, don’t push it, just let it cut through, otherwise it overheats the metal and makes it very hard to cut.
Once both edges were cut, I filed them to get them smooth and blunt. Next was to drill the holes for the bolts. I used a HSS drillbit. It’s fairly easy to go through, just take it steady. After this I used a countersink drillbit to finish it off.
After this, all I needed to do was screw the pedals into it. I tested it in game and its working nicely, so no problems! All there is left to do is to add some trunking for the wires – they are unprotected at the moment.
Extremely happy with the result, they feel solid and look extremely cool. Check out the pics!