Home made steering wheel- heres how

For about a year now i have been using my home made steering wheel and pedals for gp indycar etc. I have found my wheel/pedal combination very effective and recommend anyone willing to try it do so. Here's what i did: Buy a steering wheel from the s***yard, i managed to get a little mountney steering wheel off a mini. For the pedals i found Ford fiesta accelerator pedals easiest to adapt, so get two of them whilst your there. They have a flat base on the pivot assembly which you can easily mount to a piece of vertical ply board. Next go to your electrical store like Maplin or Tandy and buy 100k rotary pot for the steering wheel assembly and two linear 100k variables for the pedals. Finally you need two microswitches for the gear change. Make sure you buy heavyduty lon leaver switches! I attached the switches to the steering wheel behind the two stems of the wheel with cable ties. Then wire them in as fire button 1 & 2. I used an old joystick cable for the lead as you then know the wiring configuration. I used a lathe to make the steering shaft so if you have access to one great otherwise i suggest you need to use your head on this one. I attached the 110k pot to the end of the steering shaft to take my steering output and wire it to the left right axis. For the pedals i lined up the linear resistors with the arch of the pedal movement so as i depress the pedals the variables move respectively. To get the accelerate brake effect from the pedals i wired the two varibles opposing so as you push the accelerator pedal down the total of the two resistors inceases and the opposite happens with the brake pedal down, yes with both pedals down you get decreased braking. Well thats how i did it if ythis helps anyone or if you need more detailed info email me or reply to this thread. Alan

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>For about a year now i have been using my home made steering wheel and >pedals for gp indycar etc. I have found my wheel/pedal combination >very effective and recommend anyone willing to try it do so. Here's >what i did: > Buy a steering wheel from the s***yard, i managed to get a little >mountney steering wheel off a mini. For the pedals i found Ford fiesta >accelerator pedals easiest to adapt, so get two of them whilst your >there. They have a flat base on the pivot assembly which you can >easily mount to a piece of vertical ply board. >Next go to your electrical store like Maplin or Tandy and buy 100k >rotary pot for the steering wheel assembly and two linear 100k >variables for the pedals. Finally you need two microswitches for the >gear change. Make sure you buy heavyduty lon leaver switches! >I attached the switches to the steering wheel behind the two stems of >the wheel with cable ties. Then wire them in as fire button 1 & 2. I >used an old joystick cable for the lead as you then know the wiring >configuration. I used a lathe to make the steering shaft so if you >have access to one great otherwise i suggest you need to use your head >on this one. I attached the 110k pot to the end of the steering shaft >to take my steering output and wire it to the left right axis. >For the pedals i lined up the linear resistors with the arch of the >pedal movement so as i depress the pedals the variables move >respectively. To get the accelerate brake effect from the pedals i >wired the two varibles opposing so as you push the accelerator pedal >down the total of the two resistors inceases and the opposite happens >with the brake pedal down, yes with both pedals down you get decreased >braking. Well thats how i did it if ythis helps anyone or if you need >more detailed info email me or reply to this thread. >Alan

I've done roughly the same although I have made my own steering wheel using a wire coat hanger shaped into a circle and glued on to a knob attached to the pot. I cannabalised an old joystick for the gear change buttons and the lead. The button I attached to the steering wheel about where your thumbs rest and taped them into position. The whole steering wheel was then padded with foam and secured with insulation tape. I also added a spring, attached to the bottom of the steering and to the steering wheel base, to make the wheel return to the centre and also to give a little feel. The pedals I'm still working on, but they are wired in the same way as Alan's and consisted of hardboard pedals attached to a chipboard base by the use of hinges. I have come across one problem with the steering wheel: the rotary pot wears out very quickly. Mine lasted about 3 races! Have you had the same problem, Alan. If not where did you get your pot from? Mine came from Maplin. I am working on the mark 2 version at the moment that will not use a pot and will not wear out. I'll post up when (if :-) ) I've got it working. That's all for now, Jon.