Extended flappybuttons for the DFGT - a DIY idea

Ever since I got my DFGT, besides the weak pedals, I've had a major disappointment with the design: the flappy shifter buttons on the wheel.While at first I thought they'd do the job, I often found myself double and miss-shifting and switched to the sequential shifter, for Race07. With F1 2011 in sight, I had to find a solution for the problem.

As the Grandturgismo paddle mod is over-budget for me, I had to resort to DIY. I found a solution that requires no special tools or skills, takes about 30 min. and with a total cost of around 5 USD, and thought it might be useful for some.

Needed hardware:
- a woodden, plastic or metal surface for the paddle. I used the plastic sides of a dead Pleomax notebook mouse, which I took apart and cut to size. The shape really fit, and it has a rubbery surface;

- an "L" shaped sheet of metal. I used the removable things from a computer case (the ones you take out from the back to fit the video card). It's made of soft metal and thus it can be easily cut to size;

-double-sided tape (~1,5 mm thick). I bought some from an autoshop for around 3 USD. It doesn't have to be really strong, as it is mostly for surface protection and positioning purposes.

- one long (30 cm maybe?), black plastic cable tie;



- 2x3 mm screws and nuts;

- one 3 mm drill (I did the holes with no drilling machine) and a pair of pliers (to cut the metal sheet to size).

The process:

1. Search around the house or make out of wood or plastic a surface for the paddle (check the images for my choice);
2. cut (and bend if necessary) the metal thing to fit your needs.
3. drill a hole through the "paddle" and metal support, and fit them with the screws. I also used the double-sided tape for a better attachment.



4. use some of the tape for the short side of the "L"; I also used it on the long side;



5. fit the paddles as you see in the pictures. Check the position and see it clicks OK. It shouldn't come apart, since the force is applied along the tape surface;
6. When you get it right, secure the 2 paddles with the cable tie. There is enough room for it.

You will better figure this out from the pictures (sorry for the quality, only my phone was around).







With this setup there is virtually no difference when pressing the buttons, only this way you get a better grip. The way I sized things, you can grab the wheel as usual, only you have the buttons at the fingertips. I see this also working with a bigger type of paddles, use your imagination.

Hope this helps.
 
Small update..

1. I removed the screws and attached the 2 pieces only with the tape, because the end of the screws was pressing the button in the middle;

2. I attached 2 circular rubber pads (the resting pads from a broken DVD-palyer - man I gotta get rid of some of the junk
wink.gif
) - now it emulates perfectly a finger press in the "sweet spot" of the button;

3. I also used some of the tape underneath the cable tie to avoid it from sliding in time.

Then I did some runs on Chayka with the M3 GT2 and man that was sweet. For the first time I was able to focus on the driving itself and not worry about mis-shifting. I was junk anyways, but it felt really great
veryhappy.gif
.

Final version images below:



 
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