BORING BACKSTORY
I got wood. No, really. I have always loved the HistorX and Bathrust legends era of racing and although leather wrapped was on most race cars of the day. A nice wood wheel sticks out in my mind as classic muscle. I have been searching the ebay's for a year now waiting for a deal. Most original wheels from Mustangs, Corvette's, Barracuda's, old Alfa's and other classic Italian cars are a bit... Expensive and most of them 15-16"+!! That is way too big for most desks and you would need a super sized race rig and a 4hp motor to fight you with that kind of leverage.
So it was going to have to be after market and apparently used. As the aftermarket wooden wheels currently on sale are either ugly or again too expensive ($200-300 range).
So I bid and lost on a few corvette replacement wheels as they really weren't pretty enough to earn a high bid. Just too plain and the wood looked like it was just made of plastic. Link here
But in another random searching I found a discontinued Grant 3 spoke wooden wheel in Kentucky. I bid and won with $91.13 + shipping. Now I don't spend alot of money on sim racing apparel and only paid about 150 for my G27 after stalking that on ebay for 3 months. So if I spend that much money on something it is due to love at first sight.
And let me tell you. I love this wheel. I guarantee my lap times will go up in fast mods and it may make me a more hazardous driver come a tight groupings (due to slower response times). But you know what? I don't care. I can't wait to mount this thing up and drive some 70's vette's and the Bathurst legends round the Nordschleife.
THE BUILD
Pretty simple stuff. I didn't need to use chillicoke's adapter (http://chilicoke.com/logitechwheel.htm) for four reasons. 1, I am a pretty capable guy when it comes to these things. 2, the wheel only had a 3 hole mount (fail wheel mount system is fail) 3, the backer plate the wheel came with would be easy enough to drill and mount. 4, $40 saved makes me feel like I got a better deal on the wheel itself.
If you are uncomfortable with the thought of a DRILL PRESS or DREMEL CUT_OFF WHEEL!! then I suggest just buying the adapter from the coke.
The cutoff wheel bit probably won't affect most of you as this wheel is pretty unique and when I decided to remove the 5/8" step out it caused the issue.
OK. Moving on.
Removing the G27 stock wheel is a piece of cake. Just follow Chilli-coke's tutorial for specific tool sizes and procedure.
Now once removed I could finally do a real size comparison.
11->13.5 inches sure seems like alot now.
So I proceeded to work out how to modify the back plate using the original Logitech centercap as a template. Finding dead center by playing a little connect the dots across the 8 bolt pattern the new wheel uses. To mark the 6 hole points I used a method (wish I had a video to explain it) where you take a piece of paper. Roll the circular item across (usually until one rotation is achieved) and mark the length (Yes you can use math instead) Now divide that length by the number of holes so for me 6. Then mark on the paper the increment, carefully roll the circle back across the paper marking it whenever it crosses an increment. When you are finished the marks should line up perfectly.
I used a compass to draw the circle. I set the compass on the underside of the Logitech centercap. Where the circle and blue lines met was where I was to drill the 3/16 th holes.
As you can see it mounted up just fine.
Now here is the issue. I opted not to use the black step-out ring the wheel came with (Didn't want to add any extra leverage to the G27's steering column by bringing the wheel forward. Which caused this...
6 of the 8 bolts were fine but 2 of them (far left-right) would collide with the plastic housing that holds the paddle shifts. So I either leave those 2 bolt out completely OR cut those 2 bolts down OR cut up my precious G27.
Well..
Now I plan on somehow remounting the G27's buttons somewhere on this new wheel but I refuse to do so in a manner that would damage the wheel or look stupid. So I will get back to you with that info later. (btw, the screws holding the buttons on were so small.. so small[black dots next to the m&m])
So with everything cut and fitting I mounted the wheel up and had the awesome chance to reuse the Logitech centercap instead of the metal GrantGT horn unit. I did this for awesome and because the Grant center cap didn't have the appropriate mounting clips.
The paddle shifts are still accessible just a bit of a stretch. I may buy the extended ones from chillicoke.
I'd recommend everyone take the chance to personalize their wheel. Their are plenty of people willing to help and plenty of products to help smooth the transition. All you need to do is find a bigger desk and the perfect wheel.
I got wood. No, really. I have always loved the HistorX and Bathrust legends era of racing and although leather wrapped was on most race cars of the day. A nice wood wheel sticks out in my mind as classic muscle. I have been searching the ebay's for a year now waiting for a deal. Most original wheels from Mustangs, Corvette's, Barracuda's, old Alfa's and other classic Italian cars are a bit... Expensive and most of them 15-16"+!! That is way too big for most desks and you would need a super sized race rig and a 4hp motor to fight you with that kind of leverage.
So it was going to have to be after market and apparently used. As the aftermarket wooden wheels currently on sale are either ugly or again too expensive ($200-300 range).
So I bid and lost on a few corvette replacement wheels as they really weren't pretty enough to earn a high bid. Just too plain and the wood looked like it was just made of plastic. Link here
But in another random searching I found a discontinued Grant 3 spoke wooden wheel in Kentucky. I bid and won with $91.13 + shipping. Now I don't spend alot of money on sim racing apparel and only paid about 150 for my G27 after stalking that on ebay for 3 months. So if I spend that much money on something it is due to love at first sight.
And let me tell you. I love this wheel. I guarantee my lap times will go up in fast mods and it may make me a more hazardous driver come a tight groupings (due to slower response times). But you know what? I don't care. I can't wait to mount this thing up and drive some 70's vette's and the Bathurst legends round the Nordschleife.
THE BUILD
Pretty simple stuff. I didn't need to use chillicoke's adapter (http://chilicoke.com/logitechwheel.htm) for four reasons. 1, I am a pretty capable guy when it comes to these things. 2, the wheel only had a 3 hole mount (fail wheel mount system is fail) 3, the backer plate the wheel came with would be easy enough to drill and mount. 4, $40 saved makes me feel like I got a better deal on the wheel itself.
If you are uncomfortable with the thought of a DRILL PRESS or DREMEL CUT_OFF WHEEL!! then I suggest just buying the adapter from the coke.
The cutoff wheel bit probably won't affect most of you as this wheel is pretty unique and when I decided to remove the 5/8" step out it caused the issue.
OK. Moving on.
Removing the G27 stock wheel is a piece of cake. Just follow Chilli-coke's tutorial for specific tool sizes and procedure.
Now once removed I could finally do a real size comparison.
11->13.5 inches sure seems like alot now.
So I proceeded to work out how to modify the back plate using the original Logitech centercap as a template. Finding dead center by playing a little connect the dots across the 8 bolt pattern the new wheel uses. To mark the 6 hole points I used a method (wish I had a video to explain it) where you take a piece of paper. Roll the circular item across (usually until one rotation is achieved) and mark the length (Yes you can use math instead) Now divide that length by the number of holes so for me 6. Then mark on the paper the increment, carefully roll the circle back across the paper marking it whenever it crosses an increment. When you are finished the marks should line up perfectly.
I used a compass to draw the circle. I set the compass on the underside of the Logitech centercap. Where the circle and blue lines met was where I was to drill the 3/16 th holes.
As you can see it mounted up just fine.
Now here is the issue. I opted not to use the black step-out ring the wheel came with (Didn't want to add any extra leverage to the G27's steering column by bringing the wheel forward. Which caused this...
6 of the 8 bolts were fine but 2 of them (far left-right) would collide with the plastic housing that holds the paddle shifts. So I either leave those 2 bolt out completely OR cut those 2 bolts down OR cut up my precious G27.
Well..
Now I plan on somehow remounting the G27's buttons somewhere on this new wheel but I refuse to do so in a manner that would damage the wheel or look stupid. So I will get back to you with that info later. (btw, the screws holding the buttons on were so small.. so small[black dots next to the m&m])
So with everything cut and fitting I mounted the wheel up and had the awesome chance to reuse the Logitech centercap instead of the metal GrantGT horn unit. I did this for awesome and because the Grant center cap didn't have the appropriate mounting clips.
The paddle shifts are still accessible just a bit of a stretch. I may buy the extended ones from chillicoke.
I'd recommend everyone take the chance to personalize their wheel. Their are plenty of people willing to help and plenty of products to help smooth the transition. All you need to do is find a bigger desk and the perfect wheel.
