Lude Generation

So I got bored yesterday, having replaced my A/C evaporator and fitting a set of poly engine mounts, and I made a start on something I'd been toying with for a while.

Flappy paddles for changing gear.


I debated fitting them to the steering wheel, or fitting them to the column, and decided that I'd prefer them on the column, where I would always know where they are so I don't accidentally down-shift when I wanted to up-shift (I know the gearbox won't let you shift down) or vice versa (which it could let me do!)


I started by removing the airbag and steering wheel, followed by the column shroud. I decided to use the 4 mounting screws for the clock spring, and base my design around this.

So, I started off the fabrication by making a template for the base plate out of some 3mm thick foamex board (usually used for advertising signs), and then drew a design for the paddles - using the top of the steering wheel shroud as a rough template for the outermost edge, and filling the rest of the shape in by hand. I cut this out of the foamex too, and offered it all up to the car, and placed the wheel back in position to check it out.

I was happy with that, so I moved onto making it out of some 3mm thick aluminium which I had lying around. I chain-drilled the base plate, then filed it smooth, and did the same with the paddles themselves, clamping them together whilst I filed them down smooth so that they were a perfect match.

I added some small hinges, put some bends into the arms of the paddles, and offered it back up to the car:



Happy with this (although the left hand one looks a little low here, but I hadn't properly tightened it all up), I tweaked the little arms coming downwards (well, by tweaked I re-made them) and added a couple of switches, to be activated by these little arms.

I then added the wiring back to the original gear shifter, put the steering wheel shroud back on, and all good:



[youtube]1IPHLXLw-Qc[/youtube]

I'll eventually take the paddles off, give them a proper clean up and a blast with some paint

nice work. just hope you dont slice your fingers off on the thin metal as you turn the wheel fast.

i would love to see this on the go!

option for the 5th gen bummers?

cheers for sharing and i like the thought the went into this

phil

I'll try to get a video at some stage, if I can rig up the phone/camera to point at the wheel

Confused wrote:I'll try to get a video at some stage, if I can rig up the phone/camera to point at the wheel

tape it to your head!

Very cool! I wonder if you could use the paddles out of a C2 to make them look more OEM?

I'm sure there's plenty of cars you could take paddles from and make it look more OEM.

It'll look less out of place once I've covered the shiny aluminium with paint or powder-coat

However - I reckon it'd cost a darn sight more than the £4.27 it cost me for two switches from Maplin and a pair of hinges from Wickes though!

Lol Yeah too right! Awesome job mate

i could get them made out of perspex for about a tenner plus p+p. any colour, also as its unpainted they wont chip. send me a picture using Microsoft paint with a dimension scale, i could even get the + and - cut out of them too. perhaps even the mitsi logo in them too.

something like this... ^^^^^^^^