Thread: Modding the Hori Fighting Stick 3

I've looked everywhere with no luck. I was hoping someone would direct me to a tutorial or help me with modding the Hori Fighting Stick 3 with sanwa or happ parts. Is this a difficult task?

Any help will be appreciated.

I just modified my Hori Fighting Stick 3 and apparently it has become a favorite of mine while others despise their stock ones haha. Unfortunately, I did not document my progress when I modded it but I will mod another one soon and I'll make a detailed tutorial with pictures.

When modding my FS3 I used the Following tools:
- Soldering iron
- Solder
- Desoldering bulb (sucker. looks like a douche hahahaha)
- Quick disconnects
- Dremel tool (Cut-off and Sanding attachment)

First off you have to open the bottom you'll see the buttons soldered to the PCB. Heat the solder of the buttons till its molten and then use the desoldering bulb to suck out the solder. repeat until all buttons are desoldered well. if you dont get all the solder off, there shouldnt be too much and the solder is brittle when thin so you can break it off easily.

Remove the sticker on top to expose the hidden bolts for the top plate then unscrew it. Remove buttons from the pcb while removing the top plate.

When you remove the buttons from the plate, youll notice that theres little tabs on the plate that stick inward towards the hole. Dremel that crap off, you wont need them. Note: When fitting your sanwa snap-in's theres little grooves on the sides of the button, carefully dremel those off with the sanding tool. After that, bend the button contacts outward cause you need the room.

Now the fun begins. Take note on where the contacts are on the old stick and remove it. KEEP THE LONG BOLTS. once removed, If you are using a Sanwa JLF, remove the metal mounting plate. dremel off those protruding bolt tabs from the sides so you have a perfectly square plastic mount. Remove the restrictor plate and dremel/sand the proruding tabs that rotate the restrictor from 4 way to 8 way. Put that to the side.

On the case, theres screw holes where the stick used to sit. You need to use a cut off tool to cut them completely off. Sand off the excess. Mount the stick in place and youll notice that the holes perfectly align in there, now use the long bolts you have to mount the stick. After that solder the wires accordingly.

Now, on the bottom metal plate of the stick, you have to mark where the stick sits cause IT WILL SCRAPE THE BOTTOM without the proper modifications. Use your Dremel sanding tool and keep eating away at the metal until it barely touches when you put it together. It also helps to eat away at the bottom part of the stick as well but NOT TOO MUCH to the point where you cant put in a screwdriver and tighten the ball top.

After that, wire the buttons the way you like it using QD's. and put on the restrictor plate. It wont go in all the way but once you put together the stick, it'll stay there and still serve its purpose. At least thats how I did it.

I used the HRAP 3 layout when wiring mine. Also All grounds are common so you can save yourself some time and money by daisy chaining.

Enjoy.

Originally Posted by Kamirasenken

Picture

Very Cool man!

+Props!

Thank you very much, i have 2 coming to me this weekend & i wanted to mod them. What parts do you recomend? which did you use? Please be specific even if you have to give me the site & part numbers because i'm new to this stuff. I want to mod both of mine with really good parts so i can play SSF2T and also my mame machine with UMK3 and other fighting games.

The parts I used for the mod are all genuine Sanwa parts.

1x Sanwa JLF TP-8Y-T w/ wire harness that comes with it.

6x Sanwa OBSF snap ins.

I'd also use if I had the time to... Seimitsus.

Seimitsu LS32 and PS 14 G buttons.

If you want Sanwa parts and fast, go to
www.lizardlickamusements.com

If you dont mind waiting, and want some seimitsus, go place an order with Per in Akihabara shop located in the forums.
www.akihabarashop.com

Are they OBSF-30 or OBSF-24? Are Seimitsu parts worth the wait or is Sanwa just as good?

Originally Posted by Newwaverap

Are they OBSF-30 or OBSF-24? Are Seimitsu parts worth the wait or is Sanwa just as good?

Seimitsu parts have a different feel, but yes, they are just as good in terms of quality. I suggest looking for the Sanwa and Seimitsu thread made by Paik for more info on the differences between the two companies. It should be in the essential thread.

OBSF 30s are the size youre looking for.

30 millimeters are standard for japanese push buttons.

Mines is a work in progress...

Never even used before the modding began


In this pic, you can see the screws securing the Sanwa to the case. The only mod so far is shaving the bit of plastic in which you screw the 2 together...


Patch made from a cookie tin and a heaving helping of JB Weld

Always thoroughly scuff and clean the metal surfaces to be JB Welded together

Need to buy more sand paper before I continue this build...

Very nice, do you have to rip the top sticker thing off? or is that something that can be salvaged? Also on the second pic, i'm not sure i understand what i should be seeing, is that the new sanwa stick you've just put in or is that the stock stick that you're taking off? where exactly did you shave plastic from? This is a very good tutorial by the way, very good start, at this rate i'll be modding my hfs3s in no time.

Thank You
Looking forward to the rest of the turorial.

There's no way the paper (at least mine) can be salvaged so I tossed it.

The 2nd pic is the underside of the control panel where I closed the last two buttons holes (I primered over them so it's hard to see in the pic.

Here's what you gotta shave...

http://arcadestickmonk.com/asm-namco-sanwa-mod.html

Although the attached link is for a Hori Namco stick, some of it applies.

Wow, this is all very helpful. How many sticks have you modded? form the looks you've done alot. I can get materials pretty cheap and also i have access to lots of industrial tools, i will design some templates & see if i can produce a couple of sticks, you think people would buy them if it was fairly easy to manufacture custom sticks?

I can't wait for the next part of this tutorial by the way, great stuff, Thanks Alot

I'm curious as to if I could use a Sanwa JLF-TP-8T as opposed to the JLF-TP-8YT that Kamirasenken used. Is there any major differences aside from the 5-pin header being pre-installed on the PCB? I can't imagine they'd give a new model number for something as simple as slipping a header onto some pins...

I've only had experience with Happs parts so this is pretty much new territory to me. I apologize if I'm not making much sense.

ok im a noob to the entire moding sticks and everything but


is there any possible way to convert the stick to ps2? such as changing the wires or anything? (if thats what you call it? heh...)

Originally Posted by Newwaverap

Wow, this is all very helpful. How many sticks have you modded? form the looks you've done alot. I can get materials pretty cheap and also i have access to lots of industrial tools, i will design some templates & see if i can produce a couple of sticks, you think people would buy them if it was fairly easy to manufacture custom sticks?

I can't wait for the next part of this tutorial by the way, great stuff, Thanks Alot

I've modded my share (maybe 10)
Keep in mind that quality, design and durability are of the utmost importance when you decide to make a stick and there's plenty of room for new builders because, the majority of the forum stick builders have left plenty of room for improvement (even Byrdo has left room for improvement on his museum pieces).

Also, I never intended for my FS3 to be a real tutorial piece but, now I'm motivated to take better notes and pics of it's progression

Also, what kind of industrial gear do you have access to?

Originally Posted by AuraWind

I'm curious as to if I could use a Sanwa JLF-TP-8T as opposed to the JLF-TP-8YT that Kamirasenken used. Is there any major differences aside from the 5-pin header being pre-installed on the PCB? I can't imagine they'd give a new model number for something as simple as slipping a header onto some pins...

I've only had experience with Happs parts so this is pretty much new territory to me. I apologize if I'm not making much sense.

Both have 5-pin headers. The 8YT has an additional metal mounting plate.

Originally Posted by squirtle.squad

ok im a noob to the entire moding sticks and everything but


is there any possible way to convert the stick to ps2? such as changing the wires or anything? (if thats what you call it? heh...)

It's EaSy-PeaSy

Since PS3 and PS2 have the same button layouts and share similar construction on many their sticks and controllers, re-wiring them is as easy as connecting the dots (or atleast desoldering and re-solderng the circuit boards and wiring the corresponding buttons between the two).

Originally Posted by squirtle.squad

ok im a noob to the entire moding sticks and everything but


is there any possible way to convert the stick to ps2? such as changing the wires or anything? (if thats what you call it? heh...)

its pretty straight forward just like what NotANoob81 said. here is a pic of a doa4 stick which is similar to the hfs3, converted to ps dualshock one guts i just finished.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...1/PICT0325.jpg
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...1/PICT0327.jpg

the top 5 buttons are

L1, L2, analog, select, start

play buttons are

square, triangle, R1
x, circle, R2

Very clean, Akuma. EVERYTHING.

Is that the original Sanwa shaft? If so, does the bottom lid close properly? Or maybe you flush mounted the stick to the metal panel yielding a slightly longer than normal shaft?

Originally Posted by NotANoob81

Very clean, Akuma. EVERYTHING.

Is that the original Sanwa shaft? If so, does the bottom lid close properly? Or maybe you flush mounted the stick to the metal panel yielding a slightly longer than normal shaft?

i use the hori shaft so that i can get the correct shaft height. i just sand down the black plastic thing that hits the restrictor from the sanwa so it fits right. it feels just as solid. i don't like the feel of a too tall shaft because to me it feels like the throw is bigger.

i didn't flush mount it to the metal but i think those that have are able to get enough clearance so the bottom of the shaft and doesn't scrape the bottom metal plate. but doing that just gives you a mm or 2 of longer shaft of top.

if you flush mount a seimitsu ls32 to the metal, i think it would be perfect since the shafts for those are shorter on the top.

This is a modded DOA stick. Here's what I did:

- Painted case
- R1 & R2 buttons on the left and right sides
- Start & Select in the front
- Took off the DOA Metal panel and put plexi w/ art
- Put all sanwa buttons
- I know people say they just use the Hori stick with a Sanwa gate but I swapped in a whole sanwa because I want it to be the real deal.
- Also, since it is a Sanwa stick, it sticks out farther than the bottom of the box so I had to extend the casing which I did with liquid plastic.
- Wired for DC, PS2, and Supergun

I also posted this a couple months ago in the Custom stick thread. This was the second MODDED stick I have done. I usually just build them otherwise.

-Tha Hindu

NotANoob81, Youre saving me alot of work hahaha. Now I dont gotta wait for my friends FS3 to take pics. Yeehaw. Also, I like your stick mounting solution.

I never thought of retrofitting a Hori shaft to a Sanwa... hmmmm. I straight up ate away at the metal and bottom of the shaft with a dremel sander. Works great, no scraping.

Newwaverap, unless you REALLY want the sticker to still be there, take note of the pictures, and try cutting holes out with an exacto knife or something. That'll save your plate cause over time, the plate will oxidize. I know that from my hella old T5 anniversary stick.

Also, NotaNoob81 I saw what you posted on the ILMCS Gallery... Makes me sad that you thought I was dishonest ... JUST KIDDING. My friends thought I was bullshitting when I told them about my full sanwa mod dream came true. They laughed. then post success, It put their clunky ass HRAP 3's to shame.

Modded FS3's > HRAP3 even when its modded.

....this threads getting more and more popular.

[QUOTE=Newwaverap;4182590]

Originally Posted by NotANoob81

I've modded my share (maybe 10)
Keep in mind that quality, design and durability are of the utmost importance when you decide to make a stick and there's plenty of room for new builders because, the majority of the forum stick builders have left plenty of room for improvement (even Byrdo has left room for improvement on his museum pieces).

Also, I never intended for my FS3 to be a real tutorial piece but, now I'm motivated to take better notes and pics of it's progression

Also, what kind of industrial gear do you have access to?

Well i where i work i have acces to a 10ft Table Router which can cut aluminum, plexi, wood and all sorts of materials. I wanted to build a template & just put it through the router to make the parts for the sticks, put them together & just fit them with sanwa parts wired to either dreamcast, psx, ps2, ps3, usb, xbox or any other type of controller. Since i'm a graphic designer i have access to a flat bed large format printer & very good quality printable material i can also do the artwork for the sticks. Basically i can build a very good quality stick if i can learn the wiring part of it. This is why i'm trying to mod my stick so i can get my feet wet with wirind and stuff like that. I will be looking for tutorials on wiring ps2, Gamecube & Usb controllers from start to finish so i can get the hang of things.

GEEZ! I am a stick builder myself, and even I dont have those kinda of resources. You can pretty much pull quality material out of your ass in way less time than it takes for me to make one decent but rushed stick. Man... thats awesome.

Anyway, on topic. Has anyone else finished their mods? Cause Im about to fix my friends FS3 and take pictures plus write a full tutorial if someone doesnt beat me to it. Ya Digg? haha. STILL diggin the way it feels.

Modded FS3 > Modded HRAP 3. Period.