Cheap Hori levers and ideas of how to improve them to JLF tier

Tech Talk
1

So I was stripping down a V3 tonight for parts towards a mod of my FS N3-SA and thinking about the problems with compact sticks. They’re a pain in the ass to mod and fit JLFs in, and the primary advantage of these sticks would be that you can take them to tourneys or locals and not have to carry around a massive chunk of metal and plastics all day.

The main relevant compact sticks are the Hori Fighting Stick 3/EX2 line (hell mod, but now we’re past the need to repurpose the PCBs a more viable mod if very shallow), the Hori Fighting Stick Mini line (a viable PCB candidate, and if any of you kept the lever assemblies, maybe you can try some of this) and the new, if currently hard to source Fighting Stick 4. The only drop in stick for these assemblies that mounts at the correct height is the LS-33, which is back on the market as the LS-33 Kai, but it would be awesome if we could establish a way to recondition those cheap Hori levers as JLF or Hayabusa like experiences.

Please help me fact check the following - I won’t have time to do the full mod for at least a week.

Parts to keep:

  • Main plastic body and long screws - the easiest way to afix the assembly to the body of the stick. Pivot bowl seems decent enough.

  • Short shaft, so it won’t scrape the bottom of an EX2.

  • Actuator, unless you have the skills to cut down a JLF actuator properly, which I don’t think I do.

Optional keeps:

  • Pivot, spring assembly. I’m fairly sure I can use JLF parts to replace these but I’ll have to test.

Stuff to change out that will make the lever JLF tier:

  • Microswitches - I have a few JLF assemblies and some salvaged Hayabusa switches. I’m going to make one of each.

  • Metal washer - a situational fix. EX2 sticks don’t have these, V3s do, I have no idea about FS minis or the new FS 4s. If your stick is missing a metal washer it will feel worse, so epoxy one in.

  • Gate - the gate on these things feels cheap as shit. Drill out a JLF gate and use the long screws as your mounting solution.

All of this is probably easier than modding a JLF stick. Fighting stick 3s/EXes are cheap as shit on the secondary market now. I’ll be doing this then comparing the results to a JLF in a similar stick.

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