I recently build a custom stick for someone who wanted to use a Happ competition stick. Unfortunately I accidently mixed his specification notes with another customer and ended up building a case too small for a factory Happ stick.
I had no option but to think of a way to make the stick fit as I would have had to start the build all over again.
Anyhow, I will show you what I did in order to mount the Happ Competition stick into a case which is 65mm high (approximately same height as Madcatz TE stick). As you already know the Happ sticks require a case which is a minimum of 3" high.
Lets get started…
This is what the standard stick looks like when complete and assembled and ready to be mounted under a 3/4" board for the correct mounting height.
First step is to make sure you have all of the parts of the complete stick. Disassemble all of the components and layout in front of you, except for the micro switch board.
My idea is to mount the stick from the top which will give you 10-12mm back to play with. If you surface mount, the stick itself will be sitting way too high so first step is to cut the shaft down.
As you can see there are 3 grooves in the shaft. This is for the e-clip to hold the shaft in place. We will using the first (far left) groove only.
The distance between the first and last groove is about 18mm which will bring the height of the stick down if its surface mounted.
I used a bend grinder to cut the shaft down and then again to smooth the end off and give it a bevelled edge so its not sharp.
Next step is to cut the actual plastic shaft down 18mm aswell. I measured with a ruler and applied some masking tape to mark where the plastic sleeve needs to be cut.
There numerous ways to cut this section of plastic shaft. I used a method which may be labels as very dangerous so I won’t disclose it incase some of you end up cutting your fingers off. It basically involved a drill press and a stanley knife… :S
Now the cut sleeve can slide off, it may need heating up abit to help come off or just some force.
After doing this the stick will feel a little stiffer and the throw on the stick itself will be slightly less than a factory happ stick.
So, what I did to bring the stiffness down to the original I removed the spring and grinded them down (1mm at a time) using the side of the bench grinder. It is basically a trial and improvement method until you get the right tension.
After revisiting this mod I have thought of a way to drop the mounting height without cutting the plastic shaft sleeve down and using the middle groove of the shaft to mount the e-clip. In this case you would need to remove the shaft washer/spacer for it to work. Sadly I don’t have another spare happ stick to check this on.
Again, this mod will help to mount the stick in a case which is less than 3" high (if surface mounted) but please remember that the throw distance on the stick is slightly reduced and the stiffness increases unless you reduce the length of the spring.
Really good stuff bro! I ended up doing something similar and can say that not only does it work, it feels awesome
For the shaft I have a slightly less dangerous method (were talkin marginal folks). Basically you measure and tape off your shaft as shown in B15’s method and gently run it around the bandsaw using a cheap throw away blade. Once the cut has been made you may have to wiggle it a bit, but it should come right off. Please remember that the shaft will be red hot coming off the bandsaw so don’t touch the metal!
I’m so glad I found this thread, and more glad that you made this mod and posted it. I’ve been struggling with the PDP MK TE stick (been a pad player) and now I am finally comfortable with it because I cut 0.7cm off of the bat top plastic to drop it down and use the middle groove for the e-clip. The result is that I can now position my hand just like using a Japanese ball top, which makes me faster, more accurate, and less fatigued. I can’t thank you enough.
And for those of you interested in the mod, I suggest the easy and safe way to cut the plastic: a plumbers tube cutter:
