Finally got a chair tall enough for me to be able to sit at the workbench, so I got a lot done today, without fucking up my feet
I'm feeling wordy today, so bare with the massive wall of text.
Pics are the end result of today's work. Mid progress pics are annoying, and my fingers were covered in half set epoxy putty for most of the day. anyway I rotated ABXY so the buttons are closer to the normal orientation. This was mainly for ergonomics. The B button was in a rather uncomfortable spot way below the A button, that required me to shift my bigass hands to press it without disjointing my thumb. I also moved the c-stick and dpad up about 6-7mm each, so they're closer to ABXY and the control stick. They were too low for my speakers to fit, and required a significant shift in my grip to get my thumbs down to them. Well worth the time spent.
I used the triggers from a shit 3rd party PS1 controller to replace the rather uncomfortable and ill fitting original GC triggers. They are SO much more comfortable to hold. The buttons don't protrude out nearly as far, so the grip feels more natural. I also sized and spaced it out so my fingers naturally sit right on LR, and Z is close enough that I don't have to adjust my grip at all to press it. I'm considering using the unused L1 button as Start, since it'd save me drilling another hole, but I also kind of want to frankencase in an original GC start button. Will have to deliberate that.
Notice how the seam of the trigger assembly matches the Lynx's. I did this so I could make each half of the case look as much like a single cast piece as possible. The two halves come apart near perfectly, and provide a free built in screw post on both the far left and right of the Lynx underside. Leaving me with 3 screw posts at 3 of the 4 corners of the Lynx, so I just need to do one myself, if at all.
I was careful this time to preserve as much of the Lynx's form factor as I could, I think I did okay. Some sanding and gap filler and it'll look almost OEM. I'm going to leave the bottom of the PS1 triggers protruding like that. Since this Lynx didn't come with the rubber pads, and I can't seem to source any spares, I'm going to use some adhesive rubber and cut and shape it to sit right under that bottom protrusion to prevent scratches/dents. I'm also planning to make a small wire/plastic frame that will click into two small holes in the sides to hold the Lynx up at a good angle for use in Wii mode. That way I can use it on a train or plane table and play near any Wii game that I'd normally be unable to.
The bottom left screw post is the only original one I decided to leave. The others were all in the way, but that one was cool. I'm going to sand off the atari logo and the fine print on the right there. Adhesive rubber will go in the remaining rubber pad trenches, then there will be two slightly more raised rubber pads at the end of the trenches for "stand mode".
And, as promised, it does in fact come apart into two clean bits. It was such a pain to get the positioning just so. Even a slight angle on one side meant it wouldn't separate without some twisty fuckery.
So far my plans for the Liinx are pretty cemented, but if anyone has any cool ideas, now's the time. Once it's painted I'm not changing shit.
