Scottish Elises

I don't like the suction cup phone/GPS holders on the windscreen. I feel they block your view too much, and in the Elise, if they are in arms reach, they have to be near the side window, and with the roof off, in someone elses reach too.
The solution I had on Elise No.1, was to "fix" a suction cup with a long goose neck under the dash, but due to problems with vibrations, I had to mess around with velcro on the neck part, and stick it to the aluminium "guttering." A workable, but not very neat solution.

Elise No.2 has the extra 2 air vents on the center consol. There is a gap about a fingers width between the center consol and the alacanter top bit (don't you just love tech talk). I thought this would be a good place to mount somekind of phone holder, fixed by 2 self tapping screws up in to the top bit. If removed later on, there would be no visible holes

I found Brodit Pro Clips on the internet, they make holders for phones, gps, mp3 etc, and also mounting plates that clip in to the dash on specific cars (they do one for the S1, but have no intention of making one for the S2 ). I ordered a holder for my model of phone, with the intention of fabricating a mounting plate out of a bit of aluminium sheet, and bending it into shape.

Talking to one of the engineers at work, he suggested the use of "Forces" to keep the phone holder in place. So I cobbled together a shape that could clip in under the dash out of a bit of welding rod. This was then used to take measurements from.

The result is this:-



It clips in under the dash, and between the two air vents



The other pieces were then machined to take the Brodit holder



and fit together like this



The final result



The backplate is a bit chunky for my liking, and could be machined out quite abit more. Given the the machinist name is Chapman, he didn't quite get the concept of "lightness".
As a prototype though I don't think it's that bad, and it's rock solid too.

What do you think? as a concept is it / Any suggestions are most welcome.

Nice work! I have a nice sparkly nearly new MDA just like that if anyone would like one... /plug

Nice do you have any drawings/models ? DXF parasolid etc.

It is a bit chunky but the machining is nice work, you could pair down the thickness a little, maybe reduce the thickness of the plates used, countersink or counterbore the screw holes, stainless screws ? you could also anodise it to match the interior.

That sounds as if i'm picking holes but I'm not, I like it. nice work

No! not picking holes. Just the feedback I'm asking for.

Apart from the clip part, I have had little say in the rest. Like you, I feel the backplate is a bit "industrial" and far to chunky, I managed to pursuade them today to put the cut out in the middle to bring the weight down. I think you could easly take another 50% of what is left away without loosing regidity. That saying, it does fit very well against the dash, and tightens everything up nicely.

The middle spacer part looks a bit of an after thought, an off cut with 2 holes in. They were going to use 2 metal tubes as the spacer, which in my opinion would have been better.

But as a favour between working, I don't thing the machinist did to bad.

We don't do anodising any more, but painting black was mentioned.

Have got Autocad 2005? 3D model, but at work.

Cheers for the feed back

As I said nice bit of work, what is the second flange for ? as I understand the rear flange locates in the dash what about the front flange.

What machine did you use, I'm guessing CNC due to the curve and this is the 21st century

As a subcontracter I can view most formats DWG/DXF, I wouldn't mind a nosey

what industry are you in ?

I hope this post doesn't breach Article 151(c) of the International Sporting Code I can't afford a €100,000,000 fine

Don't understand "Flange" in this context. But the whole thing needs to be in at least 2 pieces, otherwise you either can't get the angle to get the clip in, or would mean the whole thing would stick out by quite a large margin.

I work in IT, but for a company called Starrett. We make Bandsaw, Holesaws, Micrometers, Calibration projectors and other assorted tools. Around 25,000 items in the catalog

Not a problem with you being nosey. PM an email address, and I will get hold of the drawing for you. I know there are a lot of improvements that could be made. But as said it was done as a homer when the CNC (The name Edge comes to mind) wasn't busy.

As for breaching any article. It all depends if you use it gain a competative advantage But half that sum would do.

Power ?

Liking your work

Stuart, I'd be very interested in paying money for something like this! If it could be a bit thinner and in black, I'd definitely take one. I too don't like the suction cup that I've currently got stuck to the window.

My only comment would be on the angle. Does the phone holder bit swivel at all? Could they design the mount so that it is angled slightly towards the driver?

Would there be any problems when you've got the heaters on hot and the air is blowing out towards the phone? Is this likely to heat up the phone and do any damage?

D

Sanjoy, the 12v power out let is just below and inline. With the windscreen mounted ones, you have to run the lead across the dash, and this sometimes gets in the way of driving.

Dezzy, I too would pay money if it were slim and black, but so far it's cost me a case of beer As for swivelling, yes, its built into the Brodit part, it is slightly compromised, but could be fixed with a bit of filling.
I can't see a problem with the heaters, as it doesn't obstruct there angle, and anyway, I think the sun beating on the widscreen would produce far more heat for a suction mounted one than any Lotus heater could

Blaque wrote: I think the sun beating on the widscreen would produce far more heat for a suction mounted one than any Lotus heater could

There's a man with an S2

/roasty-toasty S1 faction

As I am going on Holiday in 1 hour I though I would post up the Mk2 holder that I have been working on with Blaque (even though I have an S1)



The second side has still to be lightened but the locating face has been finished

Hi,

I'm looking for a way to mount a GPS somewhere on my 2004 111S and a bracket like this would be awesome - very secure, simple and discreet. My idea was to mount the GPS quite a bit higher: right out of the way of the vents.

Any plans to make them comercially?
... or failing that, any chance of sending me some drawings? I'm sure a friend with access to a serious workshop could help me out by CNCing something. It would be particularly useful to know the measurements of the bit that slots in-between the heater vents and the top of the dash.

Andy

Get a map, throw it on the pax seat,
take off in the rough direction you need,
follow any interesting roads that are single track and hilly
get hopelessly lost
stop at pub/farm/hovel and take map
ask local to point at map where you are
drive back the way you came
follow sensible directions
arrive.

Jobs a carrot

andyspiers wrote:
Any plans to make them comercially?

Andy

No plans from me comercially I wired mine then, CNC milled it
just for fun
I have an S1


when I get back to work I can knock up a set of drawings if Blaque agree's he owns the copywrite.