Prototype Cell Phone Holder

Is that a picture of your prototype? Great idea! I would be interested in one once you have a final product.

I sense Ferdinand rolling over

Was the time we didn’t have to have a cell phone stuck to us or within  inches of course here I sit on vacation in the warm Florida sun  on my cell phone lol

I use my GPS all the time. Not because I don't know how to get places but because it shows traffic conditions ahead of me so I know what's coming. Or I'll look for alternate routes if traffic is real bad.

That is a real neat and simple idea too.

Did you road test it on any really bumpy roads to make sure it won't come off while driving? Just looking at the depth of the hook on the windshield rod.

Creative!

I use mine for directions and traffic too. Mostly my wife operates the phone for me.

Even if I know the way to where I am going, I like to see the ETA.

The actual phone holder is swapable. I may or may not use the old porsche logo one, just put it on for testing.
@Robert M I tried a few different rod attachment ideas but in the end the 45 degree angle worked best, the weight and the downward slope of the rod all seems to work to keep it in place. Once I have it in aluminum I'll give it another go on some rough roads to make sure it stays in place, and report back.
I ended up putting a few go fast holes in it to match the holes in the hinges etc.

@Quadmod posted:

The actual phone holder is swapable. I may or may not use the old porsche logo one, just put it on for testing.
@Robert M I tried a few different rod attachment ideas but in the end the 45 degree angle worked best, the weight and the downward slope of the rod all seems to work to keep it in place. Once I have it in aluminum I'll give it another go on some rough roads to make sure it stays in place, and report back.
I ended up putting a few go fast holes in it to match the holes in the hinges etc.

I should have been more specific. I was just referring to the phone mount holder. I think it is a really cool idea. Just want to make sure the rod stays in place in case the ride got rough or spirited. It looks to me like you came up with a very neat solution.

Somebody here is truly inspired.  What a great idea.  I think I'd jump on one if that's where this is headed.

@Robert M posted:

I should have been more specific. I was just referring to the phone mount holder. I think it is a really cool idea. Just want to make sure the rod stays in place in case the ride got rough or spirited. It looks to me like you came up with a very neat solution.

Maybe a small piece of double-sided Gorilla Tape?

@Quadmod

Would it be possible for you to apply dimensions to that drawing?

Also a source for the actual phone holder would be nice, too.

Thanks, and I think it is a very elegant solution.  I think it might also work with some stiff plastic, but the Aluminum would be great.  1/8" thickness or something else?

Gordon

The plastic version might be made with 3D printing.  For different Speedsters, there could be an issue with different knob to rod relationships.

I have the pad at the bottom of the dash cover which probably would hold it out too far to engage the knob unless I put a kink in the bottom.  I like that it can be easily removed.

Ooooh Michael...  If Vince were here he would have a field day with that comment.

FYI, a phone holder out there in the light MAY have an issue with visibility and glare.

It's not a problem with the top up. It's also not a problem if the screen is UNDER the dash.

I have a little experience in this area, probably 20k with a phone mount under the dash.

We do have a standalone GPS that we suction cup to the windshield. This works alright, and can depend on the screen/phone being used.

@DannyP, you are right about visibility with my phone.  I did have an under-dash mount before.  It was attached to the tube under the dash and folded back out of the way when not in use. With the current mount, I wanted to get something more line of sight.

I have an old Pebble smartwatch I paid $18 for. It can be seen in bright sunlight and has an app that links with Google Maps. It vibrates when a turn is coming up and I can glance at my wrist instead of the phone.

Thanks for the comments and likes everyone.
@Gordon Nichols
Yes, I'll share the source file once I have the v1 in my hands and a chance to test it.
@Michael McKelvey
3d printing and/or cut acrylic were options I thought of as well, went with aluminum mostly for aesthetics.

@DannyP and Michael
Glare is definitely an issue, but I wanted to keep it near the line of sight and avoid having to glance down. More of a personal preference.

Well, Speedstah Folks, I tried mocking up a cell phone holder similar to @Quadmod's but for a number of reasons it wouldn't be ideal in my Speedster.

For one, I have a bumper strip running horizontally between the dash pad and the lower, uncovered part.  That bumper is 2-1/2" high and sticks out 3/4" or so and is something I have to get around.  It also makes using the dash switches as a lower anchor point a lot more difficult, so I abandoned that idea entirely.

Second, I chose to use a cell phone mount with a wireless charger in it.  The charger coil sits roughly in the middle of the back side and is right where that pesky bumper is.  That causes the mount to stick out towards the driver a bit more so that has to be considered and it also made it a lot more difficult to attach anything to the windshield strut - however you attached it, the mount could easily sway from side to side as the catch hook rotated around the strut (remember, I can't attach the bottom to the dash switches).  What I needed was a firm upper attach point and either a fixed, lower attach point or no lower attachment and some sort of friction bumper instead, working with a bit of gravity (thank God there is at least one constant here).

After several days of head scratching, Aptryx, the Norse God of unexpected solutions, bopped me on the head and showed me an alternate way of mounting that is simple, elegant, can be removed in less than ten seconds without leaving a trace and looks good when it's in there.  However!  Since this will be part of a CMC which, by definition, is a totally custom car with no two of which built exactly the same, this solution may not work on anyone else's car - We'll see.

I don't have photos yet (maybe tomorrow) but the mount is made and painted and looks good.  It attaches to the two dash snaps that fasten the front of my full tonneau on either side of the windshield strut, comes back over the dash pad and bumper and then it has a 90º downward bend in front of the dash to hold the mount out in front of the dash and bumper as you look at it.  Tomorrow I'll get out there to sculpt a closed cell foam bumper for between the mount and the dash/bumper to hold it in place and it'll be done.  Pictures being worth 1,000 words, I'll leave further details to the upcoming photos and stop typing here.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you came up with!

My first attempt in aluminum didn’t work, the angle was off… can’t have that. Try, try again my second metal prototype should be ready this week. I’ll post an update, photos and specs once it is.

I considered aluminum and plastic but chose steel because it was kicking around, is stiff and cost zero (that was most important).  It's a tad thicker than typical HVAC sheetmetal and looked suspiciously like a piece from a computer cabinet  

OK, so here we are after the first week of really sucky designs.....  

What I wanted was a way to hold my phone when using it with WAZE or Googly Maps for directions.  Any other time I just leave the phone in my pocket and bluetooth to the stereo for tunes (which also controls the phone), so this is just to position it where I can see it and not even for the car phone - All the other person hears with that is wind and exhaust noise and someone in the background yelling, "WHAT?!?!?".

I started with the ROHS 15 W wireless charger (Amazon $26 Bucks) and it's included air vent attachment - Wish that I only HAD some air vents - It would have been done a couple-a weeks ago!   ☹️   So I tried clamping it onto the Windshield strut and it worked!    Sort-of...   But it would slide up and down and around sideways with very little effort so that idea got trashed.  

So then I used the very latest in CAD techniques (Cardboard Aided Design) by making several cardboard templates until I landed mostly on this one:

The smaller hole is for the ball mount for the vent clamp and the larger oblong hole is for the wireless charging coil.  The big bite out of the right end is to clear the windshield strut.  The two small holes at the right end are for snap tops to click onto the tonneau snaps by the strut.  Here it is in metal with the snaps attached and rev 01 foam used as a lockwasher (it didn't make the cut and I used something else).

I bought that paint as the closest color match to my interior I could find and it's kind-of close - Could be a shade darker but good for now.  My interior is less Burgundy and more like dried blood.

Having gotten that far without cutting off a finger or setting the shop or my clothes on fire (although I did manage to embed a powered wire brush filament into my cheek past the face shield), I was visited by my motorcycle-racing neighbor who suggested a whole different approach to the closed-cell foam to act as a support AND not slide around.  Here's rev 03, using a foam block against both the dash, bumper and charger mount for stability, with the rubber mat to keep things from moving around:

Still got a little work to do on the aesthetics, but it really works, it doesn't move around and it puts the phone where I can see it - it doesn't obstruct the view out the windshield or the controls like the wiper and hazard flasher switches but it doesn't angle around like most mounts do.   Fortunately, the car is so small that non-angling isn't a problem for now.

And if you're wondering how I managed to cut a nice curve into that block of closed cell foam, I have a secret tool stashed away in the shop cabinets - A wicked-sharp, electric meat carving knife.  Just fire that puppy up, keep your fingers well outa the way and sculpt to your heart's content.  Straight lines, compound curves all that stuff.  It just takes a little practice and a twist of the wrist.

So that's it.  You, too, can waste several days coming up with a custom phone mount for your car by making it unnecessarily complicated.  Why make something simple when you can really over-engineer it?

Brought to you by "Back Yard Engineering"

I can't see the images.  Is it just me with the problem?

@Michael McKelvey try it now!

I'm seeing the pics, Gordon; don't know about before.

I do love how creative you guys are. This is the mount I bought from Amazon in 2016 for $15. It serves me well and has been in use for just about 8k miles of driving including 2 trips to Carlisle. It suctions to the dash or the windshield and I have zero issues with glare. The benefit is I can just toss it in the side pocket when not in use, easy peasy.

Once this stops sticking I will upgrade to the new model with wireless charging for $30, plus it matches my interior.

I see the images now.  Thanks for fixing them.

Clever solution.

Yup, clever, but not as cute as your little moose!

@Gordon Nichols, I am about to go into the garage to remove the little moose and go back to a fold-away under dash mount.

@Joe Fortino I did the same for my truck. I got a cupholder type on Amazon for 10 or 12 bucks.

I had made an under-dash mount for my Spyder. It clamped to the under-dash frame hoop via a HD muffler clamp. I welded a 1/2" O.D. tube to it and heated it up and bent it into a smooth 90 degree curve. I welded a 1/4-20 nut to the end for a ball mount. I had a Qi charger/clamp on it, and it worked really well.

Now I just plug my phone into the hidden cord that is permanently in front of the seat. If I do turn-by-turn from the phone it goes through my bluetooth amp/speaker setup.

Or we stick the Tom-Tom on the windshield.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

Yup, clever, but not as cute as your little moose!

Gordon, you need to work on your pick-up lines

@Michael Pickett

I think this project is finally ready after a few modification to the original design. I still need to spend a little more time polishing the aluminum, but it's functionally all there.

Sticking with the gravity theme I ended up using a small gravity phone mount. I carefully removed the air vent mount and shaved the plastic back to a flat surface.
Then drill two small holes in the back of the plastic phone holder and used self tapping screws to attach.

The hole at the top of the aluminum bracket that the rear mirror bar threads on to needs to be carefully tapered with a small round file to allow the bracket to lay flat against the dash. I also tapped the two small screw mount holes to recess the screw heads.

The go fast holes match the style of the car and it's about as clean/minimal as a phone holder can be. The best part is it's a 5 second job to add or remove it.

Purely for aesthetics I'll polish the aluminum to a mirror shine, but it's fully functional as is.  I've also attached the source file in vector EPS format if others would like to use this as a starting point. As mentioned earlier in this thread the placement of the wiper knob might be slightly different between builds so you may have to adjust the "n" at the bottom to match your needs. I'd suggest printing out the original (on card stock or glue it to cardboard) and test fit. Check that the mount is vertical, if it's angled adjust the "n" as needed. Any laser cutting firm can cut this out for you with the material of your choice.

If you do use it as a starting point, please post photos I'd love to see what you did with it.

Forgot to add the link to the phone mount, it can be found here (March 2022) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089LDX88M

@Quadmod posted:

I think this project is finally ready after a few modification to the original design. I still need to spend a little more time polishing the aluminum, but it's functionally all there.

Sticking with the gravity theme I ended up using a small gravity phone mount. I carefully removed the air vent mount and shaved the plastic back to a flat surface.
Then drill two small holes in the back of the plastic phone holder and used self tapping screws to attach.

The hole at the top of the aluminum bracket that the rear mirror bar threads on to needs to be carefully tapered with a small round file to allow the bracket to lay flat against the dash. I also tapped the two small screw mount holes to recess the screw heads.

The go fast holes match the style of the car and it's about as clean/minimal as a phone holder can be. The best part is it's a 5 second job to add or remove it.

Purely for aesthetics I'll polish the aluminum to a mirror shine, but it's fully functional as is.  I've also attached the source file in vector EPS format if others would like to use this as a starting point. As mentioned earlier in this thread the placement of the wiper knob might be slightly different between builds so you may have to adjust the "n" at the bottom to match your needs. I'd suggest printing out the original (on card stock or glue it to cardboard) and test fit. Check that the mount is vertical, if it's angled adjust the "n" as needed. Any laser cutting firm can cut this out for you with the material of your choice.

If you do use it as a starting point, please post photos I'd love to see what you did with it.

Very nice, simple solution that fits your needs. Clever job and well done.

Nice, and I love that it complies with the KISS principle.