Cubby Question

ummie4

Could someone who has taken their dash apart answer me this....

can the cubby door be removed from the leather wrapped dash piece? I would like to remove the door but have the dash fully intact. I was hoping someone could save me the time ripping the dash apart only to find out that the door is perminatly install over the cubby.

Thanks

SPOHN

Yes you can remove the door only. You don't have to remove the dash just the center section. Pretty easy. You'll just have the holes you see in the pic below.

I did mine for I just started on a small project that I'm in no rush to complete for I want it to look pretty good. I'm shaping a piece of metal to cover this section. That's why I removed the door to get a decent outline and rough start of all the lines to fit perfect. Wanting to cover it in carbon fiber and install a oil pressure gauge there and maybe other things in the future.

Here's a link to get you where you need to be. Just remove the start button all the way along with the airbag warning light. The airbag light removes the same as the start button. This will help you remove the hole trim piece. After that flip it over and there are two tiny C-clips that are on some small rods that holds the springs in place that are responsable for the door raising when released. Remove these several things and then your done. Be careful of the C-clips. Very easy to shoot off and lose.
DIY: GTR Red Start-Stop Button Swap out

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ummie4

Thank you for your response. I plan on having the cubby area 3D scanned so that I can design a bezel/frame to hold my blackberry tablet. I too would like a perfect fit. There is a slight curve to the cubby which is why I don't trust just measuring it by hand. That and i'm also going to have the bezel cover the arc in the bottom of the cubby. Problem is that I am having trouble finding someone in my area with a portable scanner. Have you consider making an SLA (rapid prototype) of an insert for it to hold whatever you might want it to hold?

SPOHN

My setup isn't going to be a insert per say. More as a flat shape plate that will be massaged to fit the cubby hole. It will be somewhat recessed into the the hole but close to flush. If you study the cubby you will see where the leather folds in and the velvet itself has a squared edge just in the inside. This is where the plate will lie. Plus the the plate will have to be slightly rolled to fit the curvature along with with massaging it to fit over the bottom arc making it one piece. Then I'll probably have four allen head screw to hold in place at each corner.

So basicly it a simple design like you'd see in a race car. Then I'll drill a hole for a gauge. Mostly dead center. Wish I could place two but there's really no other gauge that's worth having. The setup might look simple and plain but it's a worthy cause. Plus it's better than just a plain door that's doesn't serve a purpose for myself.

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ummie4

I see, you sound like you know what you want. I was going to lead into an exchange of services... If anyone else is reading this thread and wants a custom but factory look for a plastic holder of some sort to fit in the cubby post you interests. I am a product designer by profession. I would be willing to work with anyone in designing a custom insert for the their cubby in exchange for a 3D scan of the area shown in SPOHN's pictures above. I would design a "holder" for a gps, monitor, tablet, gauges, etc and provide you with a 3D model which you could take to a rapid prototyping shop and have it 3D printed so to speak out of plastic.

SPOHN

In case you haven't seen this yet here's a link to ATI gauge pod. Might give you some ideas. I like it also but would rather feel the hole cubby hole instead of a insert. Plus I can do mine a lot cheaper with customization of my own likings.



•ATI- 370z Gauge Cluster

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ummie4

Here is a picture of what I want to do.


The PlayBook fits nicely. The door hinges get in the way other wise it would sit flush in it. I will design a plastic holder to fill in the gaps around the playbook and come up with some way to have it snap into place so that I can quickly remove it from the car.

SPOHN

Are you wanting to run power to it also?

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370Z JT

Looks like it has about an inch to clear on top. Cool idea. In for results.

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ummie4

im not concerned with power. This thing has great battery life. My design will allow it to either snap or slide into place so I can easily remove the tablet from the holder. From my research I can not stream bluetooth audio to my car so I will need to hook up the audio out to the aux input of my radio. Hopefully I can splice in behind the scenes so I don't have wires exposed out front. I am really dissapointed that the car cannot stream bluetooth audio

MightyBobo

You must be one of the 4 people that bought a Playbook instead of an Android tablet/iPad :-p

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I don't own a car anymore.

ummie4

Yeah BB has a bad rep. as of late. But this thing is seriously a kick *** tablet. Wowing multiple ipad owners.

MightyBobo

Dont take it personal, but I read the reviews. Not so hot :-/. Its clearly enterprise-focused, so I'll stick with Android.

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I don't own a car anymore.

ummie4

edited as to keep the thread on topic this is a car forum

MightyBobo

Indeed. Looking forward to seeing the results, at least.

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I don't own a car anymore.