Ever since I got my ipod, I have been wanting to find a mounting solution for it. I did not like the kuda mounts.. they are too pronounced and intrusive. I wanted something that looked good, yet was not sticking out like a sore thumb, so I started thinking up a design.

I decided that I wanted something that was kind of like the c5 aftermarket cupholders that go under the side of the center console.

I bought an aluminum ipod case on ebay a while back, and it has a round plug on the back where I can attach a belt clip. I don't care for the belt clip, so I never use it, but I wanted to use that plug for the mount and make a notch to slide that plug into on the mount.

A friend of mine is better at the fabrication side.. he did most of the fabrication, so with the idea fine tuned, we set out to make the mount. We used some thin aluminum so that we could easily cut and bend it to our liking.

The bottom lip of the mount is just to prevent the ipod from swinging around side to side.. it is small enough so that the ipod2car connector still attaches and detaches without interference. We also put some black felt-like material on it mainly for looks but also to help hold it in place a bit as well.

Here is the final product:

This is it mounted... it extends under the console, and I used some industrial strength velcro to hold it in place on the inside.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod006.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod008.jpg

A view of the back of the ipod case so you can see what I was talking about as far as the plug that will slide into the notch on the mount:
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod011.jpg

Here is the ipod mounted:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod013.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod014.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod015.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod016.jpg
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...od/ipod018.jpg

the aluminum case from ebay is actually pretty nice. the only downside to it was that it did not have a glass cover over the screen when it arrived, so if the screen looks a bit scratched up in the pictures, it's because I actually cut up the plastic case that came with it and used that as my "screen cover". I need to get a small piece of glass cut to replace that eventually.

what do you all think?

 

pretty nice job man

 

Pretty ingenious.

Let me make a suggestion (actually you can't stop me, hehe )

Cut the sides back so the mount is narrower. Currently the edges (and most importantly the bottom corners) are exposed and you could get cut on them. Making it narrower should'nt affect the use and would "hide" the edges while in use.

Good job.

 

thanks for the suggestion that's a good idea for a stealthier look. the edges aren't sharp on mine, we buffed them up pretty smooth with the grinder and emory cloth. but yeah, it would do just as well with it a bit narrower. this was the first, so if I make any more, I'll definitely take all these suggestions and thoughts into account.

 

Great idea....shame my head unit doesn't have provisions for an Aux input without the Alpine mobile hub setup.