Custom Jetta Phone Mount

Theory

The 2001 Volkswagen Jetta Wagon that I have is a wonderful car. I have occasional electrical problems, but other than that I get 29MPG on average and she has tons of room for all my stuff.

I also have an AT&T 8525 (aka HTC TyTN) phone from work, running Windows, which lets me do e-mail, internet, and even Google Maps on it anywhere I have cell reception. It's that last piece of software that got me into trouble, as I was constantly fussing with the phone, looking down at it in my lap while I drove Portland's freeways. (Well, maybe not constantly, but enough to inspire me!)

What I decided on was to mount the phone just below my view of the windshield, as close to the steering column as possible, without interfering with my ability to drive in any way, and with the assuredness that I wouldn't have to worry about some suction cup or glue coming loose and it impaling me as a result. That immediately discounted most commercial mounts, as they all rely on suction cups, sticker pads, or vent clips to keep them in place. Places sold metal brackets, but they never made the phone's use ergonomic for driving purposes.

I needed something that would put it exactly where I wanted it. This gave me the inspiration I needed.

Practice

(See my flickr set of this project, here, for photographic details.)

My nearly year-long affair with this project was based on one idea: Find a screw or two around the dash of the car that the Jetta would let me abuse and hitch a ride on with my mount. From there, build a bracket that would fit within the existing trim of the car, which I could attach a pole to on which I could place various accessories.

The Jetta, when you know what you're doing, is an easy enough car to disassemble. You need a Torx T20 bit and driver, and some prying skills. There are two panels surrounding the steering column. Remove the Torx screws (but not the ones surrounding the computer interface towards the left), and remove the left panel first. You'll find more screws hidden under that which you can remove to remove the right panel. That panel will give you access to the screws you'll need to piggyback on.

Unfortunately, the clearance between the panel and the center dash trim is extremely tight, and I ended up having to cut off about 1.5mm of plastic from the panel so that my bracket would fit. Additionally, there's only one screw we're using, and that might not be enough to keep the mount in place if there are significant gravitational forces in play (such as during an accident). Still, though, the dash trim should keep it in there pretty well too, and everything is pretty snug.

Materials

I got (almost) everything for this project from Home Depot. Go somewhere more local. YMMV.

Crown Bolt LLC 40290, 1/2 In. x 36 In., 1/16 In. Thick Square Tube Plain Steel ($5.88)
Strong Tie TP37-R, 7 In. x 3-1/8 In., 20 gauge Tie Plate ($0.66)
Strong Tie TP15-R, 5 In. x 1-13/16 In., 20 gauge Tie Plate ($0.47)
Plasti Dip, Black, Spray Can ($4.92)
Black Spray Paint ($1-2)
1" Screws, nuts
Electrical Tape
2001 Volkswagen Jetta

Tools

Cutting Implement (i.e., Dremel, Band Saw)
Hammer
Pliers
Torx T20 bit (a short one!)
Drill, bits, adapter for the Torx
Razor Blade
Vise (Optional)
Anvil (Optional)
Advil (Optional)

Bracket

The bracket is from Home Depot, and is made with a TP15-R Tie Plate ($0.47), 20 gauge galvanized steel, 5" x 1-13/16", with screwholes, designed to splice wood together. You'll find it next to the indoor lumber section, with a lot of deadly looking steel brackets, as well as the post and other bracket you'll need later.

The basic idea is to bend this bracket at such an angle as to make your post lean backwards against your dash, and attach to the screw behind the dash panel.

After you've determined the angles of your bends and cut off whatever excess you will have, the first thing you'll want to do is to wrap the tie around the post by laying the tie over the post and using a hammer and anvil to bend the tie around it. Use clamps to keep the two pieces stuck together, and wear goggles. This will take a while, but it will be a tighter and straighter fit than bending the steel, which is remarkably harder than it sounds. (But is the process we'll use on the mount.)

You have holes in the bracket already, but you may need to drill new ones that line up with the post.

Holder

The assembly of the holder is similar to, but much easier than the bracket. It consists of another tie plate, a TP37-R Tie Plate from Home Depot ($0.66), 7" x 3-1/8", 20 gauge galvanized steel, again designed to strap wood together.

Print out this pattern: http://www.lingnik.com/projects/car-mount/pattern.pdf

Then use that pattern to draw out the cuts you need to make on the tie plate. Dotted red/black lines are bends, and solid black lines are cuts. There are instructions on the pattern as well. Follow them. Use a rotary cutter, band saw, or whatever you have to cut it out. Teeth are not recommended. Round the corners and bevel all of the edges to make it less stabby, and then sand it down to a nice softness. Sand the rest of the mount as well, since that will help the plasti-dip adhere later.

For the bends themselves, this time you're going to bend them on an edged surface first, and then hammer them to fine tune them. Use a table clamp with a wide straight edge, clamp the bracket down and make very slight bends in the metal to start the bend. From there you can work from the outside bends inward to make them 90 degree angles. You may need to revert to pliers to finish the bends. Once they're roughly where they should be, take a hammer to the thing and fine tune it until it's to your liking. Be noisy and make many small taps. It's fun. Go with it.

Once the bends are in place, take a spare hex nut (you know, those things they use on bolts?) and a tap or other tapered steel implement. Thread the tap through your critical screw holes (i.e., you're choosing ones vertically aligned, about in the center of the mount, so that the weight is properly balanced), and place the nut on the ground, the tap going into it so that the bracket is sandwiched between those. Take a hammer and smack the tap until there is an indentation around the screwhole going towards the back. This will make your screws more flush.

Post

The post is based on a Crown Bolt LLC 1/2" x 36", 1/16" thick plain steel tube, Home Depot part number 40290 ($5.88). It's the shortest tube they had when I was there, but it also gives you ample to play with for other projects.

Using a rotary cutter, cut the post to 10.5", and smoothe the ends. Use isopropyl alcohol to clean the grease on the tube. (It's probably there to protect against rust, and you'll be sanding and painting this later anyways.)

The steel for this post is extremely tough stuff, and I destroyed at least 5 drill bits. In the end, the thing that worked best was to "melt" through the steel with a bit, keeping my drill as fast and straight as possible. Feed the post through the bracket, and drill holes through the sides for bolts. Then figure out where the holder will go, and drill holes for that as well, all the way through from front to back. Take the post out of the bracket, and sand the whole thing down to remove burrs from your drilling.

Painting and Assembly

Place small pieces of electrical tape over the holes of the holder. Take your three pieces and give them each 3-5 coats of Plasti-Dip (allow to dry 30 minutes, ventilated, out of direct sunlight and humidity between coats). You can use less on the post and bracket, since they won't be coming in direct contact with your possessions often. Don't assemble before you paint, or you'll end up with lots of marks you don't want. Let them dry for 4 hours, and don't rush that. While they're drying, tape off the threads of your screws, leaving the heads bare, and spray paint them to match with regular paint. Do the same for your nuts, but thread them through a spare screw first so they don't get paint on their threads.

Now that you're done with that, it's time to assemble. Remove the panels from your car. Remove the screw that will be the host to your bracket. The most frustrating part of this entire project is replacing that screw with the bracket in place, because you have absolutely no room for fingers, pliers, or screwdrivers, and given you're working with a Torx screw, you're going to need to use an individual bit small enough to fit in there. All I can say is to be patient, use pliers to turn the bit, and don't get angry, because this will take at least an hour to replace the one screw. Oh, and you'll want to make sure you put the bracket in the right side up, or all that work you did is going to have to be undone, and you'll likely end up with a bonfire for a car.

You can reassemble the panels now, after you've taken a breather and had a beer. You may need to shave off some of the panel in order to get it back in with your new bracket.

Remove the electrical tape over the holes you put over the holes on the holder by razoring just around them, and peeling away the tape with the plasti-dip, leaving bare steel holes. Screw your holder to the post, and cover the screws with a piece of electrical tape or adhesive-backed cloth.

Lastly, thread the post through the bracket hole, and screw that on there. Run your wires however you like, and you're done!

Finished Product

That's it. Slide your phone's keyboard out, slip it into your new cradle, and pay attention to the road more. Configure your phone to not turn off or dim the backlight when it's plugged into power, and you'll rarely have to fuss with buttons. The latest version of Google Maps for mobile tracks the location of cell towers you are connected to to estimate your location, which is a nice way to see where you are.

Did I miss a step above? Let me know on my contact page, or leave me a comment on Flickr!

http://flickr.com/photos/lingnik/sets/72157604490826840/