Dash Box: Micro update...

Well, THAT was a whole lot easier than I was expecting!

If you've been keeping up, I laid my mitts on some polystyrene sheeting (2mm thick) to replace the loose fascia panels that came with the instrument case that's forming the body of the Dash Box. These are slide-in panels that are nominally held in place by the frame of the box at each end, in grooves moulded into the case for that purpose. Problem is that the panels supplied were slightly shorter (by roughly 1mm in length), and a bit thinner than the (2mm wide) grooves. In use, this would cause all manner of rattling when in the car, and that's unacceptable. So, panels that fit more snugly were required. Since these aren't sold, I had to make them. After getting the polystyrene sheeting from Amazon, I had to cut it to size, something I've not done before with polystyrene.

Turns out it was dead easy.

All I had to do was measure, mark, and scribe the size required onto the replacement sheet (roughly A4 in size), and then cut out (with the aid of a steel rule, a steady hand, and extreme care not to slip up) the required shapes of polystyrene from the sheets to form the replacement panels, using a sharp hobby knife.

Sorted.

Now to mark out the holes to be cut.

Now, cutting those out is gonna be... interesting...

Project Dash Box - Quick update:

Arrived yesterday through Amazon, a 2mm thick plastic (polystyrene) sheet for use as the front (and possibly rear as well) panel of the dash top box, and a tool I should have had when I drilled the Meccano girder, a deburring tool. This WILL come in useful for tidying up the panel cut outs I do this weekend, and will save a mahoosive amount of grief by not having to use the Clarke Rotary tool to do that particular task.

Project Dash Box - another update...!

Dash air vent mounting, Meccano Girder, and alternative phone mounting method...

The Dash Air Vent Mounting bolts...

The ‘L-bolts’ a mate of mine (Thanks Dave!) threw together, using his welder, arrived today. And it was immediately apparent I may have cocked things up a bit. The holes in the vent between the vanes are smaller than the bolt shank, dammit, by about a millimetre and a half or so side-to-side: Yup, the damn vent slots are OBLONG, not bloody SQUARE. D’OH.

There’s little point in remaking the bolts in a smaller size, as the welding (I’m not a welder, but I believe it’s something to do with the flux on the welding rods) just would not hold on such a small thing (M3, maybe M4 or so, I think), so instead, I may well use my Clarke rotary tool (a Dremmel-like hand held power tool), and saw off a vent vane at each end to make room for the bolts to go into place.

This seems to be the best way forward, without entirely disassembling the dash, so it’s the way I’m going to go, unless a better way comes along before I install everything.

The Meccano Girder...

Well, the painting of the girder was almost flawless. Unfortunately, I didn’t check to see if the paint can had a trap attached. Oops. Rolled a Snake eyes. It DID have a trap. A small break-off tab that lands in front of the spray head nozzle.

Plastikote rattle cans are wonderful things, they have a lock/unlock head unit over the spray nozzle that locks the spray head off when not in use: You have to manually rotate the thing through 90 degrees, to unlock it. But before you use it for the first time, make sure you’ve taken off that tab, or you’ll wind up spraying the inside of the locking head, with the overflow dribbling down the side of the can. Glad I was wearing nitrile gloves!

Anyhow, tab removed, lock head and can top cleaned, spraying actually done now, and the girder is now drying in the sunlight of an unusually warm April afternoon. I’ll give it another coat on both sides in a couple of hours. After that, I’ll give it a coat of Plastikote clear matt lacquer (I’ll remove that damned tab before I begin THAT operation!), and that’ll be that, ready for installation.

Alternative phone mounting method...

I’ve also figured a way around the phone mount issue. I’m not going to mount the phone on the girder after all.

Instead, I’ll be installing the dash box so it’s overhanging the centre console, and I’ll then screw the mounting into the underside of the dash box instead. This will result in the box pulling the box directly (near vertically downwards, in fact) onto the girder, and not exerting undue angular rearward and downward tension on the girder, and thus the phone mount will not be imparting the resulting excessive torque on the rivnuts to be used to hold the girder in place.

So, now I have to go back to the CAD package, and work out how I’m going to alter the front panel layout, now that the I have all this extra space I’m not going to use for the radio control head, or the phone :)

Any more physical work on this project will have to wait for another weekend on the work rota.

Still, two steps forward, one back, and all that…!

Project Dashbox update...

OK, I have the Meccano 'girder' prepared for painting. However, I have encountered an unforeseen problem.

Enlargening a pair of holes in the girder (the first one I messed up: I opened out on of the holes nearest the sidewall, but the nut for the mount wouldn't fit there!

So, plan B: Open up another hole, this time in the centre line. Job done on second attempt ;)

However, on testing the fit with my phone fitted into the mount, it was very clear that a LOT of mass was involved, so much so, that I'm concerned that the rivnuts (to be installed) won't be able to handle the weight of the mounting with the phone attached, without bracing from the top - in other words, it'll pull out the rivnuts out of the dash top, unless the box is also mounted on top of the girder, providing reinforcing strength.

Oh, FUDGE, And other words.

So, I'm going to paint the girder (no reason not to), and consider my next move.

Irritating is not the word... :(

Anyhow, the photos. There are three here, showing the girder in detail in two (top and bottom shots), and the tools involved; I utterly shagged two dremmel-style wire brushes, and two sanding bands, in preparing the surface of the girder to be painted (I used my Clarke rotary tool for that).

Ye gods, that Zinc is tough stuff!

The holes in the girder were enlargened with a 6.5mm high speed steel drill bit (using my Bosch PSR-18 cordless drill), and I then de-burred the holes using a couple of grinding stones in my Clarke rotary tool.

In between every part of the job, I had to recharge the Clarke tool; that battery needs replacing, but they don't sell spare ones :( Guess that's another task for me to do... crack open the battery casing, and replace the NiCads in there with new ones... shouldn't bee too hard ;-)

Oh, and note the filter mask. ANY time you're sanding something, be it wood, plastic, or metal, you produce dust. Metallic dust is especially bad news for your lungs. So, if you're sanding - especially using power tools to sand something - wear PPE; in this case, a filter mask and goggles. You don't want that crap down your lungs, or in your eyes. Oh, and wear gloves, too, if you use power tools - even a Dremmel or similar rotary tool.

More tomorrow...

Dash Box project: Musings and developments...

OK, an update on Project Dash Box...

Following a couple of really good suggestions, I’ve laid my grubby mitts on a Rivnut installation tool with assorted metric sized rivnuts. It’s a bit like a pop rivet gun, but for threaded pop rivets style nuts to accept screws and bolts. I’m awaiting delivery of a few metric Cap Head Socket Screws (hex, or Allen key sockets).

From the imagery and measurements I’ve taken of the centre console assembly, it looks as if I should be able to stick an M4, maybe an M5, rivnut in the console flat top, so as to fix the Meccano ‘girder’ in place. I’ve therefore chosen the Cap Head Socket Screws, as I can reach into the screw holes in the top of the girder, to screw the screws down into the rivnuts.

I reckon five of the rivnuts, spaced equally along the dash top plastic surface, should do the trick, with M4x10 or M5x10 screws to anchor the girder in place on the console top with a fair amount of rigidity. The instrument case that forms the dash box will then be mounted on top of the girder, and bolted to it using conventional nuts and bolts through the casing of the box. This will provide resistance to forward and rearward motion of the box at the front.

With the two L-bolts I have on the way from a friend to lock into the air vent I mentioned in a previous posting, and as well as holding down the rear of the box to the dash, the rear of the box will be anchored in place at the rear, and will prevent both lateral and forward/backward motion of the box.

Before I can get moving on this, I have to prepare a few things first.

The Meccano ‘girder’ is covered in a zinc coating, which needs to be roughed up with sandpaper to accept a couple of coats of matt black paint (this to prevent reflections in the cabin of the car).

Once that’s done, the girder will be ready. Then all I have to do is test and install (one trial rivnut smack dab central on the plastic flat top of the dash, to check for practicality), and then it’ll off to the races.

I also have to bend the girder base back slightly - there’s going to be some testing and adjustment to this, as I need the box to rest on top of the thing flat, with no gaps; one ‘leg’ will be at a right angle (and won’t be messed with) - that’ll be the leg to be mated to the dash box. The other will be bent back slightly, so as to provide the correct angle against the plastic dash top, for when the dash box is eventually mounted in place. I’ll have to use a large vice to bend that metal girder ‘leg’, as the girder is remarkably tough for a meccano part!

I also have to enlarge one of the mounting holes on the girder to accept a standard 1/4"-20 pitch thread camera mounting screw. That’s going to be fairly easy (you use an electric drill, and re-drill the hole required).

The initial aim here, is to get the basics done, in preparation for the installation of the box itself, which will be a monumental PITA of a job, but which also lays the groundwork for future upgrades to the wagon.

The box installation will require wiring runs and routing, and may require major parts of the dash to be removed for the purpose. I’m looking at doing that after the first week in June, as the first week, I’m planned to be in France for the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. All of this, by the way, when I’m on leave from work for three weeks from the beginning of June (leave tends to be block allocated by the company).

In the interim between this week and the beginning of June, the girder installation will provide me a reliable mounting point to remount the Yaesu two-way control head, and my (new) mobile phone mounting assembly.

Should be interesting!

Dash Box developments...

Right, interesting developments and a couple of follow-ups. The latter first, I think...

As promised, here are the links to those two items I mentioned yesterday.

The red phone mount from the previous posting:
Ulanzi ST-03 Metal Smart phone Tripod Mount with Cold Shoe Mount for Microp... https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07D4D3XND/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_6.1QCbW99F6GZ

Double ball joint armature from the previous posting:
Zhiyou Mini Magic Arm Friction Articulated Ballhead Arm for Monitors Led Li... https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077HR66X5/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_..1QCbX2EJM66

In conjunction with todays developments, this could get really rather interesting - and handy, to boot.

Today, I was woken, five hours earlier than I wanted to (today's a work day), by the postman. He delivered five Meccano parts from a specialist Meccano parts supplier here in England, imaginatively called "Meccano Spares". These guys are incredible: I ordered on Saturday, expecting maybe to get the bits later this week. They arrived today!

The four yellow plates are p/n 53a "Flat Plate 9x5 UK Yellow Original".

The aluminium doudle edged U bracket is p/n 1019 "Channel Girder 19 hole 1x3x1 Zinc"

The yellow plates are to provide a large surface with which to bolt the underside of the box to the dashboard panelling; the idea is to use these inside the box to spread the load under tension, preventing the box from breaking (it's a plastic case) under the stress of the bolts pulling it against (or certainly towards) the dash top surface. Two of these plates will go in the case. The other two, if needed, will be used underneath the dash, to do the same for the dashboard material (also, to prevent the vents that I'll be threading the bolts through, from being pulled out by mistake!).

Now, the girder came as a tad of a surprise - I thought it would be shorter between the upright 'arms'. In this case, it measures roughly 14mm x 40mm x 240mm. I got my sums wrong, it seems, when I calculated the measurements from the description on the website. Now, it might seem that I'm complaining: Far from it - this size opens out a couple of unexpected options for me.


The idea of the girder was to raise the front of the dash box and get it relatively horizontal, given the dash curves down front to back from the windscreen. I currently have my Amateur Radio control head mounted on the top of the dash console (the only bit of hard surface on the dash, the rest of it being that weird spongy surface that's an utter sod to work on, as can be seen in this photo.

The odd black coloured thing behind the radio head is my temporary phone mount, which slides all over the shop, as it can't get a good grip on the dash (one of the reasons for this project).

I'm now thinking of using the girder not only to fix the front of the Dash Box in place (screwing both edge strips down, one side to the base of the box, the other to the strip of console where the control head currently sits). I'll then, I think, be able to mount both the control head bracket, and the new angle phone bracket (see previous post), to the front of the girder.
This will give me all the space I need on the front panel of the instrument case that will become the Dash Box, for such things as stitches and accessory power sockets (and a car battery voltage monitor), future proofing myself for when I get a front winch and the associated lighting that will be installed at the same time as the winch.

Now, this all hinges on the new height of the front of the dash box (as propped up by the Meccano girder) not obscuring my view to the front of the car. More testing is required, but that won't happen today, as it's a work day.

More to follow, obviously...!

OK, another update on Project Dash Box...

OK, an update on Project Dash Box...

I hit a snag as I was working on the design today. While I no longer need to mount the dash camera to the new box (it's fitted to a bracket mounted on the rear-view mirror now), I still need to find a way to mount the phone to the dash in a way that is a solid mounting, not something that meanders all over the shop every time I go over a pothole. So, mounting it to the top of the dash box seemed to me, to be a good idea.

Uh-uh.

I checked this out today, and the damn thing blocks my view of the road to the nearside (left front), with a good 30 degrees of view completely blocked off, which is obviously unacceptable.

So, mounting the phone on the top of the box is a no-no, then. I can't fix the phone to the window, due to the inexplicable inability of both suction cups and self-adhesive mounting systems to remain attached on the windscreen. Likewise, due to the spongy nature of the dash trim covering, I can't fix either of those types of system to the dash.

So, I'm left with either drilling holes in the dash, or using something to attach the phone mount to the side of the dash box. I *think* I have a solution, and it involves the items in the photo below.

These are camera mounting accessories for tripods and the like; the one on the left is designed to fit larger phones to tripods for photographic or video purposes; the item on the right is a friction dual ball-head articulated armature (hey, don't laugh, this is what the damn thing's called!); both use the de facto standard 1/4"-20 threading standard to camera, tripods and photographic quick release systems.

If I can somehow screw the armature into the side of the dash box, and extend it to the front, the red phone mount will screw into the other ball joint, thus providing a fully articulated mounting for my phone.

That's the plan, anyhow.

I'll look further into this tomorrow, and if it works, I'll add links to these items at that time.

The Dash Box. Oh joy, new problems...

Right, there I was, ready to set-to and sort the box out, and a fresh problem, one I thought I had a fix for, popped up and said "AAAAARGH!"

I have the measurements for the front plate, where I'll be fitting some of the USB power sockets, the switches, and the control head for my Yaesu FT-8900R Amateur Radio transceiver. I thought I had sufficient space to mount my phone atop the box, and still have adequate (room to spare) view to see the bonnet and road to the front left.

No such bloody luck. There's a massive slice of view that's just completely obscured from the drivers seat, and that would be an MoT fail, let alone a common sense safety failure.

So, now I have to figure out where I'm gonna position my phone. Again.

Mutter mutter wibble grumble coffee coffee where's me coffee...!

In less than 24 hours, one of the best social media platforms is being murdered.

I just made what's likely to be my last posting over on Google Plus, which is scheduled to be murdered by Google for the crime of being too civilised.

Too civilised as it was easy to prevent idiots from ruining our corners of the playground (blocking, circles, privacy, they all worked perfectly).

Murdered, because there was no trial conducted, no appealable verdict: Google have acted as Judge and Jury. In around 24 hours or so, give or take local time variations, they'll act as executioners as well, and stick the real-world equivalent of a non-conducting penetrating weapon through the power cables, a knife to the fibre optic data cables, and an industrial magnet to the hard drives.

At that time, one of the most user-friendly, usable, actually friendly, digital societies it has been my pleasure to be a member of, will be no more.

To say that I'm incandescent with fury over this is putting it mildly.

It is grossly unfair to faithful users who would have paid subscription fees to continue to use this platform.

I have my suspicions who was responsible for making the decision, and why it was made, but all I am able to do is curse that cowardly little wimp to the fifteenth level of hell (Dante only wrote about nine levels. There are another six at least, that he never even considered going to or writing about, they are so bloody terrible), and move on to other solutions that are not nearly as good.

I'd say more, but then I'd have to use some really horrid swear words, and I don't want my parting comment to have that content.

To everyone I've met on Google Plus: Thanks for the laughs, the tears, the creativeness, the lessons, and the entertainment.

Don't be strangers: https://wheretofind.me/@rjls

I'm also on Signal, and if you have my phone number, that's how to get me if no other ways are possible. It's on close hold, so family and close friends have it; if you haven't, don't sweat it, I likely don't know you well enough (yet).

https://youtu.be/jwIxL6p6jJ4.