Don't you love that little lid over the ash tray? In my 89 RS camaro, it just rolles back and down. I think its the excellent place to stick any toggle switches and what not for things like under neon lights, Nitrus, speedlimiter on/off, etc.

I'm wondering if anyone has ever done this, or considered it. I'm gonna do a full tech article on it when I'm finished. But just curious as to anyone elses experinices. Where do most of you stick your switchs??

 

Actually I have been trying to figure out a way to get switches/indicator LED's down under the ashtry cover, but I haven't come up with any way to do it aesthetically. I wouldn't want to just put them in the bottom of the removable ash-tray thing, because it's two deep-narrow in my opinion to have switches. How were you planing to put them down in there? A tech-artical would be awesome.

- Mike

 

I'm looking into it, gonna take some measurements tomorrow, but the ashtray part itself is out. just gonna keep the lid cover, I'll have a tech drawing up soon to give ya an idea of what I'm talking about.

 

Yeah, I've thought of that, just never have the time to fab something up. I was thinking of ditching the metal cup altogether, and fabbing either a new lid or connecting something to the old one. It would be triangular in shape, peak at the top of the lid, wider at the bottom(lid open) That way it could still open and close without clearance problems, and the switches would be facing upwards when the lid was open. Wires of course would run under the console, probably under the radio and dash. Easy to do, just no time on this end.

 

actually it makes for a good route gps wiring if your using the remote mount stand,you just go to your local car stereo joint and have them fabricate a lid to replace the old flip lid make the hole for your wiring,decorative wire loom,rubber insert for hole,walla! you are a navigating.....

 

I cut out the ash tray & installed a piece of textured ABS from a plastics shop - the same stuff that the console cover is made of - in the hole where the ash tray used to be & installed a bunch of stuff on it.

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Tim

1992 Z28, 305 TPI 5 speed, 12.1 sec @ 114.7 mph

1984 Berlinetta 305 TPI Auto, 13.8 sec @ 99.7 mph

[This message has been edited by Tim Burgess (edited July 11, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Tim Burgess (edited July 11, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Tim Burgess (edited July 11, 2001).]

 

Goodness, I did this years ago on my 1991 Camaro. It looks professional (if I do say so myself).

I used a piece of 1/8" aluminum plate and cut it to fit underneath, by about 0.5". the plate is ~0.5" below the surface of the top of the console. Of course I removed the lid (no need - see below) and unscrewed (if memory serves) the plastic piece that held the ash tray "cup". leaving a nice large slightly recessed hole. If you wanted to keep the lid, I would think it'd be easy to do, but you'd have to recess the plate to allow for a little more room to clear the toggle switches (or use special minature toggle switches with very short toggles - I think www.digikey.com has them. Their printed catalog is a lot easier (clearer) to uses - it includes dimensions clearly identifying the toggle lengths.

I secured it with two stainless steel #6 pan head screws that hold it up against these side "walls" with a piece of aluminum.

There is a gap about the same distance (0.5") in the front of this hole because there is no lip. This is where the door originally was. Since I removed the door (lid), I used a piece of 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/16" aluminum and cut it to fill this slot. Now, this aluminum panel is recessed (by ~0.5") in this shallow hole with all four sides filled.

I used minature toggle switches in this area to control stereo functions such as:

1. Audio amplifiers on/off
2. Head unit "on" by the battery (continuous +12) or ignition
3. Audio amplifier fans "on" via ignition/off/on via head unit +12 switched out
4. Front dash speakers on/off
5. Auxiliary battery 100 ampere continuous 400 ampere in-rush solenoid; "on" immediately with the ignition, off, or "on" through a 5 second delay upon application of ignition. This will connect the Optima battery in series with the main (front) battery allowing it to be charged or to allow it to start the vehicle should I lose the primary battery. The reason I put in a delay to connect it to the primary battery/alternator is so that it will not power the starter when cranking the engine (as long as the key is not in the "start" postition for more than 5 seconds - but then I could just select the "off" position of this toggle switch if I expected to exceed this time period...)
6. Sub-woofer crossover filter frequency cutoff potentiometer
7. Sub-woofer crossover filter level potentiometer

There are several L.E.D.'s in the panel to indicate several electrical parameters.

By using minature toggle switches (the base of these are about 1/4" x 1/2" x 1/2" and require a 1/4" hole to mount), you can easily mount 12. These switches are commonly rated for 3-6 amperes at 120VAC. I have only five, and with two full size potentiometers mounted there also (from a sub-woofer filter/crossover I built), I'd still have plenty of room for more. But then it'd look too "busy".

Because this switch panel is recessed in the console, the top of the switches are almost flush with the top. I wanted this because I have a GRANT security plate that fits over this area and the stick shift. I like this because it not only locks the stick shift in gear, but also hides the head unit and pre-amplifier. (The P/N is 2505/2510 I think.) This plate would not fit if the switches/potentiometers had been any higher. The plate is held in place by two brackets that attach to the front inner seat studs. These two brackets are then tied together by a rectangular steel bar that circles this switch panel.

I like the final result. Like I said, it looks professional. I mounted the L.E.D.'s at a slight angle facing rearward to gain a little more intensity.

I didn't want to keep the lid in place because any time I'm not using the car, the security plate is covering this area (or there's no need to hide this section), so there would be no need to keep it.

Wish I had a digital camera so I could post an image (and save about a thousand words...).

[This message has been edited by Stuart Moss (edited July 11, 2001).]

 

I wish you had a camera too. I'd like to see a picture of that. I'm having some serious computer problems here. So I just lost all my data on my other PC. But I'll try to get something up sometime.

I was thinking about gutting the ashtray, leaving the lid, and having all my switches popup. Like spring loaded, then when you close the lid it pushes them back down. Might ave to go buy some of that ABS plastic and make a whoile new piece with larger lid.

 

Ok you'll have to excuse my crappy rendition. But I just wanted to share with everyone my vision. What do you think?? think it will work? I'll just have to find out.



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_ _____________ _

1989 RS Camaro Police Edition
305 TBI
Open Element w/ K&N filter

 

I think the mini-toggles would look a little funny all out there in the corners. I like the middle part though. Have you considered illuminated rockers though? Might look a little cleaner then having a seperate LED for each switch. The only other thing is that that NOS switch might be prone to accidental trigger (with it only having to be pushed in). What about one of those flip-up switch covers that's in planes and rockets and stuff (like in Gone In 60 Seconds)? Have you figgured a way to actually mount them down there? Like a way to get a flat panel recesed down far enough?

- Mike

[This message has been edited by Mike92RS (edited July 13, 2001).]

 

project box, from allelectronics.com

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un4givin89

1989 RS Camaro Police Edition
305 TBI
Open Element w/ K&N filter

Camaro Legends, Virginia Beach VA
www.camarolegends.com

www.mikekey.net

 

Thanks for the input. I suggested minature toggle switches only because, for my application, it worked out extremely well, giving me not only funtionality and reliability, but a professional look.

I mentioned the high number (12) of toggle switches only to give readers an idea of how many could be realistically mounted there. A rocker switch(s) could certainly be used, but the trade off would be the large amount of "real estate" it'd take up (compared to a minature toggle switch).

I like the idea of using a locking lid for this switch as proposed, the type often seen on military equipment. The problem with that is that these switches are not common - but that, to me, is a a good thing. I like things that are not commonly available, if at all, to the public; something that very few other people would have. In other words, unique. The only "problem" is to locate a source for it. They come in various sizes and styles.

Regarding recessing the panel. As I said, the stock plastic sides extend to about 1/2" below the surface. If you need it recessed more, it would not be hard (at least for me) to extend these sides more with either plastic or aluminum. This is where your creativity comes in place.

 

Summit Racing: PN# SUM-G3902 Switch with flip-up cover $15.99
PN# SUM-G3902C Flip-up switch cover only $9.99

 

I have toggle switches in where my ashtray is. The switches control foglights, black lights mounted on the pillars, KITT scanner light, and strobe lights in my headlights. I've seen someone use those switches as the arm/disarm for NOS and they used one of their horn buttons as the trigger for the NOS.

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1991 Pontiac Firebird V6 W68
Pioneer DEH-7000R, Pioneer 6X9 4way/4X6 2way speakers, MTX 250watt amp, MTX 400watt sub, custom intake, Flowmaster dual exhaust 80 series, PIAA HID headlamp conversions, custom tail lamps(regular F-bird but amber is now red), many more to list...