Who would make a car with one cup holder in the front? GM that’s who :). Well that is even an over statement since the cup holder spot is also where the ash tray goes. Here are a few easy steps to add a much needed cup holder to your vehicle. You will need a few common hand tools, a spare computer CD-ROM drive and a voltage regulator.
Step one is to find a place to put the new cup holder, how about where the radio is? Sounds like a plan. |
April 12th, 2006
hydrocortisone
June 24th, 2006
i know its off topic, but how did you install that keypad? and does it control your ignition? if you have a writeup on that id love to read it… hit me back at big528hemi@hotmail.com
June 25th, 2006
Hi Shawn,
It does control the ignition. It was installed in the car when I purchased it though.
June 25th, 2006
well…crap. guess ill have to figure it out on my own then. by the way, is that a sunfire? somebody saw the picture and said it was
June 25th, 2006
found it. http://www.autotoys.com/x/cust/product.php?productid=317&cat=174&page=1
June 25th, 2006
Yes it is a Sunfire. Nice find, that module seems interesting. I would have thought there was a controller box somewhere and that unit was just a matrixed keypad. By the look of the simple design it looks like someone could simply cut the keypad module out of the circuit and hot wire it.
June 25th, 2006
perhaps, but if the keypad was recessed into the dash or wherever it was mounted, it would be diffucult. i think that it is probably more for the cool factor than security.
June 5th, 2008
that’s fantastic but I am having a bit of trouble following your wiring (I’m not techno pro so forgive me).
Could you draw up a basic diagram (or anyone else) please?
I have the parts but am not sure about wiring it up! :S
June 5th, 2008
Hi Scott,
This should help, here is the pin outs of the regulator that is needed for the 5 volts
http://www.national.com/mpf/LM/LM78L05.html
Here is the pin out of the CD-ROM power cable.
http://www.directron.com/neonlight1.html
June 5th, 2008
Thanks, I’ll see how I go. Unfortunately I burnt out the button on my last DVD drive whilst trying to wire up another button to it. If I ever get it to work it will be pretty awesome.
June 8th, 2008
I wired it up and it worked like a charm =) So happy.
However, the regulator was extremely hot after about 1 minute of being connected :/ Is this meant to happen? How can I fix this?
Thanks!!!
June 8th, 2008
Depending on how much current the 5 volt control circuit draws it could get hot. Generally for more than 100mA of continuous draw you will need to operate with a heat sink. If the regulator you got is a to220 case style http://www.ges.cz/images/pictures/t/to220.jpg then you can get something like this to bolt onto it http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?parentPage=search&summary=summary&cp=&productId=2102857&accessories=accessories&kw=heat+sink&techSpecs=techSpecs¤tTab=summary&custRatings=custRatings&sr=1&features=features&origkw=heat+sink&support=support&tab=summary
The normal configuration of a LM7805 has the center pin and tab being common meaning you could also mount it to the metal of your car to sink the heat.
June 8th, 2008
Awesome, thanks for the help! I have the day off tomorrow so I’ll give that a go. Hopefully I can get it all done in a day though I am doubtful!
I’m also going to have to borrow a solder sucker to rewire the button in a more convenient place.
My next project is a bush starter button that is wired in to the top of my gear shift knob.
That’ll be hot.