The Cupholder Issue Returns!!

[Jesda]

Well, friends, I have decided to take on a personal project.

This morning at 4am I started taking apart the center console. I removed the ashtray since I'm not a smoker and pondered what would fit best in that empty slot. After much contemplation (thought about MP3/CD/DVD player, equalizer, LCD) I decided to install a cupholder.

The only dilemma now is finding one. The first-generation Dodge Intrepid has a nice pop-out one but apparently theyre expensive or hard to find. The first-gen Mercury Sable has a pop-out tray I might be able to use.

This one even has a coin tray!http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...07089

Basically, I have an obscure question. Is anyone aware of any cars out there with pop-out/slide-out cupholders?

I also noticed the air bag electronics are down and behind the ashtray, which may or may not block the installation of a full-din device. Fortunately, I can just put the Saab/Taurus/Sable cointray/cupholder combo where the climate controls are, and move the climate controls down.

Pictures coming this weekend!

-Jesda

[Jesda]

Well, I bid on the auction above. Wish me luck.

[AZhitman]

I've got a spare ashtray lid from a junked Q. I gave it to my buddy (a precision aircraft machinist) to bore 3 holes in so I can gut the ashtray, attach the lid permanently, and install a triple gauge set (water temp, oil pressure, and ???).

What should the 3rd gauge be?

[szh]

What should the 3rd gauge be?

Transmission temp?

Did your machinist buddy finish making you the new feet for the FSTB?

Z

[AZhitman]

Oh yeah - They're done and installed - I'll take some pics, it looks fantastic!!!

[Rex]

What should the 3rd gauge be?

Voltage? Maybe I'm the only guy that is concerned about that, but as voltage drops amperage climbs and wear/damage to electrical parts is more likely.

(He waits to be corrected by someone who really knows about 12 volt electronics)

[szh]

Oh yeah - They're done and installed - I'll take some pics, it looks fantastic!!!

I'd be willing for pay for a couple of those feet - is your buddy willing to do some, perhaps?

Z

[Jeff Williams]

quote:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------Originally posted by AZhitman What should the 3rd gauge be? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Put a turbo boost gage in, and hook it to a vacume line, just for kicks.

[[Zero-S]]

What was that about hijacking threads;)?

[Jeff Williams]

Jesda, don't you hate it when your thread topic gets lost?

I had a Honda, with a cup holder, it was a piece of crap. I could not adjust the volume of the radio, unless I moved the cup. What a pain!

My I30t has a cup holder on the passenger side, right below the A/C duct, that is slick, but will only hold a small cup.

There is not much room, where the ash tray is, for a full din-mounted cup holder, but I like your idea of moving the A/C controls down, and putting one up there. The only problem is, it just might look like a Chevy Truck, with a big gulp in it, though.

How about mounting one on the back side of the console, like for the rear seat. I know it will be hard to reach, but would not get in the way of shifting, or chanigng the radio station.

Keep those brain cells jumpin, and keep us informed.

[911/Q45]

I wonder how much the airbag electronics will cost to repair when your Big Gulp sloshes on them?

[AZhitman]

You guys and your damn cupholders... :rolleyes

I hear the new Caravan has 17 of them.

[Jeff Williams]

They would all have to be filled with gold, in order for me to drive a Caravan.

[j30t]

or crack...

[forecast]

I've got a spare ashtray lid from a junked Q. I gave it to my buddy (a precision aircraft machinist) to bore 3 holes in so I can gut the ashtray, attach the lid permanently, and install a triple gauge set (water temp, oil pressure, and ???).

What should the 3rd gauge be?

transmission line pressure. not transmission cooler line pressure. There's a threaded port on the transmission with a plug it in where one can read pump output pressure, or better choose the drive pressure (yet a differnt port on the transmission)

Since the transmission the second most costly item, and the transmission line pressure is a better indication that transmission temp.

[90Q45blue]

Here's a thought. What about the third gauge being a built-in custom radar detector? That would freakin rock. Wouldn't take away from the Q look and would help when Quella decided she just can't drive 105

Nick

[Jesda]

Well, I filed down the edges of my climate control display unit, and managed to pull the wires down alongside the radio far enough for it to reach the ashtray. It fits well, but I need to find some plastics or something to go around the top and bottom edges so it looks more flush. I also have to figure out how to mount the darn thing permanently. "L" brackets attached to the top maybe...?

And if I get sick of the cupholder, I can always put a DVD player or equalizer there I suppose.

More to come!

-Jesda

[[Zero-S]]

I really don't think the japanese ever got the whole drinking while you drive thing...How could you possibly expect to shift properly when you have a frappuccino between your legs (keep your minds out of the gutter).

[forecast]

when it comes to cupholders in cars the rest of the automaking world is thinking :

"what is up with the freaking Americans and their obession with eating and drinking in the car. What civilized person can't wait until they get home to have a drink!"

This is why german cars never had cupholders and why high end japan cars didn't either: It has nothing to do with the car, or that the car is too good for a cupholder, it's the assumption that the driver isn't a barbarian.

yes ... they look at you dashing from Starbucks to your car, idling at the curb, and they see a little white label TV style on you shouting "BARBARIAN"

[Jesda]

I do lots of long-distance highway driving. At 80mph going mostly straight it would be nice to sip on a drink and put it back in a secure location.

-Jesda

[forecast]

well ... there's a lot of pent up frustration there. I lived in Italy for about 6 years and got a lot of "you americans are idiots aren't you?"

[Jesda]

Europeans are just jealous that we have so many gorgeous, wide open roads.

God bless America!



-Jesda

[maxnix]

when it comes to cupholders in cars the rest of the automaking world is thinking :

"what is up with the freaking Americans and their obession with eating and drinking in the car. What civilized person can't wait until they get home to have a drink!"

This is why german cars never had cupholders and why high end japan cars didn't either: It has nothing to do with the car, or that the car is too good for a cupholder, it's the assumption that the driver isn't a barbarian.

yes ... they look at you dashing from Starbucks to your car, idling at the curb, and they see a little white label TV style on you shouting "BARBARIAN"

Yeah when they are on the Autobahn, Autostrada, or the Autoroute, they can at least drive fast enough to make it interesting. Americans still think driving is cruising the USA in your Chevrolet.

Sorry guys, but cupholders are for minivans full of screaming kids and a distracted driver looking for a rear-end or roll- over. It's physics. Liquids don't belong in open containers in vehicles subject to abrupt changes in g forces in any axis.

AZhitman: I vote for an ammeter, but the hidden radar read out is a neat idea if you can afford the hidden unit.

[miteymax86]

Yeah, my Maxima has no cupholder either, and I just make sure I have a 20oz or a 2liter instead, something I can cap it's not that big a deal

[szh]

Infiniti dealers sell (sold?) those neat capped insulated coffee cups. Fits the "cup-holder" in the 1995 Q arm-rest just fine. These work fine with cold soda too! If you cannot get them at Infiniti, the Starbucks ones fit well too.

Z

[Need4Speed]

I would hardly call Europeans more civilized.....Frankly, I find most of them to be much too "full of themselves". They seem to forget that we've saved their azzes twice now.....

Sorry to vent on & hijack this post.

I do think a couple cup holders would be nice....I'm still thinking that the best spot would be in front of the armrest.

Hitman...I vote for the transmission temp gauge. It is after all the second most expensive piece of equipment in a Q.

[Jesda]

Driving still -is- cruising the country in your Chevrolet (or in my case, Infiniti, Mazda, Honda, or something else I've owned). We might be legally capped at 75mph, but we have much to see!

I make a point of crossing the country in my car at least twice a year. It helps me appreciate where I live, learn about other places (whether its a redneck town or large city), and offers a variety of stories to tell people when I get back. There's a variety of American subcultures out there.

Driving isnt always a sport, nor is it always a commuting tool... its it can be a fantastic leisure activity. As long as Detroit is making big, cheap highway cruisers or long, gorgeous convertibles, cross-country traveling will remain popular.

Now gimme my damn cupholder!!!

-Jesda

[Jeff Williams]

Option #1: Go to Target, get a cheap adjustable cup holder, nail a block of wood to the bottom, that fits in the coil holder, and Voila!, you have an exposed cup holder, that can be easily removed, when not needed. $8.00 investment.

Option #2: Buy a Caravan.

Option #3: Get a girlfriend to hold it for you..... O.K. go ahead and bring on the wise cracks.....:toilet

[elwesso]

Maybe you could fabricate something out of wood to put into the center console, and in the back seats??

[Jesda]

The rear, forgot about the rear. I wonder if I could do what they do on the Chrysler New Yorker, where you lift open the arm rest and pop out a cupholder! Maybe just put a hinge and yank a cupholder out of the Chrysler...

Great, more things to do when bored and awake at 4am.

-Jesda