in good shape, isolde - part 7

This resumes from a previous post in good shape, isolde - part  6.



I must be out of my mind for devoting so much time and energy for a cup holder, when you can get one of these air vent mounted multi-purpose for a mere $12.99.

cup holder and smartphone mount all in one, and just clip it onto the air vent of your vehicle

looks good in photo, and what not to like, especially the price is right? i think the monkey on the water bottle is rather appropriate

The problem with these bright idea products is most, especially modern, vehicle air vents are extremely flimsy. Most barely hold together servicing as, well air vent with users' occasional fussing with the air direction and open and close. When they break most owners are shocked to find out the stratospheric cost of the replacement parts at the friendly local stealers.

Back to my quest for a perfect cup holder which suffered from feature creep. I made a bit more progress in checking the trade off between mounting the t-slot aluminum rail onto the steel portion of the dash front, versus onto the air blower vent cover below it.

At the mean time I was able to test out my Garmin GPS mount-cum-RAM Mount that I fashioned so not have to take the risk of removing the Garmin mount that is secured to the metal surface of Isolde's dash.

I destroyed the obsolete Garmin GPS and scavenged the piece of plastic part that slides into the lockable base plate for use with the RAM diamond ball flange; I really like the infinitely re-configurable design of the RAM products

the plastic sliding plate on the right was scavenged out of an obsolete Garmin GPS to modify for use with the infinitely re-configurable RAM components

i mainly look to the use of the iPhone as GPS when driving

occasionally it is useful for taking video or photos en-route

We have a few godsend glorious dry days and I started some work to keep a few things shipshape. I took the opportunity to investigate the two options of installing the t-track for the cup holder.

and a few teaser photos of Isolde's 500+ nautical mile sea trial to shakedown any system problems from the many recent updates/retrofits - like the update programmes often carried out by the US military on aging fleets

yes, literally a sea trial

we went to the sea to test our upfitted systems

the Carver P4 furnace kept us toasty when it was around 36F degrees at night

here I check out the choices of mounting the t-slot rail onto the metal surface of the dash, and onto the plastic air blower cover below it

If you have a Vanagon with manual transmission, and are not looking for a universal tool bar mount approach these two RAM parts will give you enough adjustments to clear the manual gear shift. The single ball of this base results in the least projection, yet affords excellent articulation. Total cost just under $30.

the manual gear shift is in the reverse position (leftmost and forward position)

It is a toss up as which is better. The clearance between the cup holder to the gear shifter is about the same, notwithstanding the blower cover is more recessed than the steel surface of the dash front because of bend and tilt of the gear shifter lever. In both cases from these mockups they both afford the ability to mount the cup holder in the port side sector of the wheelhouse (always like the nautical references).

Next I set out to check the pros and cons of the two mounting alternatives. I have never remove the heater blower cover. I tried in the past and gave up for the fear of breaking off some brittle plastic tabs that hold it to the dash. Reading the countless thread on the Vanagon forum offers little comfort as most just tell you pull hard and straight. No one posted a single photo of what and how it is affixed onto the dash/or the thing behind it. I set out to try find out for myself, first with my attempt to visually see what the fastening mechanism. Easier said than done.

on the starboard side there is this plastic thingy that is riveted to the metal dash; but its sole purpose is to restrain the cover from lateral movement towards the starboard side - there is one on the port side

with many tries I was able to take a photo behind the cover that is in focus with the iPhone; there seems to be only two of these plastic tabs locking the cover to the plastic blower housing behind it

It would turned out the photo or inspecting with a mirror offer no help. My intuition tells me I should either press the plastic tabs up, or down to help ease them to unlock. No. There is no easing to help them unlock. When I pull hard, the starboard side tab released. I try to do same with the port side but it just would not budge. Eventually I gather my courage and yank with my might and that did the trick.

Once the cover is off I could see first hand how the cover is secured to the blower housing. It is a design not intend you to do this too many times. With the exception of the virgin state which the cover is lock securely to the blower housing, any subsequent removal damages both the two plastic bark tabs as well as on the plastic surface of the blower housing they clip onto deteriorate. This makes the cover less securely fastened with each removal and replacement.

in this photo you can see the cover has u-channel tracks where it slide onto the lids of the blower housing; the tab with a barb can also be seen

how is how the cover slides onto the heater blower housing with its u-channel tracks; hence the reason you have to pull it straight to remove it

a photo showing the lips of the blower housing the cover tracks slip onto

my finger points to where the barb engages the blower housing - a bit of damage is inevitable with each removal; and I tried to lubricate it with soapy water helped little

another photo better showing the wear on the barb; btw, you know indoor dust consists mostly of dead skin cells - gross? not bad for 26 years worth of dust deposit

While I am still at it to gross you out. The best breads are the one that are hand made, and if you enjoy them, you are constantly eating the great baked good together with some of the bakers' dead cells too. Same goes with a huge variety of great hand made food.

a good view of behind the steel dash front - clear to mount screws with nuts

So this exercise tells me the two alternative mounting options are a toss. I am leaning more towards mounting the track onto the steel surface of the dash as it is more secure. The heater blower cover is quite stout, but not with each successive removal unless some improvised reinforcement is done.

With this exercise, I am still no better off in which t-slot track to order. Fortunately I am so sold on the idea of these t-slot tracks used in conjunction with RAM mounts I ordered both. I know I can always use the one that I decided against to use in Isolde in Brunnhilde. With a bit of shopping around I found a vendor with much better price and selection than on Amazon, with free shipping, and 15% discount off one highest price item right off for first time customer incentive. 10 hours later I received an email that it has shipped, even on a Sunday. This is one of many reason I am not sold on Amazon Prime's $99 annual membership. It would be a bit different if I am not so happy with Netflix streaming.

this wider track cannot be use on the steel surface of the dash front

this track is narrower but requires a sturdier surface - like the steel surface of the dash front