Continuing the saga of the water / meth install with the controller mounting.
There is a dude on Instagram I follow who posted “just got this water / meth kit!” then like a week later posted a pic of it finished and running. Not me! This project has required a lot of problem solving at every step and generally answering the question: “how can I do this in the best way?” Or at a minimum: “what is the the least jank way I do this?” So there’s a fair amount of time spent staring at the situation, then trying, measuring, and testing things.
Controller mounting was one of those little projects. Where should it go? The wiring depends on it, and maybe the center console setup depends on it. The obvious places are: glove box, center console, or in the arm rest.
I already have a defi gauge controller floating around the cabin and I hate it. It was in the armrest when I got the car, but it didn’t fit, and made taking apart the center console a pain. Not ideal as I take it apart like weekly. I moved the defi controller so it was next to the drivers seat, buuut it doesn’t really fit and interferes with the seatbelt.
I didn’t want yet another controller in the cabin. I didn’t want it in the arm rest, on in your face in the console, or to drill a hole in the glove box. This thing has only 2 knobs and should be a set it and forget it type deal. Can I proper mount it somewhere hidden? If so where?
After much digging around and mocking up, it turns out there is a spot with an empty m6 hole on the rail behind the seats with the main relay and other computer nonsense. It’s just the right size, and has plenty of space for wiring, plus is central cause the wiring needs to go damn near everywhere.
Next thing was to make a bracket. The controller is a weird shape, and doesn’t really have mounting holes. It looks like it has some slots for zip ties, so that’s how I’ll mount it.
I built this little bracket out of 1/32” aluminum. It’s really thin, but is just so much easier to deal with than anything thicker. I can score it with a utility knife to make cuts. No dealing with the jigsaw or setting up a backstop. This thing is not really structural, it just needs to keep the controller from flopping around.
And mounted!
There is a dude on Instagram I follow who posted “just got this water / meth kit!” then like a week later posted a pic of it finished and running. Not me! This project has required a lot of problem solving at every step and generally answering the question: “how can I do this in the best way?” Or at a minimum: “what is the the least jank way I do this?” So there’s a fair amount of time spent staring at the situation, then trying, measuring, and testing things.
Controller mounting was one of those little projects. Where should it go? The wiring depends on it, and maybe the center console setup depends on it. The obvious places are: glove box, center console, or in the arm rest.
I already have a defi gauge controller floating around the cabin and I hate it. It was in the armrest when I got the car, but it didn’t fit, and made taking apart the center console a pain. Not ideal as I take it apart like weekly. I moved the defi controller so it was next to the drivers seat, buuut it doesn’t really fit and interferes with the seatbelt.
I didn’t want yet another controller in the cabin. I didn’t want it in the arm rest, on in your face in the console, or to drill a hole in the glove box. This thing has only 2 knobs and should be a set it and forget it type deal. Can I proper mount it somewhere hidden? If so where?
After much digging around and mocking up, it turns out there is a spot with an empty m6 hole on the rail behind the seats with the main relay and other computer nonsense. It’s just the right size, and has plenty of space for wiring, plus is central cause the wiring needs to go damn near everywhere.
Next thing was to make a bracket. The controller is a weird shape, and doesn’t really have mounting holes. It looks like it has some slots for zip ties, so that’s how I’ll mount it.
I built this little bracket out of 1/32” aluminum. It’s really thin, but is just so much easier to deal with than anything thicker. I can score it with a utility knife to make cuts. No dealing with the jigsaw or setting up a backstop. This thing is not really structural, it just needs to keep the controller from flopping around.
And mounted!