As Kandyman's signature says, "If it ain't broke, don't f* with it." I got in the car today after quickly pulling the radio out yesterday (see previous post) and hadn't tested the radio. It wasn't working, so after a silent ride to work and back, I decided to throw caution to the wind and pull the dash out. What the hey.
From my previous posts, you can see what the assembled dash looks like. Here's a photo with the center console cover taken off. This also shows where the back of the Mini will touch the rear of the radio "box".
There's not enough depth for the plugs and stuff that I want to put back there, whether I make it "dockable" or not. BTW, who hasn't driven around with their dash looking like this for weeks at a time?
hole in the dash
Here's a closer picture of where I would have to install a dock for the Mini, if I install it here.
center din
If anybody has any suggestions on how to make a dock, particularly what material to construct it out of, I'd appreciate it. I'm thinking fiberglass poured over properly positioned plugs to "capture" the connectors. The challenge would be to 1) position them accurately; 2) to find a way to pour the fiberglass without it leaking all over or clogging the connectors somehow.
Here's the center panel taken out, front view.
center panel
Here's the back:
back of console
Fortunately for me, my PC carputer still works, even with the mess I've got going, so I'm still cruncing mobile bits and not hating it too much.
daily ride
Thanks for looking and I'll post back as the project progresses.