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What do you all do for keeping your phone visible?  I know there's the "put your phone away and enjoy the drive" approach, but I use the phone for maps/GPS and speedometer app (because my speedo gauge reads incorrectly).  And when used as the music source or receiving an incoming call, I don't want to be fumbling with it while driving, for obvious safety reasons.  So as much as I'd like to just put the phone away, it's a necessary evil.

I can't find the post, but someone smart/resourceful on here had mentioned buying these rare earth magnets, affixing one magnet on the back side of the fiberglass and another magnet on the phone case, therefore having an invisible mount.  I bought those magnets (which are strong as hell btw) and planned to do this in the 1/blue region in the photo attached.  However, I'm concerned about looking up and down between that low point and the road.  Plus it's hard to see to begin with because it's set far back and through the steering wheel.

Another thought is setting it on its side somehow at the 2/yellow and 3/teal positions.  I especially like 3/teal because it's in the line of sight with the road, middle of the road, and added bonus that it's a bit more private from your passenger's view (not sure that I care but doesn't hurt).  The problem is that a lot of apps don't re-orient to landscape mode, and even maps that usually do are harder to read.  Maybe there's a way to stand the phone portrait in these positions (like 4/purple scooted to the left).

Lastly there's perhaps hanging it from the mirror rod at 4/purple such that it doesn't sway & rotating, or 5/green so leaning against the dash keeps it from rotating and minimizes swaying (if you're taking a hard turn that'll sway it you're probably not looking at it anyway).  (EDIT: Writing this post gave me the idea to try those rare earth magnets at 5/green, they're so strong that it works through the fiberglass plus leather+filler upholstery!  So that's my current top pick, plus a magnet at 1/blue for times when it's hard to read the screen from bright daylight, direct sun is heating up the phone, or at night time you don't want to broadcast your screen to all other observers!  Still would love to hear people's ideas/discussions...)

I'm sure the smart folks on here have come up with creative solutions my brain can't.  Like a James Bond retractable arm that comes out from under the dash and doesn't bounce around much.  Mine would come out like Austin Powers' attempt 😂

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Last edited by Sean Seena
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@IaM-Ray You're probably familiar, but rare earth magnets are insanely strong.  Scary strong.  So strong that you sort of have to be careful while working with them.  If you stop being mindful, 2 will crash together.  That's what happened with this double stack in the photo (notice the others have spacers that they came with, even with these spacers they're hard to peel apart).  I think I may never be able to separate those two...

Speaking of, they will amplify the magnetic force when "in series."  With diminishing returns as you add more.  This is good to know because you could mount 2- or 3-stack behind the fiberglass if you're wanting more force.  The ones I linked come with more than you'll ever need.

It's hard to demonstrate how strong they are, but here's a video with 1 magnet behind the fiberglass.  

In terms of adhesion, I'm not sure.  I may try some double-sided gorilla tape I have for one behind the fiberglass, and one to an extra phone case I'll leave in the car.  Or maybe even better is a low profile pincher phone mount is connected to the outer magnet. Like these but with the back part flat.

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Magnet strength video
@Sean Seena posted:

@IaM-Ray You're probably familiar, but rare earth magnets are insanely strong.  Scary strong.  So strong that you sort of have to be careful while working with them.  If you stop being mindful, 2 will crash together.  That's what happened with this double stack in the photo (notice the others have spacers that they came with, even with these spacers they're hard to peel apart).  I think I may never be able to separate those two...

Speaking of, they will amplify the magnetic force when "in series."  With diminishing returns as you add more.  This is good to know because you could mount 2- or 3-stack behind the fiberglass if you're wanting more force.  The ones I linked come with more than you'll ever need.

It's hard to demonstrate how strong they are, but here's a video with 1 magnet behind the fiberglass.  

In terms of adhesion, I'm not sure.  I may try some double-sided gorilla tape I have for one behind the fiberglass, and one to an extra phone case I'll leave in the car.  Or maybe even better is a low profile pincher phone mount is connected to the outer magnet. Like these but with the back part flat.

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Couldn't you just use a small piece of metal attached to the phone case so there is only one magnet in this equation? Similar to a Scosche Magic Mount pad?

@Robert M posted:

Couldn't you just use a small piece of metal attached to the phone case so there is only one magnet in this equation? Similar to a Scosche Magic Mount pad?

I think there wouldn't be enough magnetic force through that distance, I think you'd need a magnet on both sides both fighting to be reunited.  

Unless, you were to put a bunch in series like I was mentioning before, such that the force from that side is so strong that it would pull in the metal Star Destroyer tractor beam style.  One caveat is that anything magnetic would then be drawn to there, which probably isn't a big deal.

Not my best photos because the garage was dark, but I use a suction-cup arm with a magnet on the phone end, coupled with a bit of sheet metal sandwiched between the back of the phone and its protective case. The cup is attached to the windshield glass and the arm is positioned so the phone is supported on one end by the magnet, while the other end rests on the dash trim. This puts it at a good angle for viewing, and high enough that I don't have to take my eyes off the road to read the GPS while driving. 

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@Eric (McGruff) @Lane Anderson @Michael McKelvey If I was a smart man I'd just do what you're doing, but apparently I like to make things more complicated than they need to be.  Actually, that would work assuming the suction cup can be easily applied and removed frequently?  Ultimately, I wanted a hidden mechanism to not take away from the 50/60's feel of the car.  Maybe I can convince myself to settle for the mechanism being mounted only those times when need be.

Michael, interesting point about heat's effects on magnetism.  This is such a bizarre universe.  I *believe* that's why all those heavy duty magnets used in particle accelerators are kept cold, to go in the other direction and strengthen their magnetic fields...  Don't ask me more on the topic because it'll accelerate how particle-rly little I know

@IaM-Ray I'm not sure if I understood your first question, but I *think* magnets don't affect the phone.  Meanwhile, I've never tried having a magnet near it for a long duration.  I was surprised to find that it didn't affect its compass/direction reading, it seems it doesn't rely on earth's magnetic field like a classic compass, perhaps it pulls this from the GPS functionality somehow??  Either way, that's good news because you can go airplane mode (or reception-poor area) and still rely on a downloaded map + GPS which functions based on satellites regardless of cellular tower reception.

This is kind of what I meant earlier, where there's a magnet on the back.  But I also remembered I have one of these Perchmounts, although it's not angled quite right.  Could ignore its own built in magnet and attach one to the back of the curved bracket part.

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One method I used involved a suction cup mount that had an arm that pivoted and extended.  I zip-tied to the underside of the 2" tube behind the dash.  Then I could rotate it out when I wanted to mount the phone and fold it back, mostly out of sight when I didn't want to see the phone.  It was also easy to plug into 12 volts in that location.

I changed to what I have now to  put the phone more in my line of sight.

@Sean Seena posted:

@Eric (McGruff) @Lane Anderson @Michael McKelvey Actually, that would work assuming the suction cup can be easily applied and removed frequently?  Ultimately, I wanted a hidden mechanism to not take away from the 50/60's feel of the car.  

Sean,

This eBay listing is similar to the mount I have. It can be removed when desired, but I got used to it being there and quit doing so. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Magne...3:g:5~QAAOSwoMhfN2Ce 

I use magnet mounts in every vehicle I own. They work great and don't interfere in any way with the compass, which works off GPS, not the earth's magnetic field.  

Eric

Circling back with my solution: https://www.dropbox.com/s/oky5...ount%20Demo.MOV?dl=0 (Sorry for the Dropbox link that'll probably disappear some day, forum direct video uploads kept erroring out, feel free to ask me for the video if it ever disappears...)

I used Gorilla Heavy Duty Double Sided Mounting Tape (the 30lb and while they have a 60lb version I think that's probably overkill) to stick one rare earth magnet (the ones I discussed earlier in this thread) behind the dash, right against the fiberglass body.  Sorry I didn't snap a photo of it and it's difficult to access because I did an upholstery project under the dash to hide away everything (I should probably post about that too, I'm surprised how well it came out especially considering it was me who did it).

In my case, I only needed one magnet behind the dash.  But I decided to glue a single magnet in two different locations while I was back there, so that I'd have phone mount position options.

Then, using the same double-sided tape, I glued a third magnet to the Perchmount I mentioned earlier.  Voila!  Done.  Obviously I couldn't demo my phone while mounted because I was using it to record, but trust me it easily holds up the weight.  

So I can now mount at position 5A and 5B (in my OP).  It wasn't my intention, but it also mounts to some metal at position 1.  I should've also demonstrated that the magnet mounts easily to the tunnel (stickshift / handbrake area), in case you wanted it out of the way.

I finally found the post where I picked up this idea in the first place, thanks to @James Garrett.  My slight modification is incorporating the Perchmount with double-sided tape so that I don't have to have a magnet on my phone case all the time.  Or a 2nd case in the car with a magnet on it dedicated to this purpose.  Instead, just pop my phone into the Perchmount and Bob's your uncle.

Hmmm now I'm wondering what else I can leverage those magnets to mount there.  I always liked the idea of clocks and/or stopwatches in those old school pocket watch forms...

@Robert M posted:

Looks like you worked through the problem pretty well. I do hope it stays attached if/when you hit a rough patch of road. Please report back with the “Road Test Results”.

I have to say, I've driven with it a fair amount and at all speeds/conditions that I'm ever going to, and I'm myself kind of surprised how sturdy it is.  Barring deploying out the back of a cargo plane in a Fast & the Furious maneuver, I'm pretty sure it's going no where.

But if someone wants it at military spec, they could affix 2-3 magnets back-to-back behind the dash (which would amplify the magnetic force as discussed earlier in the thread).  I guess you could do that on the phone holder side too but that might be double overkill.

Further, one could use the 60lb-rated gorilla tape or some other strong adhesive, but I think even the 30lb is more than enough.

I fabricated a phone mount from some 1/2" steel tube. I bolted it under the dash, a simple exhaust clamp around the 1.5" frame worked simply and neatly.

I heated the tubing and made a nice curve to a small flat plate upon which a plastic squeeze-type phone clamp bolted. It worked really well, sitting under the dash edge and near the shifter, accessible but not in the way. It just didn't look like it belonged there. So now it sits in a box on a shelf.

Instead I ran a couple USB-C cables that sit in front of each seat for charging duty. The cables are totally hidden. If I charge my phone, it stays right there, blocked in by the frame, seat, and cockpit bulkhead. I think this is far more in keeping with the car's character.

Yeah, I have a hidden amp, speakers under the dash, and hidden bluetooth receiver. So you can hear modernity if you'd like, but you can't see it.

Last edited by DannyP

I installed a radio back before all this Bluetooth streaming stuff came along.

I too wanted to keep stuff hidden. The radio control unit is mounted on rails. It hides behind the dash and drops down when I press against the bottom.  There is also a small round control I can stick to the carpet with velcro.

Speakers are flat panels under the dash.

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At one point I had a phone mount that folded back under the dash but I wanted to have my phone more in my line of sight.  So, I now have this mount attached to the windshield rod.  It does wireless charging.  I have a 12v jack near the base of the rod to connect to the mount.

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These are all great, I love some of these hidden strategies.  I should also note that majority of my driving is done with the phone in my pocket and the mount stowed away, I only set it up there when it's needed.  But if you rely on it frequently, then one of the hidden solutions is better.

I think it might be a California thing but you can't drive with earbuds, or at least in both ears.  

I have the chrome face version of the Custom Autosound USA4 (https://customautosoundmfg.com...rsal-radios/usa-4din), there are competitor products that look more period correct than this, but this was more convenient because of the DIN shape, features, and price.  The deck that was in there was an eyesore, but now this seems to pass the laymen observer test.  

@DannyP posted:

Earbuds are not a possibility for my wife, @550 Phil otherwise, that's what I would have done.

My wife refuses to get in the Spyder. She loved my IM Conv D. It’s one reason I’m building another Conv D. Honestly I know all the roads around Charlottesville like the back of my hand. And I love to hear my engine rip. So I rarely have anything mounted to the windshield and no pods in my ears.
Conv D will be a different story.  Subaru. Liquid heated, A/C and hidden Bluetooth stereo. Still thinking about a 356C SC with that liquid cooled 911 engine. Honestly my build will be started after Joel’s build begins but I bet my Conv D will be finished before Joel’s car. R&D is a bitch.

Years ago I bought a clip/clip phone holder for the MG TD. It has a big clothespin style spring clip (with rubber edges) to grab the dash, then a swivel thing and then a smaller spring clip to grab the phone. I clip it to the underlip of the dash and clip the phone in for navigation duties. Then I unclip and stow it under the seat when I get to my destination. It now travels between the MG and the Spyder.

I was going to put a link to it here but searching online I can't find anything like it. This is closest I came across, though there's a guitar-head clip that's also in the ballpark.

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