Custom cup holders!

[Brolewigi]

I need some feedback;
Im in the process of custom machining cup holders to fit into the ash tray slot. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in these. Or if its a good idea to make them. They would be out of machined aluminum. I have not figured out the price of them quite yet but anyways give me your feedback.
let me know!

[Ghettokracker71]

sounds like a good idea but well....yeah,I want pics and what size cups will fit? Standard cup holder size? Little bigger? Biggie drink(OOOoOoOoOH!:D)

[TUnity2]

SOunds sweet to me, i hate not havin a cup holder. i'll pick one up if i can see some pics.

[Demik]

i want one.. "BUY IT NOW" ?? lol. ebays cool

[UcanTry]

lets see some pics

[mellojoe]

ashtray? what ashtray?

A good place for one would be on the passenger side of the console, right where their thighs go.

...within reach, yet out of the way...

[nightwalker]

this is the only pic I got of my cup holder, but it serves it's purpose very well. It's one of those carmate vent clip types. I've had that thing for years. I see it as one of my favorites mods!
http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/1/web/505000-505999/505557_20_full.jpg

[KiDyNomiTe]

I bought a universal one a while back. The crappy part is that there really isn't any good place in a 240 to put them. Ashtray sucks b/c you have to shift like a fairy with your elbow in the air. So I had to put mine where the rear ashtray is. Sucks when I have to get my drink but I got used to reaching it, plus it has a spring loaded brace thingie so it adjusts to a lot of sizes.

[TachyonS14]

I remember a guy on Nico made a custom one and I think he sold a few. Here's the links:

http://www.nissaninfiniticlub.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19600&highlight=cup+holder

http://blinkme7182.tripod.com/marcssweetasspage/id7.html

http://blinkme7182.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/106-0654_img.jpg

http://blinkme7182.tripod.com//sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/106-0655_img.jpg

What I don't get is, why didn't he reverse the cutt out since the part that is being covered is deeper and would have less chance of spilling. Maybe it got in the way of his shifting i dunno :confused:

[Brolewigi]

see, the difference the major difference between mine and that guys is mine is going to be machined out of 1/2" aluminum. I have a Haas cnc machine at my shop and im going to make a prototype one this week. Also, im working on getting them anodized. So im sure that you will have a couple of options. Probably in stock aluminum, polished aluminum, anodized black, blue,red. But I have to see if its going to be cost effective to get the kit. It all depends on how much/many I can sell of these babys... THATS WHY I NEED FEEDBACK!!!

[Blues13]

I'll be down for one if it looks good/quality.. I tired of pulling out my ash tray everytime I have a drink. It's hard to tell without a pic tho, I dont want some cheap looking stuff that's out of place in my interior.

[radhaz]

I remember someone was working on a carbon fiber setup in there too, I just opted to make mine in the center console its not the prettiest thing but it really comes in handy. DIY Cupholder (http://pfm101.com/cupholder/index.html)

[gogeeta13]

if you plan on using thick aluminum, there is no room unless you cut out the light for the ash tray...i made one before, I made a crappy fiberglass one, if I spent more time I could make a mold and make it all nice and flush with the console...but I dont think I care that much...

http://www.240sxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12786&highlight=diy+cup

[Brolewigi]

its going to be cnc'd out of aluminum. It will look good, it will fit tightly, and flush. Just give me a few days, ill post pics. I should be working on it today.

[CrispMofo]

I think a cup holder in the ashtray area is bad idea.
At least for me, it gets in the way of my arm when shifting so I placed my cup holder somewhere else.

[sticky240]

i agree that the ashtray location gets in the way of shifting but I am eager to see pics of it.

[exitspeed]

since I've been on this board this is the millionth "I'm making custom cupholders" thread.

Lets see when your finished, if you do.

[justinhustle]

DONT DRINK AND DRIVE!

fuck a cup holder too, thats what my gf is for...less accessories, more useless jdm interior parts is my motto ;)

ps im in if its in cf, cuz my gf just hit me

[Ghettokracker71]

DONT DRINK AND DRIVE!

fuck a cup holder too, thats what my gf is for...less accessories, more useless jdm interior parts is my motto ;)

ps im in if its in cf, cuz my gf just hit me

hah hah....wait,the girlfreind is supposed to hold the cups? Damnit shes been making me...

[CrispMofo]

I ripped out my center a/c vent and installed a cup holder.
It's a good location, plus I use it as an ashtray when I have an empty cup so blazing a smoke while driving and keeping my eyes on the road when ashing.

[Salty_X]

I ripped out my center a/c vent and installed a cup holder.
It's a good location, plus I use it as an ashtray when I have an empty cup so blazing a smoke while driving and keeping my eyes on the road when ashing.
I plan on doing something like this... but keeping the vents. I moved my cd player to the bottom din spot, and relocated the heater controls to where the cd player used to be. I'm going to seal up the opening and mount a pullout cup holder in there pretty soon. :coold:

[Ghettokracker71]

I plan on doing something like this... but keeping the vents. I moved my cd player to the bottom din spot, and relocated the heater controls to where the cd player used to be. I'm going to seal up the opening and mount a pullout cup holder in there pretty soon. :coold:
how hard was it ? J/W

[Brolewigi]

I machined it up last night, its just a prototype. I have to reprogram the machine to fine tune some things. I have to fix one of the radius' of the corner because it was a tight fit. I didnt get a chance to take any pictures last night but I will put some up later today after I get off of work. It looks great(for a prototype)!

[240Stilo]

http://images.cardomain.com/member_images/1/web/505000-505999/505557_20_full.jpg

Is it just me or does it look like the e-brake is going through the steering wheel?

[Blues13]

I dunno about putting a cupholder in my vents.. if you're gonna do that much modding, it better be for performance or for gauges.

[Ghettokracker71]

I'd be afraid that a clip-on vent cupholder wouldn't be strong enough to hold a cup (With me personally,its almost always a bottle of water or a red bull:D)

[Brolewigi]

I finished writing the cutter path today and I completed one. I only had a scrap piece of aluminum at the shop so it wont look that great on the bottom. However, it fits nicely and looks quite good. I took pictures tonight but I used my friends digital camera so I couldn't upload the pictures at my house. I am going to get them tomorrow, I promise.

I have another question, If this thing meets your guy's approval; then how much would you be seriouly willing to pay for it. I am planning on selling them over ebay and I want to know how much I should sell them for, Thats why I want to get an idea of how much people would be willing to spend on them.

Pictures Tomorrow afternoon!!!

[SauN]

i would be willing to buy one for maybe around 20$ or less

[Salty_X]

how hard was it ? J/W
To relocate the heater unit? Easy. It's got four "tabs" on it, two sticking out on each side, top and bottom.

[o o xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx o o]
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[o o xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx o o]

Shitty ASCII but you get the idea. The Xs are supposed to be the actual unit, and the Os are screw holes in the tabs.
The unit won't fit in the DIN spot with the tabs, so you have to cut them. You can either cut them off entirely and make a bracket to mount it, or you can do what I did (the fast, easy way) and cut the bottom tabs off entirely, but leave half of the top tab ([o xxxx o] instead of [o o xxxx o o]), and run zip-ties through the holes and "mount" it to a plastic divider running in between the din spots and the heater spot inside the console.
I haven't even started on the cup-holder yet though. It's on the backburner for the moment. :hsdance:
Hope that made some sense. :)


If they look good and are cheap I might buy one. I can always use the heater space for gauges or electronics, and it'd probably be cheaper than making my own funky version.

[Shin_Kudo]

Has anyone seen the cupholders available for the Miata? I think it'd be really cool to have ones like them made out of anodized aluminum. Here's how they work:

Picture a square box, about 3 inches on a side, about a half inch thick, with a clamshell design. This box mounts to the side of the center console. To use it, the "top" of the box (now the side) swings down to horizontal to support the cup. then, from the inside, another piece swings up. This piece has a hole through it, to accomodate the cup and keep it from falling over. Versions also exist that are twice as wide, in order to hold two cups.

One of these cupholders would be nice because they are functional, look cool, and are relatively simple to make. Also nice is the fact that they can fold up into almost nothing when not needed, unlike something, for example, mounted on the vent.

[justinhustle]

they have din sized storage box/cup holder

i see em on ebay a lot, oem nissan too

also the half din cup holder out of a 93-97 altima is good too

[Brolewigi]

Okay, I finally got the chance to take some pictures and here they are!

http://public.fotki.com/Brolewigi/240sx_cup_holders/

The aluminum I used was a bit scratched up and it was just a prototype. The real ones will have more of a polished look to them. I am posting them on evay and Ill update it with the link soon.

[Brolewigi]

Heres the link to the Ebay site!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2473086505

[Demik]

zilvia guys get free shippin??? eheh?

[Brolewigi]

I could make some deals. just let me know....

[justinhustle]

damn its s13 huh

and make a cf one, and im in ;)

[Salty_X]

Is it just a metal plate or does it have some support underneath it? I don't want you to give away your design or anything if you don't want to, but a picture of it out of the ashtray would be nice. :)

[nissantuner22]

Is there something that holds the bottom of the cup, or is it just a big hole?

[Brolewigi]

The distance from the top of the console to the flooring of the car is only about 4.5", I researched making the diameter have a taper to it and go all the way to the floor. The cost for the materials is quite expensive. You would have to basically use a solid block of aluminum that was 4x6x6.

To answer your question; No, there is nothing below the bottom of the .5" plate. However, the bottom of the car is so close to the console that it doesnt matter if it sets on the floor. It doesn't move around.