Now I know there all sorts of do dads made for holding a cell phone in a car but who likes that grabber sticking out in a never perfect dash place. So for all you non smokers that like to keep the gizmo holder eye sores out of these sleek dash lines...., this is for you. A fast drop in, grab out spot.
My car ash tray door was broken when I got it. Both pivot studs were snapped off and still residing in the black plastic base unit of the inner consol. I repaired the door by pushing the broken studs out of the inner base and making a pair of aluminum pivot studs for the door. The door works nice with the friction wheel working but no spring action. The rubber down stop was replaced with a screw set in epoxy ,turned in to alow the door a flush closed fit.
The mod encompasses cutting the 12v socket out completely, leaving a nice no obstruction rectangular tray hole. I used a drill and hack saw blade to cut the square 12v shelf out. I installed a 12v "marine" type socket next to the rear window defroster button. Frankly, the socket is not in a good position in the middle of the console IMO. I still wanted the illumination in the tray but the black bulb head socket that has the color window cap is way to big so I pulled that off the bulb plug and simply slipped a green rubber filter over the bulb from a auto gauge illumination set, zip tied the bulb holder to the bottom of the plastic wall as you see it with a little black tape holding the green filter in place.
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To make this happen, Bruce Budnick supplied me with a second ash tray. It entails cutting off the left side wall of one ash tray and then gluing a second ash tray section to it. The 2 sections combined should be no more than 4 inches wide across at the top. Cut the little wing off the right edge and file it smooth. Then use PVC glue in the crack wiping off the excess just before it goes hard. Let dry, then put a slight grind on the out side of the crack all the way around, then filling that ground depression with epoxy. This step will ensure a rugged job.
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Use a belt sander or file to cut the higher epoxy some what flat with the plastic walls. Only the lower section needs this flat to flat trimming.
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Once its done, you should have a nice clean job that looks something like this. The plastic sections file and disc sand very easy so take your time mating them down to a 4" over all width.
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I happen to use Thumb drives for my music and like the new improved tray for quick pocket change and thumb drives. & how can you go wrong with it being a perfect inconspicuous drop, grab & go cell phone perch! ;)