Mobile phone mountings

[bob46320]

Its a problem to get a secure mounting that will fight the vibrations of the Austin,  but I have found that a 3/8" Whit bolt secures a mobile well - Non" purists" could use a 10mm bolt. Warning, remove wedding rings etc before trying to attach the nut to the bolt as it passes through the top of the dashboard as they could short out on the bare wires at the back of the ammeter.

   

[Ivor Hawkins]

That’s the way to do it Bob, drill a whacking great hole through the phone so you can concentrate on driving!

[JoeRowing]

That's hilarious.

[Tony Griffiths]

Why do you want to mount a mobile phone in an Austin Seven? When I drive, I  ignore it and deal with any callers or messages when I have stopped.  It's nice to get away from the bl**dy thing for a bit!

It's not to answer the phone, it's to use the built-in SatNav - Google Maps, the iPhone maps App, TomTom, etc. Very effective and the first two are "free". It's probably that, in an A7, you won't be needing: https://www.pocketgpsworld.com/ but in your modern, it's a great asset.

I must live in the dark ages. I have had the same phone (a Nokia 6300) for at least 10 years or more. It has buttons on the front an makes and receives phone calls and texts. The kids all have smart phones but I am completely baffled by them. (Smart phones and the kids!)

Its a problem to get a secure mounting that will fight the vibrations of the Austin,  but I have found that a 3/8" Whit bolt secures a mobile well - Non" purists" could use a 10mm bolt. Warning, remove wedding rings etc before trying to attach the nut to the bolt as it passes through the top of the dashboard as they could short out on the bare wires at the back of the ammeter.

Reminds me of the wag who turned up at a VSCC race when the new regulation "Photographs must be securely attached to the licence" came in. Yes, he'd used a small nut and bolt.

---

In the modern I have one of those clips with a magnet on it and a steel disk stuck to the back of the case.

With a steel dash on the seven, I have found that one of those largish rare earth magnets stuck to the back has enough stick to hold the phone in place no problem. You just have to be a little careful about scratching the paint. I use a tissue to act as a barrier.

My magnet is pretty big, 60mm dia and about 15mm thick so its pretty strong. I had bought it for other purposes and it became free.

I've used a couple of the small but very powerful magnets salvaged from an old hard drive. They're covered with glued-on cloth to prevent scratching and stick the phone to the dash like whatsit to a blanket. Placed next to the glove pocket, the phone can also be run from a battery like this: storage battery like this

[Tony Griffiths]

As smartphones burn through their battery very quickly when used as a SatNav, they need a connection to the car or a dedicated storage battery. Sorting through my collection, I discovered that some USB plugs (that go into the "cigarette lighter" socket) have the ability to run from 6 volts and still charge or power a phone. As a result, they don't need a 6 to 12-volt converter that some posters have had to fit.
This is one that works, an Amazon Basics. Even when supplied with 6 volts, the connection LED connection light comes on.
There is a cheaper version, but I've no idea if this works.

[Chris KC]

Not sure if it's of interest but I attach a few snaps of the system I cobbled up to mount a satnav in the Ulster a week before my summer holiday. An old exhaust clamp was used to secure a scrap of steel sheet to the steering column behind the steering wheel. This was bent to a suitable angle and two deep "sockets" created by inserting drilled-through 1/4" bolts. I bought a waterproof satnav case off ebay, and installed a simple wire frame inside it with two "prongs" to engage in these sockets. The satnav is simply plugged into a lighter socket and zipped into the case. Very easily removed & replaced if parking the car somewhere doubtful. This worked well over a three-week trip and the only change I would suggest is rotating the steering wheel a few degrees on its splines to get a better view of the speed readout when driving straight ahead.
               

[Charles Levien]

Google maps is very useful because it knows the state of the traffic.
Edinburgh is chaos at the moment. North Bridge, the main connection between New & Old town, is closed. Without maps on phone it's impossible to find the way.

I agree with this - Driving by myself from Norfolk to Morton presented a navigational challenge. I used google on my iPhone which spoke to my headphones using Bluetooth. I didn’t need to look at the mobile. A battery pack provided backup.
Headphones also serve to keep your hat on!

Charles

[bob46320]

Cheap and simple.  Get a phone cover with a flap - sandwich the flap in the windscreen - OK until it rains ??