Cool Hidden Switch panel thing Options

[korban]

I decided I wanted some switches available in my car to do... well stuff. I thought about all kinds of locations, glove box, dash, under the headunit. Then I remembered the coin box in the center console. This seemed like a great place to put some switches.



First I needed to make a little panel to sit inside to mount the switches on. So I made a template from cardboard, and then used the template to cut a piece from perspex (Any metal or plastic would do). I put some measurements on a piece of paper next to the final panel. I'd make it a little bigger and file/sand to fit if you want a perfect fit, mine was almost perfect, but I had to glue it anyways.



I bought 4 switches, a blue 'duckbill' type, 12mm mounting holes. They look pretty good all mounted up.



And then placed them into the coin box for a test fit.



Drilled a hole for wires and threaded the wires through.



Next I needed to wireup all the switches, 4 wires to each center pole, power to one side, and ground to the other. All these I put into a 6 way connector, with heatshrink and some plastic tubing.



After connecting 6 wires, I then needed power and ground rails to join them all together.



I then needed a hole in the center console for the plug to fit through. One side has a clip to hold the unit in, so I made a hole on the other side.



The all I had to do was put it in placed, connect to the other wiring that I ran to my Link programmable ECU and viola!



Now I can control stuff, I have launch control on one switch, datalogging on another, I've set ACIS on another one to try turning it on earlier. Not sure what i'll use the fourth one for, maybe a speed limit. Now of course this doesn't seem very useful for people without an aftermarket ECU but you could use them to turn your amp on/off, aerial up down. I want to add a switch elsewhere for garage door remote even.

I'll try and get some night photos as well as they light up when on.

[korban]

it would be safer using connectors to attach the wires to the back of the switches instead of soldering them to it....
but a clean install nonetheless..
have you thought about making the fourth switch to put the car in diagnostic mode? i think it would be a good idea

I thought about using connectors but I would still have to splice/solder 4 wires together for each power and ground rail, connectors can fall off, solder doesn't and solder is cheaper than connectors. Oh and there wasn't enough clearance at the bottom of the box for connectors, not without bending the tags, which threatens the integrity of the switches. The box is closed at the bottom so nothing can shortout the connections, I think it's just as safe or even safer than using connectors. The wires all go to a 6 way connector just 10cm away, so I can disconnect the box in one go, and not forget which wire went to which switch.

Oh and i'm not using the factory ECU, so I don't have diagnostic mode. I've setup the check engine light for over temp warnings, and I can plug a laptop in to see Air/Fuel ratios, temps, inj duty cycles etc. That would be a good idea for anyone else doing this tho.

That's gorgeous! Where did you get those switches?

Thanks!

The switches are Hella Duckbill Blue: http://www.alanco.com.au/view/pg?command=c...em_id=STG-H4423
Not sure if you can get them in the US. I also looked at the Narva toggle switch: http://www.alanco.com.au/view/pg?command=c...id=STG-N60051BL but it's height would have required removing the base of the box, and then the hole beneath that etc (although now thinking about it they might have been long enough to just mount in the bottom of the box).

Just did a quick google, and Hella seems to be from Germany, but has a big US presence, here's a link for their online retailers: http://www.hella.com/produktion/HellaUSA/W...e_Retailers.jsp

haha, you should do the garage door opener... i just did that with my opener and used a small black momentary push button my my clock. Its so stealthy and James Bond like.

Pics! Where did you put your remote? Is it permanently wired? I thought about mounting a socket on the side of mine so I can disconnect it, and then have a plug with wires running to the switch. Although batteries last ages in a remote, have you thought about running it off the car so it never runs out?

This post has been edited by korban: Mar 14, 2009 - 6:19 PM

[Cutrara]

haha, you should do the garage door opener... i just did that with my opener and used a small black momentary push button my my clock. Its so stealthy and James Bond like.

Pics! Where did you put your remote? Is it permanently wired? I thought about mounting a socket on the side of mine so I can disconnect it, and then have a plug with wires running to the switch. Although batteries last ages in a remote, have you thought about running it off the car so it never runs out?

Don't have a working camera ATM, but its just 3/8" Black momentary pushbutton next to the clock. The button has 2 leads that go to the button that opens/closes the door. I was able to wrap the wires around the legs of the original button. The remote is taped to the top of the air duct (behind the clock). I thought about running it off the car but dismissed the idea quickly. If I remember correctly, the battery in my remote is 3V and lasts about 2-3 years. the car is 12v. It would be more trouble than its worth to wire resistors up when I can just pop off that panel (which I have off fairly often... I'm always tweaking my electrical system, stereo etc) and pop a new battery in.