91-94 center console wireless charging mod

[SmokingRocks]

Wheels started turning today. I hate having to plug my phone in and I have the low old style center arm rest..... which has a perfect dish shape to hold a phone in... got to brainstorming about installing a wireless charge pad under the center part of the rest.. dimensions of the sunken area is 4.5”x8”

more to come

 

[SmokingRocks]

So this will be delivered Friday. Expect to see some tinkering this upcoming week.

 

[brettk]

Great idea. I did something similar, but much more low effort. It works great, just not as neat as I’d like it to be. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

 

[Rifleman]

You may run into a problem with you're plan of mounting the charger underneath the center consoles vinyl cover. I just bought my wife a wireless charger, come to find out it won't charger her phone unless she first removers the phones THIN plastic protective cover. So i bought her another charger, and it had the same issue, it won't charge her phone unless the phone is laying against the charger.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I have had this idea for a long time. I am looking forward to your results. I even kept the center console from my totaled 91 and swapped it into the new 97. I couldn't get used to the new padded plush leather console in the 97.

 

[SmokingRocks]

You may run into a problem with you're plan of mounting the charger underneath the center consoles vinyl cover. I just bought my wife a wireless charger, come to find out it won't charger her phone unless she first removers the phones THIN plastic protective cover. So i bought her another charger, and it had the same issue, it won't charge her phone unless the phone is laying against the charger.

Yea that is a concern, I’m going for the higher power charger I can get to hopefully have it push through.
We have several wireless chargers in the house and all push through our cases.

Regardless I realize that’s probably my biggest challenge so I’m going to have to get aggressive with the Dremel and mount the face of the charger as tightly as I can against the lid.

and if it doesn’t work, we’ll then I’ve got another WiFi charger

 

[leonard_nemoy]

I wonder if you could drill a grid of small holes in the lid, say 1/16" or even smaller and glue pieces of brass rod in the holes to allow the current to flow through.

 

[george.arnold]

I use a MotoPowerPuck on an X-Grip. You could also retrofit one of their wireless chargers into a lid like you are looking for.

 

[SmokingRocks]

The plastic is pretty damn thick, that could cause be a problem.

 

[deltapine1]

I actually pulled the console lid out of a 2018 GMC Sierra with this in mind. The recessed charging area looks like it is close to the same size as the early 80 series console lid recessed area. Threw the GMC console under the workbench.

That was as far as I got with this idea. I am watching this thread and will have to pick up and early console lid.

 

[Speedytech7]

The plastic is pretty damn thick, that and that could cause be a problem.
View attachment 2546191

I got an Anker Qi charger from target that claims penetration through up to 5mm of phone case... so maybe if you dismantle the anker charger and discard its case which probably has a thickness of its own you'd have enough to mount under the depression in the cruiser console

 

[SmokingRocks]

got the charger and tested it with a 3mm thick plastic clip board. It works. More to come

 

[SmokingRocks]

Start by marking out the area to cut, I chose to mount it in the center-aligned with the front of the lid.

Then get the dremel out and go to work, take care to not cut into the back of the tray

Clean it all up with a sharp razor blade, check the surface with a straight edge (trim any high spots) and fit the charger. Once you are happy with the fit, make sure it's working by testing the charger. If all is good then super glue it in place.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Now it's time to start making the backer plate. Use cardboard to make the template

I elected to use tabs and slots to hold one side of the plate in and the other side will use nuts and bolts. I also rolled all of the edges to increase the strength of the plate and make the edges look a bit better.

If you are like me and don't have your own break you can make your own out of 2x4's and a couple clamps or vice. Cut one of the 2x4's with a skill saw lengthwise at a 45 degree or greater angle, this will give you the break. Then use a smooth hammer and a hard flat surface to finish the hem. If your vice is wide enough you may beable to break the metal in the vice.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Once you've gotten all the hems done, then test fit it.

Drill two holes where you want to have your bolts then prime and paint.

Now we need to have something to keep pressure on the charger because I don't trust glue long term. So I made a small plate the size of the charger bent the edges up 90 degrees to provide it rigidity then mounted two springs to it. The springs will push against the main plate, I put a bit of heat shrink on the spring to keep it quiet.

You can also see where I 1min epoxied nuts inside the lid so I can bolt the plate down.

 

[SmokingRocks]

Now to make something to hold the phone in the charge zone. I have a bunch of carpet leftover from when I covered my storage box so I just used that, cut it to fit the phone and hot glued it in place.

I already have a USB charging block mounted inside of my center console so I just plugged it into that, but if you don't have that it's easy to add. There are several unused plugs under the center console that have ignition switched12v power that you can tap into.

done and working

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Wow very nice. Well done

 

[brettk]

Very nice!

 

[GA682]

Solid work. I've been wanting to do something similar, but I'm not sure about where I want it. I've been going back and forth between the shifter console and the center console. I've even considered getting a padded console lid and putting it in the small upper console.

 

[67cruiser]

But if you get a call, you'd have to take your eyes WAY off the road to see who it is or just to even answer.... To me it's not worth it.
I just got a ProClip USA bracket and mounted it very near my eye line - happy as a clam