Gary Lewis Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 I was trying to think of the best way to describe it. The dimmer control and heated rear window switch are designed to be mounted on a panel then have a cover over the mounting areas so only the knob or the two buttons actually protrude from the surface. What it may end up will be a mounting panel for the two large pieces (dimmer and heated window controls) and a thin sheet metal front roughly 5/8" away from the panel and suitably reinforced with a vinyl covering in either black or faux wood that the power point will be mounted to, the hazard switch and other two will be mounted to the inner panel so that the front face of the rear window control, knob of the dimmer control and hazard switch penetrate the outer panel. The heated rear window control has a light (that will only illuminate with the top up) and If I can find a way I will have something for the hazard and dimmer controls, power point may have it's own light when opened. Ok, now I think I understand. Thanks for the explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Ok, now I think I understand. Thanks for the explanation. Ok, advice time, wisdom of the group. Here is a sketch of the opening in the trim for the switches and power point. The openings are as the actually will be made in the trim panel (probably thin metal with a vinyl covering). The only exception might be the power point, I used a small pill bottle as the outer rim is larger than the actual socket. Does this look reasonable. I had to separate the heated rear window switch and panel dimmer as both are fairly wide and the dimmer control is asymmetric toward the right side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Ok, advice time, wisdom of the group. Here is a sketch of the opening in the trim for the switches and power point. The openings are as the actually will be made in the trim panel (probably thin metal with a vinyl covering). The only exception might be the power point, I used a small pill bottle as the outer rim is larger than the actual socket. Does this look reasonable. I had to separate the heated rear window switch and panel dimmer as both are fairly wide and the dimmer control is asymmetric toward the right side. Can you move the three to the left a bit and then the power port to the right a bit? The power port looks too close to the one on its left. The way I lay things out is to figure the spaces, which is 5, divide that into the width of the panel, and use that as the spacing to the centers of the devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Can you move the three to the left a bit and then the power port to the right a bit? The power port looks too close to the one on its left. The way I lay things out is to figure the spaces, which is 5, divide that into the width of the panel, and use that as the spacing to the centers of the devices. Gary, that was exactly what I did, using the center top to bottom as the point to measure then divide by 5 to get the center to center dimensions on the 4 objects. Since it was an even 19cm or 190mm across at the center that gave me 38mm or 3.8cm left edge to ctr of dimmer, 3.8cm to ctr of hazard, 3.8cm to ctr of R def and 3.8cm to ctr of power point, then 3.8cm to right edge. Due to the relative sizes it doesn't look balanced. Since the dimmer is rather asymmetric to the right, it really can't have the rear def switch on it's immediate right, or the power point. I was also trying to think from the need to reach blindly for, panel dimmer then hazard. Rear Def is illuminated at night with the top up, top down it looses the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Gary, that was exactly what I did, using the center top to bottom as the point to measure then divide by 5 to get the center to center dimensions on the 4 objects. Since it was an even 19cm or 190mm across at the center that gave me 38mm or 3.8cm left edge to ctr of dimmer, 3.8cm to ctr of hazard, 3.8cm to ctr of R def and 3.8cm to ctr of power point, then 3.8cm to right edge. Due to the relative sizes it doesn't look balanced. Since the dimmer is rather asymmetric to the right, it really can't have the rear def switch on it's immediate right, or the power point. I was also trying to think from the need to reach blindly for, panel dimmer then hazard. Rear Def is illuminated at night with the top up, top down it looses the ground. The layout looks good to me. The only control I can see reaching for in a hurry, when I can't be looking is the hazard lights. Rear defrost and instrument dimmer seem the sort of thing you don't need to activate while in motion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 The layout looks good to me. The only control I can see reaching for in a hurry, when I can't be looking is the hazard lights. Rear defrost and instrument dimmer seem the sort of thing you don't need to activate while in motion. Bill - It must just be the difference is size. As I look at it again I can see that the distances are the same but the "feel" is different, and that has to be the size. However, each is a different shape and is also 3D, which means it'll look different when they are all together than just drawing out the openings. So I don't think you can do any better than what you've done. Go for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 The layout looks good to me. The only control I can see reaching for in a hurry, when I can't be looking is the hazard lights. Rear defrost and instrument dimmer seem the sort of thing you don't need to activate while in motion. I agree on rear defrost, but instrument dimmer yes as it can need to be changed particularly with the electronic cluster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted November 23, 2020 Author Share Posted November 23, 2020 I agree on rear defrost, but instrument dimmer yes as it can need to be changed particularly with the electronic cluster. Ok here is where I am at currently, this is the internal panel which will have a sheet metal panel with probably Vinyl put over it. Probably 2mm between, and attached with thick 2 sided tape. It will also be retained by the plastic faux wood trim panel. The two angled tabs have clip nuts on them for two retainer screws on the upper portion of the lower opening. The empty space is where the rear window defroster control goes, circle is for the power point which will be mounted to the metal panel only. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpin Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Ok here is where I am at currently, this is the internal panel which will have a sheet metal panel with probably Vinyl put over it. Probably 2mm between, and attached with thick 2 sided tape. It will also be retained by the plastic faux wood trim panel. The two angled tabs have clip nuts on them for two retainer screws on the upper portion of the lower opening. The empty space is where the rear window defroster control goes, circle is for the power point which will be mounted to the metal panel only. Nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 23, 2020 Share Posted November 23, 2020 Ok here is where I am at currently, this is the internal panel which will have a sheet metal panel with probably Vinyl put over it. Probably 2mm between, and attached with thick 2 sided tape. It will also be retained by the plastic faux wood trim panel. The two angled tabs have clip nuts on them for two retainer screws on the upper portion of the lower opening. The empty space is where the rear window defroster control goes, circle is for the power point which will be mounted to the metal panel only. Bill - It does look good. But I'm not sure I'd use double-sided tape between the panels. How are you going to get them apart if you need to? Like getting to those screw heads? How about Velcro? Or maybe gluing nuts to the back side of the outside panel and use a spacer between the two panels to get the right distance? Or, maybe glue coupling nuts on and use their length to form the distance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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