Complicated, Ugly, & Over-engineered Car Phone Holder for Ford Fusion UK by Cargy

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This project has consumed hours of my time, metre upon metre of filament, and had at least 5 redesigns, before ending up as this monstrosity. Now I know how Ford felt with the Edsel!
Speaking of Ford, this is a Ford Fusion. But the UK Ford Fusion isn't a patch on its American cousin. Where the American Fusion (2006-12) was a vehicle with reasonably nice lines, a vehicle at home in town or country, with lines gently reminiscent of the VW Bora, the European Fusion was pretty much a bread van with windows! I believe Jeremy Clarkson once described it as a Fiesta in a top hat, and the most pointless car ever! Which is why I got it for a ludicrously small amount of money. That miniscule sum is the ONLY reason I've kept it around for the last 5 years, despite my loathing!
One of my biggest niggles with the car is that there aren't any locations that are practical for a phone mount. The vent grilles are horrendous ball things, totally useless for clip-in mounts. I also tried a sucker-type sceen mount, but the angle and depth of the screen meant the phone would either flap about like a freshly caught fish, or rattle itself to pieces against the top of the fascia.
But there is one saving grace with this car (and I think you've worked out that I'm not particularly fond of it!), and that is storage bins. You could store a complete Christmas dinner in my car, and still have room for half a dozen Easter eggs!
One of the bins sits in the centre of the facia, has a dinky little pop-up lid, and would be an excellent storage space for CDs (if anyone still used the things!).
Ever since I've had the car, I've toyed with the idea of converting it to some sort of car computer, or maybe simply making it hold some extra instruments. Or something. Anything!
When my brother introduced me to the Waze application on my phone, I realised that built-in GPS was a waste of time when you can have an up to the minute navigation service, free of charge. ...Provided, of course, you have a decent place to put your phone! Aaaargh!
So Sketchup 8 (from the days of Noah) was pressed into service and my 3D printer was soon churning out a variety of experimental mounts. I was hoping to create something that doesn't look stuck on, so my idea was to use the existing lid in the semi-open position, and to utilise the space this provided. Ahhh, the road to hell, and good intentions etc etc!
After weeks of experimentation, more revisions than an exam candidate, and the annoying need to add a strengthening plate for the phone mount (I could have reworked it yet again, but...), this is the final result. I hate it, but it works. My dreams of a streamlined body that looked like it was always there has failed miserably. But at least I have somewhere to put my phone, and I even shoehorned in a buck converter USB port to keep it charged.
I could go on redesigning it, ad-nauseum, but I've decided to make the best of a bad job, and live with it. It'll do!
Its only saving grace is that the vehicle did not have to be modified in any way (unless you count running a feed for the USB). The whole thing can be removed, in around 20 seconds, and my fascia is back to stock. This is a nice touch if I plan to sell the car, but I dunno why I bothered really as I doubt any sane individual is going to rush up and buy the car from me any time soon!
...Oh, and I nearly forgot: You still have the full storage space available that you started with , albeit harder (but not impossible) to get at. So I suppose that counts for something too.