I just picked one of these up and was thinking of using it as a cupholer mod. Possibly cutting it to fit my existing armrest.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...229995&r=0&t=0

 

did all the TII's have that weird little box that comes out?
My '90 doesn't. Not that I know of anyway.

 

Do you mean the control panel or the box under the armrest?

 

Ohhhh... I didn't recognize that as the control switch panel. I though it was some crazy little ashtray or something that was added on, like a ford probe
A cupholder mod would work quite nicely I think

 

Yeah, 2nd Gens have few locations for a cup holder mod. However, one thing to be careful about. A cup holder coming out of the center arm rest like that would put the cup directly above the switches in front of the arm rest. So, I'd try and design something to catch the drips. Otherwise you gonna end up with some really gummy switch's.

 

HOZZMANRX7,

Yeah I am going to cheat and use the miata cup holder drip catcher

The trick is getting the 48+ oz. cups in there. They're so stinking tall and top heavy even driving gently will toss them.

The miata "pop in" cup holder has 2 cups that fit coke can, coffee cups and 36-48+ oz Big Gulps. I figured I'll superglue the cups into the miata holder and then use the same tilt open trick as the OEM armrest.

The leather from the 2nd one should make it look OEM if I do it right.

Of course the easist way is to bold one of the "window clip" cupholders directly behind the armrest, but that does look OEM (and you know my OEM look obsession).

 

Best cup holder alternative I've found is (I'll try my best to describe) a hard plastic box type with double holder that has a soft plastic tongue that you would otherwise slip into the inside cease between your window and door. You can get them in various colors to compliment your OEM interior (I'm also a freak about any retrofit I do has to look OEM as much as possible).

The key trick here is that the tongue will slip between the plastic plate around your shifter and the consol and it will hold your Super Gulp in place during most any driving conditions. The only thing you have to remember is to lift it if you want to slide your passenger seat up to avoid breaking it. AND, you don't have to worry about gummy switch's. :-)

But, I have to say the set up your describing sounds really trick!

 

Hey, now I'm interested in the unit you bought for a different application. Is the holder at least 5 3/4" long, 2 3/4" wide and 1 1/4" deep?

If so, then I'm reallllllly interested in getting one of those also if it comes in Black or Grey.

 

I think the ebay armrest unit is OEM sized - or are you talking about the Miata cupholder accessory?