Hey rotards, i come to you with great writeup. Originally from japan http://www.FC3C.jp I have translated most of it, and it hardly did me any good so ill do my best to lay it down for you. Remember by no means did i do this myself, but ill try to answer other questions to the best of my ability without contacting original modder.

The Subjects cup holders came from a 04 Volkswagon Lupo GTI


A decent substitute cupholder would be a 2000 Audi A6 which is virtually the same dimensional wise. Which can be purchased on ebay for cheap. be sure to purchase 2.


To start we will take off the vent pannel which clips into place to expose the ventilation path.


Here we can see the ventilation path, this is the part that will need some cutting to fit the cupholders into slot.


Start by measuring how much of the vent path to cut by measuring the width and length of the cupholders main body behind the push pannel. If you cut to much you will risk being to sloppy or the cupholder will not be stable. If you do not wish to cut the vent path you must build a bracket which we will come to on a later date. So start small when trimming down.


This is as far as you should go as an extreme, any more than this you might run into stability issues. If your innovative and cut more you can space it out with small cuts of cardboard.


Lets take our vent assembly that you pulled earlier, and inspect it you will notice that the vent fins can be pulled out via plastic rod/clip.


Here the fins have been pulled and cleaned up of unnecessary objects.

 

Now lets start our test fit, inspect the push mechanism and be sure it will fit flush with the vent, a little tight is fine, just start trimming down in small portions with a file to get it nice and snug.



Now that its in place, we have to stabilize the holders body with spacers. firm thin blocks of cardboard, wood would work, as well as multiple sheets of double sided tape if you prefer to have adhesion. I believe original modder used wood and glue.


Now lets put it back together, snap it back in place, you might find it difficult in certain areas so you either have to work it in or cut additional plastic. (remember small amounts)


Test its stability and function, if you find its to wobbly you might need to add more spacers, if it starts to fall under weight of a full supersized drink then you might have cut to much in the ventalation path and would need to build something in the back to hold it firm or build a bracket.


Final look,


Compiled by: WingsofWar
Credits/ Mod/ Write-up and Photos go to http://www.FC3C.JP
Translation help and Direction : Good friend in Japan Yuki Takihara

 

that's sick. it looks very clean. i just bought my fc recently and was very disappointed when i realized there were no cupholders. i very well might end up doing this!

 

Lets see a vid of the cup holders in action. I am curious as to how secure the cup is over bumps and such.

 

Great writeup. Thanks for doing it.

 

Hmmm...

The location seems awkward and compromising the ventilation seems a bit excessive just to fit some cupholders.

 

Not really a compromise for all the people that pull their AC though. Although I agree the position could be better, I can't imagine how annoying it would be going on a roadtrip with a big gulp sitting in the middle of the windshield. I just use this thing I picked up at Walmart, has two cupholders and a little storage area in the middle that I use to hold my ipod, and it wedges between the seat and the console. Doesn't look anywhere near as nice as this, but it works.

 

I don't have AC but heat still flows through that vent- and is much appreciated in the winter.
I don't think a Big Gulp would fit in those holders anyway, the weight would probably be too much, not to mention the size.

 

I have one of these in my car.



As i bet most people have removed there original double din stereo then you'll have the space for one of these.

Here it is in my car.
The top draw is a tray and the bottom one is the cup holder. No worries with having drinks in there and changing gears. Also ignore the wayward turbo timer in the right of the pic It is normally hidden.

 

Great write up. What car is this one from? /\

 

I got mine from a ford Taurus. $5 from a pick-n-pull. I have heard that some Vulvos have the same setup. Probably other ford products as well.

 

not bad wingsofwar.. great alternative to broken center vents, so hard to find and brittle *i bought one from someone here and they broke on their way from shipping*

Id consider doing one side, at least if i have a passanger, they can hold their own drink lol..
imagine the weight of 2 big gulps on that thing!

 

see, you guys are looking at it all wrong. sure your vents won't work as well, but in the summer, you can keep your drinks really cold if you have a/c! or your coffee hot in the winter!

where do they sell these?

 

Just look for a Ford Taurus (or a "Vulvo", apparently) with vultures on the roof.

 

KICK ***!! im book marking this ****.

 

Very nice, deff gonna look into this in the furture

 

To answer some of the questions:

Stability and handling weight isnt an issue that you think it is. The entire body of the cupholder is encased in a long plastic container that extends to the rear of the vent. when you add weight to the cupholder, pressure will be be exerted to the rear top portion. As seen here


Knowing this, take a look at whats been done here.
The 2 center tabs will then put stress in the center for any additional movement.
along with the metal tabs that the fin assembly has



If you do it correctly and stabilize the holders as seen on the writeup i dont see how it wont hold 2 7-11 big slushies.

As far as airflow, it doesnt fully block the path of air that comes out, notice that the top portion of the vent still has room to allow hot or cold air to come out. The only thing you will be missing is the ability to control the path of flow because the fins are gone.

 

what im more shocked on is how beautiful those gauges look....
TwEaK

 

Now add a pictorial of how, after pulling the plastic rod, putting the vents back in in case you decide you want to put it back.

I've got twoS5 vents I want to make one good one out of.

 

In the US, the Late 1990's/Early 2000's Audi A4 or A6 has those same cup holders... I believe they may also be in the Passat.

I dunno. I don't like German cars. I'd be doing the Taurus cupholder mod.

 

Like that, did you?

It's a product of my misspent youth coupled with my love of twisting the Kinks English-thanks George Carlin.

And remember, the only thing less manly than a Vulvo is the Ford Tortoise.

 

now for a write up on the gauge cluster.

 

dude that is simply bad ***. pretty as hell do. I just may do such a thing. Thanks for all the effort with the pics.

 

yes yes whats with the cluster gauge??? better than the black and orange type

 

i actually just bought a set of center ac vents for $10 from YLM motorsports in elmonte/duarte... good stuff not as brittle as the ones i broke in my car... but the only problem is the vertical flaps all dont swivel the same way.... looks better than having broken ones though lol

sorry to thread jack =]