sfields
08-09-2007, 08:21 PM
This is a little trick I did to my mercury cougar and haven't seen it done anywhere else. I use it for my ipod connection because of where the stock power source is it blocks my fifth gear to put it there. Instead I added 3 plugs into the passenger side of the center console. I didn't like the idea of just buying a 3 socket plug and having it in the car, I like the retrofit look.
To start I went and picked up a 3 socket from target, take care in selecting these. When I originally did this with the Cougar all three were separate plugs inside of the casing, this one were all on a board which was manageable, the one I picked up from Autozone had three hollow shells and a line for the hot connection side, which was unworkable for my purposes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1640.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1641.jpg
First you take the socket apart and then you must unsolder the connections so that you can take the whole board out to work with.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1642.jpg
Next bend back the prongs and unsolder the one corner so that you can remove the shells from the board.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1643.jpg
The next step is to cut the board into three pieces so that you can mount these three plugs. I used a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool, pcb boards often will break without too much effort, but you run the risk of it breaking in the holes that you might need. I figured better safe then sorry.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1644.jpg
Now go out to your lude, (DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY!) and take out the center console, I'm not familiar with the other gen's but on my fourth gen there were four Phillips head screws on either side of the console. I then used a 1" circular bit to cut out the holes in the console.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1645.jpg
I would not recommend putting them in a straight line as I did, the farthest one on the right required some cutting of the brace under the cd player. In the cougar I used more of a triangle which was a little easier to fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/DSCF1520.jpg
Ok, now put the three shells into the holes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1646.jpg
Mount them in place, I used hot glue in both cars and didn't have a problem.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1647.jpg
The next step is to put the pieces of the board back onto the ends of the shells, which one goes where is unimportant. Bend the corners back down to keep the board in place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1648.jpg
Now you must solder connections from socket to socket. The shell's must all be wired together (I soldered a wire from the corners). The shell is the negative wire by the way. All of the centers must be connected as well, and these are the hot connections.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1650.jpg
I soldered the wire that I took out of the original product from the store with the cig plug on the end and took that out to the lude to test it at this point. If all of the sockets work then you know you wired it correctly.
You must now find a way to wire these so that they get power. I just cut the plug off the end and connected the wires to the positive and ground wires used for the radio, giving the plugs constant power, for say charging a cellphone even while the car is turned off.
Now just fit your console back in, put in all the screws, reconnect your battery and you're good to go. Now you can plug up whatever you need.:biggrin:
To start I went and picked up a 3 socket from target, take care in selecting these. When I originally did this with the Cougar all three were separate plugs inside of the casing, this one were all on a board which was manageable, the one I picked up from Autozone had three hollow shells and a line for the hot connection side, which was unworkable for my purposes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1640.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1641.jpg
First you take the socket apart and then you must unsolder the connections so that you can take the whole board out to work with.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1642.jpg
Next bend back the prongs and unsolder the one corner so that you can remove the shells from the board.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1643.jpg
The next step is to cut the board into three pieces so that you can mount these three plugs. I used a cutting wheel on a Dremel tool, pcb boards often will break without too much effort, but you run the risk of it breaking in the holes that you might need. I figured better safe then sorry.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1644.jpg
Now go out to your lude, (DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY!) and take out the center console, I'm not familiar with the other gen's but on my fourth gen there were four Phillips head screws on either side of the console. I then used a 1" circular bit to cut out the holes in the console.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1645.jpg
I would not recommend putting them in a straight line as I did, the farthest one on the right required some cutting of the brace under the cd player. In the cougar I used more of a triangle which was a little easier to fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/DSCF1520.jpg
Ok, now put the three shells into the holes.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1646.jpg
Mount them in place, I used hot glue in both cars and didn't have a problem.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1647.jpg
The next step is to put the pieces of the board back onto the ends of the shells, which one goes where is unimportant. Bend the corners back down to keep the board in place.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1648.jpg
Now you must solder connections from socket to socket. The shell's must all be wired together (I soldered a wire from the corners). The shell is the negative wire by the way. All of the centers must be connected as well, and these are the hot connections.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/scooterboy17/lude/DSCF1650.jpg
I soldered the wire that I took out of the original product from the store with the cig plug on the end and took that out to the lude to test it at this point. If all of the sockets work then you know you wired it correctly.
You must now find a way to wire these so that they get power. I just cut the plug off the end and connected the wires to the positive and ground wires used for the radio, giving the plugs constant power, for say charging a cellphone even while the car is turned off.
Now just fit your console back in, put in all the screws, reconnect your battery and you're good to go. Now you can plug up whatever you need.:biggrin: