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Ok, so this isn't necessarily meant as a how-to, it's more just a description of what I did, in case someone is looking to do something similar.

I got a portable GPS unit (Magellan Maestro 4700) from my wife for Christmas last year, but I hate having junk stuck to my window. It's a target for thieves, and annoying while driving.This is the story of how I managed to modify the existing high-center cubby in my car to provide more of a built-in home for the unit.

I had 5 main goals in mind with this mod:

• Be unobtrusive - both to my normal driving visibility, or to prying eyes while the car is parked.
• A natural look when finished, like it belongs in the car
• Ease of access for both driver and passenger
• Completely reversible in case of getting a new unit, or selling the car
• The unit needed to be easily removable for map updates, but not APPEAR easily removable to thieves.

So, here we go.

Removed the center cubby from the dash to examine the fit. Came out extremely easy. Just 2 buttons by the radio, and the whole cover popped off.

I wanted the unit to sit something like this. I would have to pay attention to where the power cord would go, and also minimize the damage to the cubby.

Luckily, the main cubby is completely removable. This means objective 4 is met - I can simply replace the cubby if/when I change the unit.

So then how to support the unit itself? It needs even support because various parts of the screen are pressed for directions or navigation, and obviously it can't be screwed into anything.

I decided to make a dish! I bought a piece of furnace ducting from a hardware shop for <$5, and cut it apart. From those pieces, I cut out my pattern.

Folded along the edges, and voila. I intentionally left the flaps on the 4 sides for reasons you'll see later.

Then I had to cut out a square for the speaker/vent opening in the back of the GPS, as well as a slot along the bottom for the power cable to come out.

Then I started on the bracket to mount the unit to the dash. After picking up a few pieces from a local shop and trying some combinations, I decided this method was too much hassle and abandoned it.

I went back to the original metal furnace piece, and cut a rectangle which I folded the edges over for some strength.

I cut it so that this metal rectangle actually mounted directly across the cubby space, and used 2 large existing screws that were already there.

I then drilled some holes and mounted the GPS dish to the rectangular bracket (notching out a section in the bracket to match the dish hole).

Front view.

Next came the padding. Obviously the unit couldn't just sit in the metal dish. I bought 2 thicknesses of foam from a local craft store for I think $1 each. They even had sticky backs.

I ended up putting 2 layers of the thin stuff against the back  of the dish, and then using the thick pieces to wedge against the sides. Below is a picture of the test fit with some small scrap pieces. You'll also noticed I've trimmed the metal flaps a bit so they fit in the space.

Test fit in the car for placement. Originally I wanted the unit to protrude forward a bit more, but after experimenting with a few different ways, this seemed not only the easiest, but the most logical.

Unit powered on. Success!

Replacing the test pieces with longer pieces. You can also see how I cut the holes in the back padding so that the bolts could be accessed. This way, I can keep the rectangular bracket and just create a new dish if I ever change the unit.

Now the finishing. The GPS obviously needed some gaps filled since it's not as big as the original cubby. Some sort of faceplate would need to be made. I went to a local plastics store and bought 3 square feet of ABS plastic with a textured side for about $12.

It was 1/8" thick, which seemed to be about perfect.

I heated the plastic with a heat gun so I could shape it around a metal mold I made. The metal was again cut from the same furnace piece, and bent to roughly fit the hole in the dash.

Here you can see the roughly shaped plastic. The top part of the L will have a hole cut out for the screen, and the bottom part of the L covers up the top of the radio. I think the textured plastic matches really well with the factory dash.

I then added some side pieces to cover the gaps on the side. Now, remember when I said I kept those flaps on the GPS dish for a reason? It was because I knew I would need to somehow attach the plastic faceplate to the dash. Some velcro on those metal flaps did the trick perfectly.

Then I used some automotive door edge molding (about $15) along the edges of the plastic to cover up any inconsistencies in the cuts. I also used the molding around the inside edges of the hole I cut for the screen to help finish the look.

I've made some more adjustments to the faceplate for a better fit since I took these pictures, but you get the idea.

And there you have it. One thing I didn't really show is that the power cable runs down behind the dash, and just plugs into my lighter socket. Once I'm happy with the product, I'll wire that directly to the dash.

I've also realized that I'll have to add an on/off switch once it's wired in. Although the GPS senses when the car is shut off and then powers down, the GPS takes about 30 seconds to boot up before it can sense anything. So if someone (say a mechanic) turns the car on to move it, and turns it off again in less than 30 seconds, the unit will keep powering up and and then not realize the car has been turned off again and stay on indefinitely. By having the on/off switch, I can just disable the unit while the car is in for service or whatever.

I've also decided that the plastic was a bit of a pain to work with to get nice seams, so I'm tempted to use the plastic faceplate as a template to make a fiberglass mold. However, I'll leave that for another day.

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