DIY: In Car Camera Mount (for you autox'ers)

Coutts

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So lately i have been pondering the idea of fabbing up a camera mount for my car. I thought why not use some resources laying around the house. So this is what i came up with. I took these pics after the thing was made so pretend the holes aren't already there.

Tools Needed:
* Old Tripod
* Drill and drill bits
* Camera
* Metal File
* About 25-30 mins of your time

First find an old tripod laying around your house, this one i found is broken, the swivel head is falling off so ill have to glue it back on.


Next remove the swivel head and the rod its connected to from the tripod, it should just all pull out.


Now go get into your car and hold the swivel head assembly against your passenger side head rest and see where you want the camera to sit. Mark with a pencil where the headrest legs are on the swivel rod so you know where to drill your holes.


Time to go to the work bench area and start drilling. Start with a small drill bit and work your way up, if the drill becomes jammed (happened alot with me) just reverse it out and try again, you'll figure out a technique for it. Continue working your way up until the head rest leg fits through the hole.


After the first hole is done move onto the next one, remember to drill through to the other side but try to make it go through straight and not on an angle.


Flip it over and make sure the holes on the other side are good, again test fitting the headrest leg through the hole.


Measure the distance between the holes and the distance between the head rest legs to make sure its all good.


Test fit the headrest through both holes and make sure it all fits right. Also use a file of some sort to file down the edges of the holes (didn't take a picture of this) because those will be razor sharp and you dont want to cut yourself.


Put the swivel assembly on the headrest and put the headrest back on the seat and make sure it fits right.


Push the headrest down all the way to make sure the mount fits snug.


View from the front


From the rear (woot motiv race :thumbsup: )


Heres a short test drive vid, i just drove around my neighborhood really quick. Sorry about the camera pointing up too far at the end, my swivel head part is broken and i need to glue it to the stick or something to make it stay (ignore the clicking my dam camrea always does that after i upload a vid to my computer):


I spent a total of $0 on this and it took me about 25 minutes of me rushing before work (wanted to see if it worked). I don't know if this would pass tech at autox but it looks solid and its not going anywhere so long as the headrest isn't. The best part about this is any camera that can accept a tripod mount plate (screws into bottom of camera) can fit on this mount. This can be done in any car as long as it has removable headrests. It would be sweet to see some in-car vids from autox this year, also thought maybe snow drifting might look neat on it. Tell me what you guys think and any input is welcome. Enjoy :thumbsup:
 

xxsenceo89x

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i was thinking of doing this with an old headrest i have sitting around.
:thumbs up
 


Coutts

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well the cool thing is that its removeable, just pop the head rest off, pull the mount off the headrest and put the headrest back in. :thumbs up
 

Szady

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I made a mount like that....cept with a peice of fake wood. Works pretty well. I never thought about using a tripod for it tho. Nice thinking!
 

Sundown

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There are some events where you wont be able to use that camera mount for safety purposes. Imagine what would happen if you went around a hard turn and your head was thrown into that rod.. That's going to be their argument. But for driving around in the city or whatever, that would be fine im sure..


I do like the idea though.. I may have to try it :thumbup:
 

Evan.

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Wasn't there a diy for using the rear shelf as a camera mount? Some removable "cap" and then mount. I think I liked that one best, but I still give you props for innovation on this one.
 

Coutts

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There are some events where you wont be able to use that camera mount for safety purposes. Imagine what would happen if you went around a hard turn and your head was thrown into that rod.. That's going to be their argument. But for driving around in the city or whatever, that would be fine im sure..


I do like the idea though.. I may have to try it :thumbup:
i can see how this woudl be a probly but its actually behind my head, the passener seat sits back faarther than the driver seat in my car (i set closer), in order for me to actually operate the camera wen its on the mount i have to put my seat back all the way. But yeah i can see if hte car rolled or something it wouldnt be very stable.
 

wetcmonkey

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they have tep suction cups made for camera mounts they are pricey though iw as looking for some my self.
 


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