Evening all,
Some of you will remember
@DuncanA2 revealing his beautiful looking A1 Armrest modification into his A2 late last year. Its is an A1 Armerst with a modified bracket to fit into the A2. Additionally it had some custom trim panels fabricated to look OEM in the A2 and cover the bracket. The posts start
here. Here's a glimpse to wet your appetite though:
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I'm sure you'll agree it really is very elegant. Although the above does look truly stunning, the actual A1 Armrest isn't a cheap item. All the costs are are explained on the link above and also the link within the link but I think it was over £300 all in.
Therefore you may remember me putting my name on the line towards the end of the initial Bespoke A2 Footrest venture where I stated I would see whats possible to further modify the A2 (A1) Armrest Bracket to accept a cheaper alternative Armrest. This was in the guise of the widely available A6 C5 Armrest, deals for these can be found on eBay for a tenth of what you might pass for the A1 Armrest.
This is what was purchased to use for testing purposes:
Part Number 4B0 864 207, not a perfect Twist colour match but for £15 I was happy.
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Throughout the pause from completing the initial Footrest Group Order to a couple of months ago, I had been communicating with Graham
@audifan about this Armrest project as he had started this by himself a few years ago but it never came to fruition. He made sure everything had been considered before I took this to the next level...
To get this journey fully started, armed with the assistance/input from Graham,
@DuncanA2 sent me all the CAD Files for the bracket and trim items to be produced but they needed to be altered to suit the A6 Armrest. This is where I joined forces with Paul
@depronman again, who is our resident expert in CAD File 'wizardry' and is also very entrepreneurial. I knew he would be able to grasp what was required and make this right for us all to finally have an affordable Bespoke A2 Armrest.
After Paul had the files for a few hours he managed to LASER cut the bracket files in 3mm Plywood to start the process to understand what was required to be adjusted to marry the bracket to the A6 Armrest.
Heres some pictures of the plywood bracket items that were glued together to work with:
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Once the files were adapted to marry to the A6 Armrest, Paul milled out the revised bracket files in 3mm Aluminium as this was the obvious material to use in an A2.
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It looks absolutely brilliant but it turns out that the aluminium bracket wasn't strong enough and flexed a little so the material of choice is now 3mm Mild Steel. It will be much stronger and a little cheaper to get produced, bonus.
There are of course some draw backs to having an Armrest fitted to a RHD A2. Although the handbrake lever can be reached with the armrest down (although easily flipped up), it could be a little fiddly for the longer armed driver, this is due to there handbrake sitting slightly more closer to there (RHD) passenger seat. It shouldn't be a problem in a LHD A2, in my eyes its a small price to pay for the extra comfort and additional storage, which I now need after doing the QI Wireless Charger installation. As a team we have worked collaboratively on the bracket design to ensure it's the absolute the best it can be without compromise to the ergonomics and look. I fully understand it won't be for everyone which is fine.
How far have we got I hear you ask... The files are now complete and have already been transmitted to
Cutting Technologies (who produced the Footrests). The price for the brackets come out at £6.75 each (including VAT) with a minimum order quantity of 27.
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All 27 brackets have been paid for up front by Paul and will all be delivered to him early next week. When he receives them he will Mig Weld the bracket items together followed by painting them to prevent any future chance of rust. He will do this all for £20.
This £20 cost is just a provisional price (bracket welded and painted) and not the total sum as the trim items are yet to be finalised. Unfortunately Paul is unable to start on the trim items until he receives the brackets as he will need the bracket fitted to the vehicle and the armrest fitted to the bracket for precise measurements before he brings his 3D Printer into play. I'm sure this won't be a massive increase but I know nothing of printer filament, this is Paul's department who will add comment as he progresses. The trim items may well be offered painted but this is still not confirmed due to there varying colours of trim and Volico not yet shipping to the UK, again Paul's department and he will advise in due course.
Full fitting instructions will be hosted on this thread when the time is right.
More details will follow from Paul next week when he starts on the trim items after welding up the brackets.
So whats on offer here:
1. £20 - The built (welded and painted) bracket which are in production right now.
2. £?? - Trim items produced and sent out as a complete package with the bracket and any fixings required.
3. £?? - The above items delivered to you.
Whats not on offer here:
An A6 C5 Armrest, this will have to be obtained by yourself but there are hundreds of these vehicles in breakers yards all over the country or you can keep a look out for a bargain on the usual auction website.
Out of the 27 brackets being delivered I can only assume that 5 will already have a name on them:
@2work x2 (250 & OEM)
@depronman x1
@audifan x2
So only 22 remaining.
To register interest all you need to do is respond to this thread with the following details:
Username - quantity required - Deliver or collect (UK Mainland)
Example:
@2work - x2 - Delivered UK Mainland
Your registered interest is just interest at this time and not complete commitment (but to register early as there aren't many on offer) as I fully understand that the final price for this is yet to be understood and revealed to you. This final price will be with you as soon as physically possible. Again, like all the projects I've been involved in, this is a non profit venture and I along with Paul and Graham will be paying for our brackets and trim items. You will pay what I pay!
Please do start registering your interest and I'll build the list which will be below in Post #2.
Kind regards,
Tom
