For custom car audio installers who want to move beyond doors crammed with speakers and trunks stocked with amplifiers, it may be time for a tablet dashboard.
For the first time in the aftermarket, says Mobile Solutions, it is offering a class on how to build an entire custom dash, starting from scratch with an iPad mini (removable) in the center.
The dash includes aftermarket hot rod style gauges and will be designed to fit a Chevy Nova or GM Chevelle or Camaro.
The class is part of Mobile Solutions Mastertech 3D seminars and the first session to be held November 15 through 19 is sold out. More classes on the topic will be offered at the Mobile Solutions facility in Tempe, AZ in the future.
“We want to be right in front of the technology and stay with the latest trends on lifestyle devices like the tablet that people are going to take with them. So it’s blending technology with a new level of integration,” said Mobile Solutions Bryan Schmitt.
He sees a full custom tablet dashboard costing a customer about $6,000. “For pricing we break down the project into time units; the framework, then the fiberglass work, then the shaping and molding and then the upholstery and wiring.” He figures the job at $75 an hour over two weeks.
Schmitt doesn’t advocate revamping the dashboard on newer cars, because of airbags. In that case, he suggests just adding a custom tablet section. “We don’t take out air bags to put in TVs.” So the custom dash is aimed at older vehicles.
The initial class will feature guests Tom Miller, recently named Installer of the Year by ME Magazine and Jeremy Carlson, a past Installer of the Year. Also offering instruction is Tracy Weaver an award winning upholsterer, and owner of the Recovery Room
This is an advanced class with CAD design and laser cutting as well as CNC machining.
The tablet dash shown here is was custom fabricated by Jeremy Carlson and Anthony Bicigo in a 1967 Nova that will be on display at the SEMA Show this week in Las Vegas at the Meguiars’ Booth, Central Hall.
Source: CEoutlook
