420R in New York

[CBuff]

Baubles and bolt ons continue. 
 

Not sure if this is in the appropriate section. Thought I would stick with my thread but John if you think elsewhere feel free. 
 

I have been running with my go pro mostly to have the footage. But there are some rides which I don’t necessarily want to run the go pro on. But I have gotten paranoid that that would be the one ride I get into an accident and have no footage of it. So I have been looking at some type of dash cam. Something that just does it’s thing without me thinking about it. 
 

Since I run aero and windshield the usual dash cams didn’t seem to cut it.  I looked at a couple of motorcycle cams and it came down to innov k7 and the vantrue  f1. They seemed close in spec but I ended up going with the vantrue

https://www.vantrue.com/products/f1?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21406118547&gbraid=0AAAAApFeVW861eMfk2QFgghzpO46VTEHh&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlMfABhCWARIsADGXdy-sQqFEHZULYC9OIyfPGwbINKdPGQ6sZFn8exB8Zikuk3N1b3-qHPUaAl0IEALw_wcB

I thought about mounting cameras in the cockpit, by roll bar etc but really wanted it out of sight and not get bumped in the cockpit or roll bar.  Crossed my fingers that the cabling would be long enough for the install since you can’t get extensions apparently.  
 

Since you need to pull the sd card to grab lots of footage (you can download certain clips via your phone). I want the main unit accessible but out of the way.  Under the arm rest seemed like a good place again assuming the cabling reaches ). 

 

 

Cameras 

the rear one seemed pretty straightforward. Just stuck to the fuel tank cabled up thru the drive shaft tunnel to main unit. It’s a 1080p camera. You can also pull it up on your phone if you want a reverse camera. 
 

The view

 

the front camera was a bit trickier. Not wanting it on the scuttle.  One idea was to mount it under the headlight but I couldn’t make it look right to me. The other idea was to mount it behind the grill in the nose cone. The challenge would be to secure it in there, have it detachable for nose cone removal , and how to see thru the grill. 
 

I found a small scrap of aluminum and drilled some mounting holes and painted it 

I drilled one hole and then a rounded a slot for the other screw so that I could adjust the up and down as I would be mounting the camera on its side. The camera mount only adjusts up/down so when mounted sideways it is left/right.  
I chose the side of the nose cone as the lip is much smaller than the bottom and also keeps it away from the radiator.  Mounting at the top made the detachment point hard to get to. 
 

 

the nail biter part was cutting the hole in the grill. But if I totally jacked it I could get a replacement relatively easy.  For now I just framed it with a 1” rubber grommet.  It works well. The ultra wide angle camera (4K front) does catch a good bit of it into the frame.  But it doesn’t bother me too much. If I pull footage from it I would likely crop and zoom in a bit anyway which would cut that black circle out.  The 4K should allow that.  But again I will use the go pro for the most part for any footage I really want to use. I could enlarge the hole and move the camera further out but for now I am happy with it 
 

 

The pigtail from the camera just reaches the back of the nose cone so I can disconnect it to remove nose cone. lots of zip ties for the cable. 
 

since I already did an auxiliary 12v power system with lots of spare fuses I just put the ign and constant power thru that.  

 

The remote for the cam is attached to the above the knee trim panel on drivers side. Easily reachable with harness on to trigger pictures or saving files etc.  it also has the gps unit and speaker for alerts etc. 

 

all in all I am happy with it thus far.  It does have some WiFi software glitch that I am trouble shooting but don’t think it’s an install error. But I may be corrected on that.  

Edited May 1, 2025 by CBuff

[KnifeySpoony]

Hmm I'm confused. You mounted the component underneath the tunnel top? You have to pull the tunnel top to download data? On my car this would be a serious inconvenience. I guess with your spec you don't have to unbolt a seat to remove the tunnel top?

[CBuff]

You can pull files via WiFi on your phone.  If you were doing any serious amount of downloading you would want to pull the card out.  
 

It’s a new built 420 so the tunnel top is just held in with two screws (which I dont think actually engage any thing and aren’t really needed).  To fully remove it you need to fully engage the parking brake and remove the shifting knob.  But the unit is duo locked down. I can just raise the rear of it without dealing with the parking brake or shifter and slide it out.   No seat removal needed.  
 

that photo of the unit is with just the rear raised (parking brake and shift knob intact).  Sorry the photo is upside down (I guess I need to reread the idiots guide to uploading )

Edited May 1, 2025 by CBuff

[KnifeySpoony]

Ah ok doesn't sound too bad. With the s3 and tillets, the tunnel top is locked in by the seats. So much so that i never bothered with the aft fixing screws during my build. 

[CBuff]

I have sv with leather seats. The Cadillac of caterhams. 

[CBuff]

More baubles and bolt ons. In my continue quest to understand more about the car.  I came across this decidedly cheap tire pressure and temp monitor.  For $29 I thought I would check it out.  First test of it seems like it works.  Still not sure. May use it for a while till I understand how the temp comes up and tire pressure is effected.

 

 https://a.co/d/hxHCG2o

Edited September 29, 2025 by CBuff

[NSXguy]

You're gadget master!!

I will order one as well and play around with it. Comparing values against other stand alone gauges. I can see this being a neat tool on track if the data proves reliable. 

[Vovchandr]

I use on the trailer to monitor for blowouts 

[CBuff]

It seemed to be tracking correctly. I was shocked that my right rear wheel was about 10-15 deg warmer and 1-2 psi higher. I assume because of the exhaust.  
 

once I get a feel for how it heats up and psi rise on street and track I can see myself not using or needing it. But currently I am getting more insights so I’ll keep it.  $30 buck and more blinky things for now. Why not. 
 

they have solar powered and hardwire versions. I already relocated the cig outlet to that place. So I went with that setup. Easy to pull it later 

Edited September 30, 2025 by CBuff