Saturday, March 18, 2017

Porsche Cayman Camera Mount

I bought a Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 action camera for recording in-car video in my 2006 Cayman S (987.1).  This camera uses the same mounts as GoPro cameras and many other action cameras. I found a good windshield suction mount that works great but sometimes its nice to get an in-car perspective.  I searched everywhere for a good mounting system.  I bought a clamp that I could use on the bar behind the seats, on the engine compartment.  However, the clamp was not rigid enough. It was also lower than I would like.
Camera clamp 

I kept searching for better options. I found one for over $400 and it still did not look great.  At this point I decided In would build one.  I went to the hardware store and bought about $35 worth of 3/4" aluminum square tubing, some 8mm all-thread, wingnuts, and washers.  I cut the tube into a 22" and 2, 5" lengths.  I removed the factory bar and installed the all-thread  into the bolt holes the original bar bolts were in.  Here is what I ended up with.




No special tools were needed.  Just a drill and saw.  It seems very rigid.  Road test coming soon.

I plan to just use this for track days and other events.  Its very simple and quick to swap the original bar back in as this camera bar is built for utility, not looks.

Here is a photo taken from the VIRB in the mount.