Home made ?

Early Bay Forum

Help Support Early Bay Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Velgreeno

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
295
Reaction score
158
Hey folks. Im looking at under dash trays just to get some extra space and actually looking at making it from scratch and wondering who has made their own ? I know companies do them but not for those prices and the miser in me says meh i can make that myself so why not 😆. Ive got an idea of what i want to do but need a little inspiration. I could follow the pattern of trays on offer but hmm dont know ha. 🙂👍.
 
Hey folks. Im looking at under dash trays just to get some extra space and actually looking at making it from scratch and wondering who has made their own ? I know companies do them but not for those prices and the miser in me says meh i can make that myself so why not 😆. Ive got an idea of what i want to do but need a little inspiration. I could follow the pattern of trays on offer but hmm dont know ha. 🙂👍.
If you’re local to Bucks I have some plastic under trays yet to be fitted.
You could template off those…
 
Hey folks. Cheers for the replies . Well just looking today and im already designing but i was looking today in my parts shed and i remember an old beetle parcel shelve i got years ago. I was in an old scrap yard and after a part for my Beetle and the guy took me to this old Sherpa van and it had all VW parts in the back. I had the lot for 50. Couldn't leave it all there now could i 😉😆. Im going to see if i can modify it to my bus. Its quite tatty but i am going to see what i can do with it. 🙂🤙.
 
I do believe I have an original one somewhere in the deepest darkest recesses of the dungeon, not for sale though. It’s like a black external steel frame with mesh stretched over it but the mesh is a little manky with a hole here and there and possibly rotten too. So here’s the plan. I’ll dig it out later on tonight and hold it up in the van for a fit. Then I’ll photograph it from above and take a zillion measurements and then sturdy can all make our own. The outer frame seems to be doing all the work and from memory it’s about half an inch high but I dont know how thick, I’ll find that later, the steel is covered by a black plastic that envelops the frame but totally like a sleeve but has a slot right through it for the mesh. The big issue here is we want it fairly ,sturdy but still feeble enough to be crushable in the event of a rhinoceros attack at the front of the van. Apparantly they get quite violent on warm days especially in Scotland when the midges are playing up. So strong enough but crushable which is perhaps why the plastic versions are so frail if you manage even to fit one without recourse to super glue, and the bamboo ones should fold like a 1970s Fiat and the one that I have that’ll be as strong as the bar lid in fools and horses.
So later on I’ll pull it out and we can start punching ideas about and brainstorming various versions and we can all make our own from what we’ve all got hanging about in the garage.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,, should be fun kiddos :)
 
Showing the soft rubber profile, passenger facing. This fits tightly against the steel frame but is levered off in pic to show profile. Harder plastic on the back of the frame in top picture. Also in top picture you can see the hook clips that hold the mesh to the frame and also bite into the soft rubber a little to keep the rubber in place.

IMG_3745.jpegIMG_3743.jpeg
 
There could now be a zillion variations created by our lot. The only thing I think that’s worth mentioning is to form something that’ll be collapsible in an awkward situation (bump) So to stay away from solids like plywood, sterling / chip board etc etc.. Ive got an idea or two but we’ll see what crap I can find in the garage. :eek:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,cast iron ain’t an option here :)
 
One other thought might have just jumped into my head .
Considering how nice and taught that ancient bit of nett is even after all these years and a big hole. I’m wondering if the frame was made slightly distorted a bit just like it had been pumped up on one side then used the clipped mesh to straighten it out thus keeping it under tension.:unsure:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,sounds feasible :):rolleyes::)
 
I have a bamboo shelf that I've never fitted, for one in a case of an accident my legs are toast (you could argue that would be the case regardless but knees almost touch) and two its in the way for Frank to sit underneath. If anyone wants it let me know and I will try and find it
 

Latest posts

Top