alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 They're not much, but here's a photo-chronicle of my project. So I carry quite a bit of gear in my car. Stuff like my rappelling gear, tow straps, first aid stuff, camera gear, and so on flaps around in my car and the sound of it has been pissing me off, so I'm building a small cage like thing to hang stuff on. Cleaning out the car. Here you can see the amount of crap I carry around. Lol Ropes, towels, harnesses, gloves, yadda yadda yadda. More gear. The ammo can has tools in it. This was my old setup. Bungee cords with knots tied in it where I had carabiners hooked to. Fancy, I know. Other side. Pulled the upper side panel to make a template off of. Priority Mail boxes make the best templates. You can peel the folding things and stick 'em to the table, and they don't move. Try it. Works great. This is what I'm building the thing out of. Old, rusty, HUGE nails. We have a bucket of them in the garage. Why? I have no idea, but I'm using 'em because they're here and I'm broke. I was surprised how easy they were to bend. Working my way around the outside. I marked a grid every 2", give or take, for the center bars. They probably won't come out perfectly, but I'm fine with that. ...to be continued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Continued... I'm wire brushing all the rusty nails prior to welding. Here's a before and after. Working my way around the outline, wirebrushing as I go. Takes a while, but oh well. Tacked the frame together and started working on the vertical bars. And so on... The longer spans I'm having to make out of two pieces. The square will be cut out so my cargo cover thing will be able to be installed/removed. Getting further. FINALLY made it all the way across with the vertical bars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Started on the horizontal bars. I'm just tacking them on the back. Nothing fancy. This is what it'll look like from the front. Moving on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Made it all the way up with the horizontal bars. Should look something like this. Made little brackets to tie into existing threaded inserts on the body of the assfinder. I'm not seam welding the pieces together. Only tacking them. After all, it's made to hold gear, not protect from zombie attacks or anything. It's cool and all, but I needed some way to hold my first aid stuff. This first aid box has been kicking around the garage for a bit, so I'm using it. Wire brushed spots in the back to weld brackets onto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Bent a piece of stainless (because it's what I had) to make hangers to go over the bars on the "cage." Made a single hook, and cut it in half to make two. And welded the bastards on. Works like so. Note the bottom hook to keep it from swinging around. Holds firm. I can shake the hell out of the cage and it stays firm. Example of how stuff will hang on it. Satisfied with that, I started painting it with rubberized undercoating, which had been in my garage for 24058u230942384 years and never dried, so I wirebrushed it off and hit it with black krylon fusion. I would have bedlinered it, but I'm currently broke and this was a 0 dollar project. I also painted the back of the first aid kit in red (didn't have white) so nothing rusts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Horrible phone photo, but you get the idea. That's a rappelling rope, harness, two belay devices, first aid kit, folding chair, folding shovel, bayonet knife, small camp hammer, jumper cables, 3/8" drive socket set, fire extinguisher, gas can, ammo can filled with tools, a quart of oil, roll of duct tape, 4x6" tarp, and the two bags at the bottom have a change of clothes, funnel and rag for oil, mechanics gloves, and a beach towel all on that one side of the vehicle. All of it is secured, so it won't swing around and make a lot of noise, so I'm pretty excited about how much room it frees up. Most of this stuff I use frequently, so I'm happy that it's all easily removable in a situation where I'd need them, rather than packed away to where I'd have to dig through a bunch of totes to get to it. I'm still working on the other side, so I'll post photos of it when i get it finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Alright, round two: Started bending and laying out the nails. Made it all the way around. Started welding them up. The notch is for the cargo cover thing. Working my way across on the vertical bars. ...Further. Made it to the end, then ran out of welding wire. Luckily there's a lowes less than a mile away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Extended the bottom down the side panel. Originally I was going to mount an ammo can on that with my tools, but I'll probably use a molle bag of some sort. Also started on the horizontal bars. Decided to add a few more hooks off the side. Wierd looking, but it fits. No hook. And we have a hook. ...to be continued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 General layout. The crooked bar at the bottom is going to be cut up, anyway. Bracing the bottom part. Added another hook. I'll stretch bungee cords between them or something. Started on the brackets for it by drilling a few holes in 1/4" plate. Cut the plate into 3 little brackets and made little arms to go between the mounting points and the cage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Cut them to length and tacked the sucker together in the car. Used priority mail boxes and an old comforter to protect the car from the hot welds. And now to start on the overhead rifle rack. Started by using a contour gage to make templates of each side and cut them out of a scrap of priority mail box. Bent the nails to match the templates. Tacked them up in the car and took it back to the garage to seam weld it. Whipped up some hooks like a standard gun rack. The tops are shorter since the rifle will sit on the bottom ones. Bolted it into my car (...again) and checked for fitment, then braced the rifle rack, since the nails are pretty easy to bend. braced the other side. And the finished product prior to paint with my sks project on the rifle rack as a demo. My windows have that black paint around the edges, so, between the paint and the roof, the gun can't be seen from the outside easily, if at all. The only time it'd be in there would be when I'm headed to the range, anyway, so not a big deal there. I'll post photos of it bolted in tomorrow. Right now it's hanging in my garage with a coat of black paint drying on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thats some really nice work! But won't stuff still rattle when hanging from the racks? I guess it won't slide around this way. Good job! James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devonianwalk Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Yeah, nice job and great idea. Welcome to NPORA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teixeira Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
captandy Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 awesome post...wish i had your garage...... went from my own "MAN CAVE" garage to an apartment! :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Way to go, MacGyver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramdala Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 (edited) This is a really good work! Edited March 14, 2012 by ramdala Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 Thanks, guys! As far as stuff rattling, everything's secured top and bottom so it can't swing, with the exception of the jumper cables, but they're going to get moved to the other side, anyway so i'll secure them there. I mean, there are some things like climbing gear on carabiners that I can't really do much about, but i'm thinking i'll put heat shrink tubing on the carabiners (the cheap ones, not the expensive climbing ones) to reduce the metal on metal clang, but, honestly, nothing really rattles enough to be noticable...yet. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 Nice fab work, man! Great way to reclaim storage space. Here's a tip about the location of your fire extinguisher. It would be very unfortunate to have a need to use the extinguisher, only to have it be inaccessible or takes too long to reach because it's in the cargo area. If the extinguisher small enough (I can't tell from the photos), consider mounting it horizontally below the front of the passenger seat. I found a small ABC extinguisher and mounted it there in my Pathy. It's very easy to reach from the driver's seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tungsten Posted March 13, 2012 Share Posted March 13, 2012 looks like you nailed it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 13, 2012 Author Share Posted March 13, 2012 I've been considering making a mount that comes off the back of the center console to hold it where the rear cupholders would still be accessible but haven't found a setup i'm happy with, since mine's a bit too long to fit under the seat. It is on my projects-to-tackle-in-the-near-future list, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Annnnnd we have a rifle rack in a car. (Disclaimer: I don't keep my AR in my car unless I'm headed to the range, so please don't break into my car looking for it. Mmkay? Great.) I should also add that, even though it looks like the muzzle is pointed at the driver's head, it is not. it's about 5 inches or more above my head, plus I don't keep a round in the chamber, or a loaded magazine in it. That'd be stupid. I also moved my tools around a bit. Picked up this bag at a pawn shop today for zero dollars, and it seems like it'd work much better than the ammo can haphazardly filled with sockets. Most of the tools I'm putting in the bag. I added a lot to what the ammo can had, and I'm pretty confident with the contents of it now. I also carry a 3/8" drive socket set in addition to all of this. All packed up. Ditched the stock zipper pull lanyards and such for a bit of paracord. The larger pieces keep the zipper from opening and make it easier to open when wearing gloves. Still playing with the layout, but you get the idea. Going to move the fire extinguisher to the back of the center console I think, so that's temporary. Whole trunk. The idea is that I can fold the seats down and camp in there without moving a lot of crap around. I'd like to do some expeditioning things where I'd stay in my car, and I think it'd work well for that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow4me Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Love the crown royal bag. Does your cargo shade work with the side racks installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alloyguitar Posted March 14, 2012 Author Share Posted March 14, 2012 Welllllllll I could get it to the hold downs (I think), but the cage is mounted where the original hooks for it are, so I haven't really tried. I typically use the cover as a divider in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRich Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Love the rifle rack! Every vehicle should come factory with one of those. How did you bolt them to the side of the truck? Can you get some close up pics of that? James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie Posted March 14, 2012 Share Posted March 14, 2012 Dude, you are so ready for Armageddon! In a post-apocalyptic world, you'll be truckin' around in your Pathfinder, prepared for anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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