I like building things: My GU Drawers

[trekster]

So as the title states I like making things, Being a fitter/machinist by trade anything that can be made/fabricated I enjoy. Today I decided I wanted to have a crack at some drawers for the GU, been wanting to do this for a while now and a few months ago I had cut and bolted a piece of ply to the floor so it was time to make some more progress.

I like to reuse stuff wherever I can, I don't like throwing things out if they can serve another purpose, also ends up saving me money


A few years ago my wife who works at freedom brought me home two tables that were written off because they had no legs, These table tops were 900x900 and 25mm thick chipboard. I found them the other night and gave me an idea to use them for the tops, they aren't too heavy and being thicker will allow me to counter-bore into them and fit some recessed tie down rings

I measured up my rear end and decided I wanted to span the whole width

So I went about cutting the two tops down so I could span the width and have a divider down the guts, as one top wouldn't span the 1350mm I needed. Cut them up nicely with the circular saw then the offcuts were cut down to form the centre divider and a support at the back, It isn't full width but didn't bother me as it fills most of it across and won't cause too many hassles.

I found a couple piece of 16mm mdf that I had in the garage and cut them down to length and height as well for the outside supports. 1 of them had 2 holes in it, I had practiced cutting out some holes with my hole cutter when I was installing some downlights, so I've purposely placed the holes at the front. What I intend doing is mounting my air compressor in the left drawer, and puttin a small hole in the draw so when it is open to use the compressor I can plug it in and away I go. I just need to purchase some fittings and make a small extender hose so I can do the front tyres as well.

Tested the fitment in the car and seemed to be pretty good, so screwed all the supports onto the floor and then rebolted it in and screwed the tops down in the car to ensure a good fit. I'm pretty happy with the end result and there is a few mm gap on the right side but once I carpet it you wouldn't even know.

I did a power line ages ago so I rescrewed the relay and power block down, screwed a saddle down over the cable to keep it in place (5 core double insulated) and quickly wired in a lcd voltage display I bought a while back as well. The display is for 2 reasons: Obviously to show what the voltage is but to also ensure I have power at my anderson fitting for the fridge (I run an old hand me down 3 way fridge which has no indicators to show if power is on or not).

Next step for me is to carpet the top and front, also to make a fascia on the left side there and install the lcd into it, then find some runners to make up the drawers and a fridge slide.


All in all I'm pretty happy with it so far considering that the materials I have had lying around the only thing I've spent money on is the lcd which was a couple of bucks


Cheers,
Eric.

[NP99]

Great work mate, I like the start slow concept

[trekster]

Great work mate, I like the start slow concept

No point in rushing these things unless you like doing the same work over and over, I measured most of my cuts 3 times before cutting (had to factor in the dimension from the blade to the side of the plate) I'm really happy with how its going to progress from here, Need to price up some carpet Clark rubber here I come!

[happygu]

Trekster,

Try mounting your compressor outside of the drawers as it will be a real pain clicking and unclicking power leads and air leads all the time when you want to use it.

Possibly mount it down the LHS if you want it down the back

Mic

[BigRAWesty]

Hi mate. Good build so far and well done on having a crack.
But I must stress proceed with caution with using chip board.. although it maybe light I has no structural integrity at all. And once flexing and extra weight of fridges, camping gear etc it WILL crumble overtime. And you may not notice with the covering untill one day you have a fridge in your lap..

Laminated ply should be used, and 12mm its plenty. It will withstand the beating and not fail.
If that's not an option then invest in a good cargo barrier.

Sorry to dampen a good build, but safety is paramount in my eyes.
And enjoy the rest of the build. Design is good so far.

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[trekster]

Hey Kallen, this stuff isn't the normal type I believe as it is friggin heavy as! Here's an update.

ImageUploadedByMotorculture1371161259.088268.jpg


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[BigRAWesty]

Ok, it looks like its ply covered chip. A bit stronger buy yea, use caution as it still may fracture internally.

But looks nice with the carpet.. did you use marine carpet?

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories

[trekster]

It's automotive carpet from bunnings, so far at $36/m it's the most expensive part so far....


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[pascal1]

very inspiring, and well done
I would like to find a design that would allow folding it all (or unmouting) once removed from the car, so I can store it easily, any ideas?

[threedogs]

Trekster, Love it, you're crossing over to the wooden side of things.
You could hard wire the compressor , Then using oneway valve ,Manifold
pressure switch and push click air fittings, have front and rear air outlets using Nitto
female. Then you'll only need a short hose to access all wheels. Dolium Do a water tank that'll fit
in behind your cargo barrier too.