Finally an update. Just not enough hours in a day at the moment... and the trip looming ever closer
Anyway... the progress. It was clear that due to the systems curvy corners I couldn't be sure just how square it would or wouldn't be until it was in place - so I held off on drawers. Instead I spent a long time pondering how I was going to bolt this thing down! My original plan was to use the tie down D rings as this would give a nice firm front and (almost) back edge to handle the weight. So sure was I of this, that I didn't think to even look at what bolts were holding the D rings in. Then I looked. They were no good. Veeeery short screw type bolts - and no depth in the hole for longer ones. So... plan B was needed.
I decided that with a few brackets and a bit of clever positioning I could get just enough distance between a couple of cross struts (Inch and 3/4 to get height above arches) to support the front and back (without needing something right at the front and back).
I took off the plastic seat fixing surrounds (waiting for a new home in the top right of the pic) and fixed the brackets (2" from SrewFix) to the seat fixings like this (had to cut carpet a little bit)...
Note that they are pointing at angles because of the bumps in the floor - it wasn't another Sam special - they're still to come!
)....
Couldn't find any longer bolts than the ones holding the seat bars in - turns out they are a "special" metric-fine-and-a-half thread. Suppose it's to stop people replacing them with steel ones. Anyway, used the originals with 3 big washers underneath to get the height. Height was important because the thick carpet made it hard to get the cross struts low enough to meet the holes in the brackets... you can only drill them so low when its 3mm thick tubing... more on that later!
The struts are bolted from behind through bigger holes made with a hole saw to get a socket through. Some of which are round. See, I didn't use a hole saw on the first strut... but I learnt fast and did on the second!... I wont show you the back of the first one
, but here's the second in place...
Most important tool for the whole job on the left there. The white one with the handle! Here's another shot of the big holes... can you spot the problem?
Well done Sam. But never mind... if they were all in line it would have been boring
... at least the important bolt holes at the front were spot on!
There is a bigger problem to watch out for here though. The floor in the back of the 120 slopes a lot. In odd ways. Most noticeably for this point, it slopes upwards from the seats towards the back door - a lot more than it looks. Even between these two struts it's really noticeable. Mostly it meant that I had to stand on the rear strut to push the carpet down enough to be able to bolt through. BUT... and here's the real Sam special... I got a bit too concerned about the problem and drilled the holes in the strut too low. High enough that the bolt goes through ok - but too low on some to get a small washer in there with the bolt - and worse - just too low to get the socket in!!!!
Fortunately though - the ones that were too low were "too low enough" that the hex head (with the help of a wedged washer) held itself in place while I did up the nuts.
... close call. I'll probably swap the strut out at some point because I know it's there - but for now it's bolted tight and will be fine.
By the way... look what I got
My workshop is growing. It might look like just a toolbox that acts as a table and a clamp - but I'm catching up Ben
The clamp is what's curing the curvy corner problem. As you can see the bends prevented the 2 units from sitting tight. Solved the problem at the bottom by bolting a couple more 2" brackets through to act as drawer stops (the bearing bolts did the rest along the bottom) and used my new clamp for the top. I'll bolt through where the clamp is when I get round to it.
So, with struts in place it was time for a quick position check....
The thin strips riveted across the top, front and back, are the main fix for the springyness from the curvy corners. Works a treat. The thin strips at the front across the bottom were temporary just to keep it in shape while I moved it about.
Another shot of the first fitting...
From here it was a case of seeing just how many times I could take the whole unit out, put it back in, take it out, put it back in... you get the picture. And I mean including struts. Quite often because the socket had fallen off on the last bolt - INSIDE the effin' tube. Joy.
Next was to bolt the system to the struts. This is the bit I have been dreading. If the curvy corners were going to cause a big problem it was going to be now - what If I couldn't get it square???
I carried on one hole at a time. Measure measure measure. It's not easy finding the middle in a 120 as the sides are different shapes from each other. Finally I decided the most important point was getting the front straight. I centred it by eye using the markings on the plastic carpet holder-down-erer and jumped in.
I marked a hole (starting in the middle), took the whole system out, drilled the hole, made a bigger hole in the underside of the strut and put everything back in. Then I moved onto the next hole. I'm so glad I slowed down and did it this way. It was the tiny adjustments that helped get the whole thing square in the end.
Here it is... square!
Out came the beer.
The bar that looks like its hanging off of the front was my next plan. I'd already put a sheet of ply on top and sat on it - and wiggled a lot - and nothing moved - so I didn't need another support at the front - but I would need something to latch down into to keep drawers closed. Either to attach an eye for a locking bolt on the front face - or maybe a slam latch through a hole in the top face. Either way I've really been trying to make sure these went in as 2 independent units. Just in case something comes up and I need to ditch one... or simply because I decide I want something different on one side or the other. So I decided to make a front bar in 2 halves.
Remember the screaming dinosaur hacksaw? Out it came.
Once cut I clamped it in place to mark up for some holes. Made the holes. Bolted it in. For this I just used a long bolt going straight through both sides of the box section (held bolt underneath with spanner - socket on top).
And a final shot with both front bars in place!
Screaming dinosaw sneaking into the background there.
Oh one more thing. Remember I got myself 30 bearings? Guess who needs 32.
So far so good. Hopefully I'll get some time over the weekend. Still need to get all the bearings back in, make drawers and carpeted tops... then handles and locks I suppose. Taking a while - but worth it!
