Spare wheel installation

[ned]

Greetings to all, I hope this finds ye all well.

I'm building a storage box inside my wheel well, similar to the ones found in G-Wagens, see link below (my car is the P38 Range)

Mercedes G-Class Spare Tire Storage Box ORC.

So I bought a 20 inch rim and got to work

I need to build a waterproof door for it - the door will be on the vertical.

I have no notion how to go about that...

Any ideas?

 

[Bobupndown]

How do you open your tailgate, is that a swing away wheel carrier?

 

[ned]

yep

It's 30 x 30mm solid bar, bent into shape using oxy-aceteline

Its plenty strong to bear some more weight, within reason.

Plust the tyre actually sits on the ledge that I built into the bumper, rather than having all the weight on the bar

 

[Wildefalcon]

If you've a full cover over the spare would the box need to be waterproof?

 

[ned]

Heya @Wildefalcon , nah, i want quick access to the door.

I need to fit a number plate on the cover also

I'll probably try and mimic the lip design thats used in this style of enclosure

 

[Bobupndown]

Bit excessive for the packed lunch

 

[ned]

Got the top cut out. It's starting to look like a thing.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Simple option is a seal, or a sheet of neoprene, on the lid with a location peg every second corner, that slot into the lid. Perhaps threaded. And a thumb screw to tighten? Not bother with a hinge?

 

[ned]

oooohhhh, thats an interesting idea. Im on a course to get this done this week, but I still havnt figured out the hinges. Food for though most definitely.
The hinges they use on those metal enclosures are a particular, quite fiddly type.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Aye, and rust, warp and otherwise embugger up your day. You could use a pair of security screws through the lid into captive nuts to reduce the likelihood of everything disappearing as you drive along the Naas road..

 

[ned]

Im in the wilds of Tipperary these days surrounded by mountains, tis glorious. I made progress with ths today, Im about to cut the opening is the next move, ill post up pics later

 

[Bobupndown]

Lovely part of the country. Stayed at a caravan site at Glen of Aherlow some years ago, stunning scenery.

 

[Bullet2012]

Looks like a cool project.

 

[ned]

Yeah man! I moved back here about a year ago, since then I'm obsessed with driving around the Galtees. Big playground for me.

Progress with the box; I welded up the seams on the inside and the outside, I'm pretty confident now that it will be waterproof.

And I marked out and cut the opening, but im gonna leave it welded to the floor overnight and release it in the morning, hopefully it wont warp

 

[ned]

Got the box tacked together and mounted in the wheel. I have to open up the opening further, later today, to create the lip for the watertight seal.

Winging this completely, I think it will work out.

Looking at it, and i think it might make a pretty nice cooking station.... even with gas because its thick steel, relatively... 3mm thick.. It's pretty solid.

I could build a compartment for gas so that if it explodes, who cares, the box will be able for the explosion, lol, I'm trying to imagine would it deform now... its pretty solid

So yeah, I might look for a single burner to mount to the door and make a cooking station.

 

[ned]

bent out the lip, t'were not easy at all, will do the job though

Need to weld in the corners next, and then make a door

 

[arther dailey]

good to see your still busy, often wonder what happened to the iveco chassis cab you had, on the old iveco forum (i"joe)

 

[ned]

Hello hello )

I sold the Iveco. I was never gonna be able to finish it, for a multitude of reasons. Was a fun toy though. I boiught a rolling project instead, which is a lot better on the brain. So I tap away at that now. I have lots of mountains nearby, so it keeps me busy.

I started welding in the corners of the lip, which is a task, ill finish them tomorrow.

 

[OJCar]

So yeah, I might look for a single burner to mount to the door and make a cooking station.

Correctly angled it could be dual-role as the AfterBurner ...

 

[ned]

ha haaaa, go for broke with a variable geometry nozzle, point it towards a mountain