1981 Safari wagon thread

I've gotten tired of having my glove compartment always a mess, and I had some time today to play around with it.

I had some extra heavy duty cardboard, so I thought I'd see what I could come up with.

I measured, cut, and trimmed all the pieces, covered everything with a good amount of packing tape, and when I was done, it looks a whole lot better. It is a tight enough fit that I don't have to worry about it shifting around, but it is removable for when I need it to come out.

Since it's cardboard, it is also light enough that I don't have to worry about it damaging anything either.

It isn't a totally permanent solution, as the tape will probably break down, and the cardboard will get damaged, but it only took me about 45 minutes, and didn't cost me a thing!

 

That's a great idea!

Nice job.

Marshall

 

I was so happy with the glove box insert, that I decided to move on to my next project.
For Father's day my wife gave me two days without the kids and I was able to have some good project time without interruptions.

I forget who it was, but there was a post about someone looking for one of those plastic center console things with cupholders and a spot for spare change. The big problem with those is that they always end up falling over. I figured I could do better, so I tried.

Total cost of the project was less than $100 in material, and I don't know how many hours.

First think I did was to take out the front seat and get a bunch of cardboard, tape and scissors. After cutting and taping a bunch I had a mockup for the front and back.

I then traced the cardboard shapes to 1/8" Tempered hardboard (6$/ea) and cut out sides, top, and any other odd shapes I needed.

Using 1"x2" wood I had laying around, I measured and cut cross supports, drilled and countersank the screws, and made sure of correct fit.

 

After the pieces were assembled, I traced each side onto a 1/8" lauan board. Then, using a bunch of wood glue and clamps, glued the side pieces on. Then, I traced out the top pieces and glued them on.
It took me a while to figure out exactly how to engineer the change dish thing, but I finally got it.
After I got everything glued together, I applied 6 coats of clear coat.
I did a bunch of research on what cup holders to go with, but there wasn't enough room to drop in two cup holders side by side, so decided to go the marine option.
That came yesterday, so I got that installed today, and I really like the way it looks.
There is more room in the back, so I have to drop-in holders coming tomorrow, and I'll take pictures of that as soon as I get the holes cut out.

 

Got it all done and installed!

I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. :banana:

 

Those are some great projects for little money. Actually your glove box photo number one looks much better than mine most of the time. My wife has a habit of saving every scrap she picks up here and there, including paid bill stubs from 1985.

 

really like your homemade center console, very nice, I planed to do something like that also, & now I want to do it sooner then later,, thanks

 

After I put in the 12v outlets in the front console, I moved on to the second phase, which was a way to move air for the backseat.

I had originally looked at the possibility of running some ductwork through the front pillars and having vents coming out of the ceiling for the rear passengers, but there just wasn't any room, either in the pillar, or in the ceiling. Since that wasn't an option, I decided to use the dead space under the consoles to move air.

I wanted rounds vents that would be able to turn in any direction. After searching online and finding nothing, I went to the local junkyard and found the perfect vents in a Miata.
Since I don't like the idea of seriously altering the stock aspect of the car, I decided not to cut up the existing vent to allow air to be pushed to the vents, I needed a fan, or fans to pull air back. The perfect option was to go with a computer cooling fan for each vent. I ordered a couple ball bearing fans, because that type offers the longest, most durable option.

Next, I did a whole lot of planning, measuring, drilling, cutting, planning, wiring, and buying parts. I had wanted to go with a speed control knob for the fans, but the part I ordered just didn't work as well as I wanted, so I changed plans and went with a simple on/off switch.

The ball bearing fans are louder than some other types, but when the car is running, and the vent fan is on, you can barely hear them. I figure that these fans are really only going to be used when the car is extremely hot, or extremely cold, and once comfortable temperature is reached, they'll be turned off.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much air the fans push through the vents, and I like how nicely it turned out.