charl Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 (edited) thanks admins for moving this into the right section! My car came with a shelf under the dash that had been water damaged and was pretty much useless!! i like the idea so i thought i would improve on it! the shelf itself is made of masonite and is not very strong so i am going to share what i did to make mine better. my original shelf. this is what I'm replacing the masonite with, 3mm steel sheet!! on the original shelf drill out the existing rivets so you can keep the fittings and stuff. keep these bits as youll need them later! use the original shelf to trace onto the steel sheet, trace the holes and these cut outs as well. my steel sheet was too short so i had to add a bit. you don't have to do that if you get a big enough sheet beforehand. bend the end bit up same as the original shelf, easier if you didnt use double steel on this bit!! check the fit on the plastic bit over your new shelf. re-assemble the whole thing with some new pop-rivets. get your missus to trim it for you. may as well paint these while they are out. Heres the new shelf all ready to go in. after a test fit, i realised i didnt bend the back of the shelf so out came the hammer again. installed and looking shmick as and so much stronger than the original!! Edited October 28, 2009 by charl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philbey Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Charl you're a motivated man. Top work, that's a nuts job, looks shit hot. Wanna do mine... From scratch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Neat work. Don't think it would be good for the passenger in an accident though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kE20ME Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 nice work man look awsome!!! philbey if you do yours, i would like to see how i have always wanted one as well, that goes along to whole length of the car.. like the factory ones! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charl Posted October 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Charl you're a motivated man. Top work, that's a nuts job, looks shit hot. Wanna do mine... From scratch! Awe... come on. Its not that hard! all up it took me about 2 hours to do. Probably would have been quicker if i didnt keep going to the fridge for beers! But seriously, thanks for the positive comments! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiP Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Very nice mate. I've got one made out of steel too. It came in one of my cars a while back. Its way better than the ioriginal thing as it can take more weight. You may even be able to hang a stereo or CB Radio from it. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrot Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Agreed that is a great job, BUT, and I hate to rain on your parade, as Felix says, it would be extremely dangerous for the passenger if you crash. Likely to do a good job of taking off the legs at the shin level - seriously I would suggest making another one out of the thin masonite stuff. If you steam it, should bend around a mould of some sort (rolling pin). I think you will find that is why it was made from masonite in the first place. Otherwise you could cut down a plastic tray from the wreckers to suit, then trim it as you have done. Much safer and still very sturdy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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