I was getting really tired of things flying out of the three overhead cubby space/holes above windshields.
So, this past week I designed three panels that cover up the openings.
My goal was three-fold...
1) To not use hinged doors/panels as the hardware not only was expensive compared to my other solution but having hinged doors/panels at these locations was simply begging for them to be pulled off if ever someone grabbed the door/panel in its open state and pulled down on them too hard. Also, with the door/panel hinged down and open it would make it kind of difficult to get in and reach to the stuff inside.
2) I wanted the panels to be removable.
3) I wanted the panel for the center opening to serve as a base for screwing three brass items; Barometer, Clock and Thermometer. If hinged I used a magnet locking the weight of these brass objects would surely cause the door/panel to loosen from the magnet hold and fall open.
So with this goal in mind I made up 3 panels using vertical grain cedar and carefully shaping them to fit the gradual curvature of the overhead structure. I stained these with a nice Teak stain and applied several generous coatings of teak oil to provide a nice smooth looking surface. The panels look very close to the stock teak used for the overhead cubby space (see photo below). These panels would be loosely bolted in place using nice solid brass bolts/nuts/washers bought from Home Depot using my AX points --> Home Depot Gift cards. The bolts will be inserted from inside and glued into place using Gorilla glue so that turning the nuts on the outside would not cause the bolts to rotate when securing the nuts down. The nuts would be finger tightened onto springy brass washers to make it easy to remove the panels when needed.
Today I installed these panels.
I must say, I'm pleased with my handiwork. 😀
So, this past week I designed three panels that cover up the openings.
My goal was three-fold...
1) To not use hinged doors/panels as the hardware not only was expensive compared to my other solution but having hinged doors/panels at these locations was simply begging for them to be pulled off if ever someone grabbed the door/panel in its open state and pulled down on them too hard. Also, with the door/panel hinged down and open it would make it kind of difficult to get in and reach to the stuff inside.
2) I wanted the panels to be removable.
3) I wanted the panel for the center opening to serve as a base for screwing three brass items; Barometer, Clock and Thermometer. If hinged I used a magnet locking the weight of these brass objects would surely cause the door/panel to loosen from the magnet hold and fall open.
So with this goal in mind I made up 3 panels using vertical grain cedar and carefully shaping them to fit the gradual curvature of the overhead structure. I stained these with a nice Teak stain and applied several generous coatings of teak oil to provide a nice smooth looking surface. The panels look very close to the stock teak used for the overhead cubby space (see photo below). These panels would be loosely bolted in place using nice solid brass bolts/nuts/washers bought from Home Depot using my AX points --> Home Depot Gift cards. The bolts will be inserted from inside and glued into place using Gorilla glue so that turning the nuts on the outside would not cause the bolts to rotate when securing the nuts down. The nuts would be finger tightened onto springy brass washers to make it easy to remove the panels when needed.
Today I installed these panels.
I must say, I'm pleased with my handiwork. 😀