Cheap ripoff of gen2600's storage system

[joshoisasleep]

OK, so after going back and forth on many elaborate and varied designs for my rear storage/camping system, I finally constructed one based on a thread just below this one by gen2600. I liked his design because it suits my purposes pretty well, and was relatively simple to duplicate with help.


The first step was to remove the old carpet that was probably a health risk anyway. I don't know why but the rubbery factory bed liner stuff had sort of melted and in several places become one with the carpet... and anything you left sitting on it for too long! I guess the previous owner had spilled toxic waste on it or something. I had to scrape it off with a paint scraper.

Next, I tossed in a roughly cut plywood floor, and made a poor attempt to approximate the shape of the box sides with cardboard.

[joshoisasleep]

I hired this guy Julio to help me build it. Originally I had wanted to just find a carpenter and have it made, but they all said like 7 days to make it! Knowing it had to be done in one day (my girlfriend is a cruel taskmaster), that was a no go. Luckily for me though, our taxi driver (Julio) was an enterprising gentleman, and after charging us a very reasonable fare for driving us all around looking for carpenters, offered to help me build it himself for a day's pay (in Ecuador, that's $20... we paid him more than that though and bought him and his girlfriend dinner).

In the next three photos you can see Julio and I working hard in the woodshop that we paid $6 to use all day! (and a helpful old guy who seemed to work there) Julio turned out to be an even worse carpenter than I am... ok maybe not as bad as that. We were pretty bad though, which made for a good time all round.

[joshoisasleep]

And voila, the finished product! The boxes are going to sit unattached for now, they stay put fine when full and surrounded by our bed/backpacks/etc. As you can see the design is a little different from gen2600's... we decided to keep the back seats to allow for passengers (living for a year with two people in a 60 is bad enough without the possibility of company!), and so our boxes are a little shorter (but a tiny bit taller) and we don't have the trap door.

When we first packed up the new setup I was a little concerned that it didn't seem to save any space. However, these boxes mean we no longer have to move the majority of our things to the front seats every night, just our backpacks and a few small things.

[sseaman]

are the tops hinged?

[joshoisasleep]

haha not yet. At the moment they just sit there. It was a long day and we're going to buy some hinges as soon as we come across some. I also want some of that thin carpet stuff they put on speakers and band instrument transport cases... would make it look like there is 'nothing there' kind of...

[Eshu Elegua]

well i also have one in my 87 fj60, i don´t built it,but was at my work ,here some pictures..

[joshoisasleep]

nice, that looks nicely done. I really needed something with which I could still sleep in the back comfortably, but that looks like it's a bit classier than mine.

[89s rule]

very nicely done, be sure to link them over to the 60 section!