So, as Spring is on the horizon, I decided that I was finally going to invest in a way to safely and securely store my hardtop.
I asked @Rally what he used and he sent me this picture:
Next I searched for a similar item, on eBay and Amazon, and discovered that I'd have to cough up around £80 for one of these, new.
I figured I could build something that does exactly the same job, for a fraction of the price... Well it turns out the fraction was 1/2!
I took a trip to B&Q, where bought some wood and some coach bolts, then ordered some heavy duty castor wheels from Amazon, asked @Rally for some measurements, and set to it.
A rough doodle/design to keep me on track:
Cut all the lengths to size, drilled and countersunk:
(At this point I resorted to Pythagoras theorem - for what must be the first time since my GCSEs - to make sure the supported uprights were square to the base, and the supports had their holes drilled the correct distance apart.)
Assembly was pretty simple and swift:
It wasn't and stable as I'd have liked it, so further diagonal supports were added:
(Wooden strut brace anyone?)
Admiring my own handy-work with a chisel:
All that was left was to fit the wheels:
(I had to drill extra holes in order to secure, as the fitting brackets were slightly too wide for the base of my stand.)
And, with a little self-adhesive neoprene added to protect the roof, this is the (near) final result:
(I am waiting for the weekend to install some thicker neoprene and to test it out!)
Thanks for reading, any (relevant) questions - feel free to ask! This one was a breeze compared to fixing an oil leak earlier in the week, but more on that story in my Z4 progress thread, when I can bring myself to reliving the nightmare! (Similar to @Mnbrennan's recent frustrations!)
I asked @Rally what he used and he sent me this picture:
Next I searched for a similar item, on eBay and Amazon, and discovered that I'd have to cough up around £80 for one of these, new.
I figured I could build something that does exactly the same job, for a fraction of the price... Well it turns out the fraction was 1/2!
I took a trip to B&Q, where bought some wood and some coach bolts, then ordered some heavy duty castor wheels from Amazon, asked @Rally for some measurements, and set to it.
A rough doodle/design to keep me on track:
Cut all the lengths to size, drilled and countersunk:
(At this point I resorted to Pythagoras theorem - for what must be the first time since my GCSEs - to make sure the supported uprights were square to the base, and the supports had their holes drilled the correct distance apart.)
Assembly was pretty simple and swift:
It wasn't and stable as I'd have liked it, so further diagonal supports were added:
(Wooden strut brace anyone?)
Admiring my own handy-work with a chisel:
All that was left was to fit the wheels:
(I had to drill extra holes in order to secure, as the fitting brackets were slightly too wide for the base of my stand.)
And, with a little self-adhesive neoprene added to protect the roof, this is the (near) final result:
(I am waiting for the weekend to install some thicker neoprene and to test it out!)
Thanks for reading, any (relevant) questions - feel free to ask! This one was a breeze compared to fixing an oil leak earlier in the week, but more on that story in my Z4 progress thread, when I can bring myself to reliving the nightmare! (Similar to @Mnbrennan's recent frustrations!)
