Making a battery box cover

22nd April 2012

Last week I successfully relocated my battery so that it sat in the middle of the rear seat panel.

I knew that the battery was just lower than the edge of the box I had created and had intentionally made it this way so a lid or cover could be attached over the battery securing it  from fingers that may be on the back seat.

I started designing the lid by measuring the aperture in the top of the box. When I created the box I had noted that the two corners that I had used that was already joined flared  out slightly and had made my two new corners to look the same. This meant I had to measure the inside area allowing for a 2mm tolerance. You can see in the diagram to the right the sizes marked up. Once I had my measurements I made a paper template this size and put it through a plastic envelope heat sealer to make it plasticized. I found a piece of flat Stainless a tea tray and laid this on the surface so that I would be able to put the fibreglass on top and gauge the size I needed. I layered up four sheets of fibreglass with fibreglass resin  this took longer than normal to set because of the weather so I used a paraffin heater to raise the temperature in my workshop.

The matting I applied was just larger than my paper pattern that sat in the A4 plastic heated liner. This is the same machine that does plastic badges. This stopped the fibreglass sheet sticking to the tray. I left this over a day to dry and cure. Once hard the fibreglass was turned over to expose the pattern on the other side. I used an angle grinder to cut through the plastic and fibreglass around the edges of the template pattern so that the sides were clean cut and crisp.

I then removed the template which peeled of leaving a smooth surface The fibreglass panel was then sanded on the opposing side until the thickness of the fibreglass was consistent all over the panel. Once the panel was smooth I painted the rougher side with black Hammerite hammered paint. This sealed the surface on one side. So that I could concentrate on the other. I used Car under seal to spay the other side leaving a rippled effect . This was the same process I had used inside the car.

The underseal surface dried quite quickly leaving a slightly textured surface. This need no further preparation and I was able to spray m 1k black paint onto the surface . This sealed the under seal and fibreglass . I knew I had run out of thinners and would have to buy some more . I wanted to finish the panel and decided to try making up the 2k Lacquer and hardener and adding the gold leaf with a view to using a large brush to apply it.

 The finished lacquered panel looked amazing and you really could not tell it had not been sprayed  with a spray gun. The panel was then checked for size and it fitted neatly into the top of the box. I had purchased some stainless fixings to secure the top from a boat chandler I offered these onto the lid so that I could gauge how they looked against the finished surface. They fitted in four places and I was able to decide were they would fit.

I attached the eccentric / pull over fastener to the panel with M5 countersunk bolts I used these as I did not want them to interfere with the battery and to be pulled in flush to the fibreglass. Once these were all bolted in place I offered the panel up to the box and marked the positions of the stainless box to locate the eccentric keeps. I fixed theses to the rear of the box through my body bar . I used self tapping screw's to fix the front eccentric keeps.

The lid was latched in place and sat neatly over the battery . The eccentric / pull over  latches had little loops on them that either a wire and a single padlock could be used or four separate padlocks could also be used to secure the battery from theft. I was very pleased with this as it made the rear seat area a much safer place to be. I was also wondering whether I could build a seat to go on this new area.

Moving Battery to a Battery Box

12 April 2012

Two weeks ago I replaced all my convertible roof studs but two as I needed to get longer bolts that i could tap out. Unfortunately the latest revisions came out for the 2012 UK MOT a condensed two page document that has created work for all V.W owners. My existing battery location became foul to these regulations as it was not totally secure and was not covered.

Having seen buggies with a recessed battery box in the back seat where the back seat was a long bench, I decided that it would be interesting if I could recess my battery into the rear seat area and release the space that the battery had previously occupied. I started looking for large pieces of stainless sheet .
I  measured my battery  which was 205mm x 175mm x 175.  I made a paper stencil to check the size of a box dimensions which would contain the battery and allow for the battery to be secured and the wiring to all fit . The dimensions of the box top I arrived at was 230mm x 190 . The template I made was very useful as it allowed me to place the template on the rear parcel area and check that it would fit. I had already decided that I really wanted the battery in the middle of the seat and was pleased that it appeared as if  I had enough room to fit the battery here.

I discussed this position with a friend Jon as I quickly realised that it would quite successfully free up two passenger seats. The outcome of this discussion was the question was whether the box would hit the gearbox. I measured the distance between my highest point on my gearbox near the new battery location and this was 190mm . Luckily my 80mm lift kit had given me the extra height I needed. I quickly worked out by drawing a flat layout of the box that I would need a piece of stainless steel minimum 1m x 400mm . I checked various metal stock companies and realised that the cheapest i could find this was on eBay at some £69.00 GDP. Clearly this was too expensivet and I would have to source the Stainless Steel from a different source.

Fortunately the solution was not to far away. For several years I had been storing my Welding spares in this stainless Steel tin . It was made from 1.2mm Stainless and looked quite adequate in size to be cut down . I started marking out the two opposing corners one with a floor and the other without . I used pencil to mark the outline and cut the two sections out with a 1mm angle grinder blade. The resulting parts were then chased along the edges to debur any sharp edges. The two parts were then assembled to see how they would fit together.

The resulting box was not bad and the two pieces fitted well clicking together to form a strong small box. I decided that I would have to bend the top mounting plates over . I used two pieces of right angle iron in a vice to clamp the stainless sheet along the line i had drawn to indicate the fold. I then struck the stainless steel with a rubber mallet to bend and fold the stainless along the angle iron at a right angle to the two irons in the vice. I repeated this for all four of the sides.

 I took the two box sections to Fullers Steel fabrication to have the two parts TIG welded. The resulting box was strong and gave me the dimensions that I made a template up from . This I stuck the the back centre parcel shelf of the buggy with tape . I used a Starret hole cutter to cut out the corners and used an Angle Grinder to cut between the four holes . This made a hole in the rear seat area directly over the  gearbox.  I drilled some holes in the box supports and made a rubber seal from an old rubber mat. The box dropped into position.  I used a rubber mallet to bend the sides to fit the profile of the seat and cut the front down to sit flush on the front of the rear seat area. The battery was then placed in situ and the new battery placement could be seen for the first time.

I enclosed the battery in the old fabric cover and connected up the battery connecters and went out for a short run in the beach buggy to see if the gearbox knocked the box out of its position. My route I chose was a very bumpy one that I knew would make the suspension work hard. The trip took about 25 minutes and I was soon back in the garage happy as the box had remained in position. I looked underneath and had a good 25mm clearance


between the box and the gearbox. I removed the battery and old cover and knocked the box out of the hole. I cut two holes in the top back section of the box for the new routed cables to come through . I then fitted these with grommets another UK MOT 2012 item which seemed very obvious. I removed the old earth wiring from the chassis bolt and threaded the positive supply from the alternator out of the chassis and back into the battery box. I shortened this and fed the earth wire alongside it. The wiring had now all been removed from the back seat area and with the old battery mount removed I was able to see for the first time how the new seat areas would look.

I mounted the battery in the box and reconnected the new supply lines . It was immediately noticeable how much new space I had created on the rear seat area. I started to think about seating types and even new speaker placement positions that had also been created. I knew I had to secure the box and I also had to secure the battery to the box and create a lid to enclose the battery from the elements I was in two minds what to make this out of. I liked the shiny stainless but also felt fiberglass would look fantastic as it would match the car paint. I was very pleased with the new position and was beginning to wonder why I had never seen this done before as it looked so natural. The box was secured in position with some cut down flush Allen bolts .

I made up a stainless right angle battery holder that was the same size as my battery box I drilled two holes in each end 10mm and used two 10mm eye bolts that I purchased. I cut two holes in the box side walls to allow the eye bolts to go through . I cut one side away from the bolts to make a hook. I used this to secure the battery into the battery tray. The bolts and angle bracket fitted neatly onto the shoulder of the battery. I bolted the battery box in position and went for a run . I decided that I would try going for a longer run than I usually do. and set off to the town of battle some 20mins away. I soon found that the car ran better after it had a sudden  boost on the open road. I returned to the garage happy that there must have been a blockage in the carburetors. I still however had not got the buggy over 60mph and was wondering if it would make faster speeds I also happily noted that the speedometer was accurate at 40mph & 60 mph.

Paris SWB Beach Buggy Conversion to DOT fixings

1st April 2012

The Paris conversion had been pretty much successful but it was noticeable that the fixings to the body would come unlatched at high speed.

I had seen some different fittings that looked stronger and hopefully might hold the roof on more securely. The Link the Dot fixings I found seemed to have a different latch mechanism . I luckily had a small fragment of the roof material I had previously cut off. I purchased some of these DOT fixings and fitted them alongside the existing popper to test the strength of each of the fixings. Several tests was performed and the results where all in favor of the Link The DOT fixing holding more securely.

The original popper fixings was removed from the hood with a HSS metal drill, that was used on the underside of the popper to drill out the riveted section. The popper fell apart easily after this. I used a hole punch to make the hole slightly larger the DOT fixing was then placed over the hole to align its position. I used a rubber mallet and placed the fixing and hoot on a piece of wood. I struck the fixing with the rubber mallet to get the fixing to penetrate the hood. This allowed the fixings tabs to pass neatly through the hood. The tabs then was pushed through the back retaining piece . This enabled the cloth fixing to be secured well onto the fabric of the hood. I used a small pair of pliers to bed over the tabs onto the backing piece. This held the backing piece firmly in place. The pictures show the cloth hood with the front and back view of the new fixings. The rear surface of the hood fittings seemed quite able to scratch paint and I knew I would have to raise the fixings on the back of the buggy to ensure that they would not rub.

I bought 32 Link The DOT 5mm threaded studs. These went in to the dash frame easily. I tried drilling out the holes in the body work to take a sheet lock nut these although expensive and made from stainless did not secure into the bodywork successfully. I decided that I would have to put a fixing through the fibre glass and then fix the DOT stud to this.



I decided that there was two options for fixing the DOT stud one was a brass bolt and the other a Stainless Steel A2 bolt, the latter being more favorable I took an M8 bolt x 30mm and drilled the end 4.5mm x 12mm to take the Link The DOT stud. This proved to be a very good fixing and I was able to bolt the M8 bolt through the body work with washers . This had the advantage of raising the DOT stud up from the body work. The only issue was that I had to make 19 of these to fit around the back. I started making them and found it took me five hours to make five. This got harder as I broke my 5mm tap and managed to make every small drill I had blunt. I ordered a new 5mm Dormer High quality tap and a new Dormer Cobalt Jobber drill A777. The seven fixing I have mounted on so far look good have been working slowly on them. The new fixings look a lot stronger the bad weather that was forecast has put a temporary end to the sunshine and I must complete the other studs.