Any good tips/hints?

[Big_ben]

Hi all,

Anyone have any good tips or handy ways to get this job done?

I'm putting a plywood partition behind the passenger seats of the surf.......and want to make it as close to the profile of the actual truck. Any ideas how to get the right curves/cutouts so that the partiton fits snuggly?

I've been fecking around trying to make cardboard cut stencils that I can trace onto a sheet of plywood....but it's a lot of guesswork.

Any good hints or tips to make it easier and more accurate? Or will I just have to take a stab at it??

[BUSHWHACKER]

Cut a length of 2"X1" to fit tightly at the widest point across the width of the truck behind the seats. Use a spirit level to get it perfectly level, make sure it doesn't move then find the centre of the 2X1 and screw a vertical piece from floor to roof.
You will now have four quarters to take measurements from. You only need to measure the top and bottom quarters on one side then copy them for the other side.
Hope I've explained that OK.

[Big_ben]

Thanks lads

The cardboard is what I'm trying at the moment....with marginal success.

Vince the left and right bottom quarters would be different.....my inside wheel arches are bigger on the right than left? Could you expand a little more on the measuring??? It feels like I'm asking to be spoon fed.... But I'm not really sure what to measure.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Once you've got the horizontal and vertical pieces in, take measurements at the widest and highest points of one of the quarters (see purple lines) and mark out this 'square' on your sheet of ply the size of that quater.
Then take vertical and horizontal measurements at 4" intervals, (red and yellow lines) keeping the tape measure parallel to the 2X1, then transfer those measurements to the plywood.
This way you can mark it all out on the ply before making any cuts.

This photo might explain it better......

[budweiser]

Cut a length of 2"X1" to fit tightly at the widest point across the width of the truck behind the seats. Use a spirit level to get it perfectly level, make sure it doesn't move then find the centre of the 2X1 and screw a vertical piece from floor to roof.
You will now have four quarters to take measurements from. You only need to measure the top and bottom quarters on one side then copy them for the other side.
Hope I've explained that OK.

don't pay attention to the bubble

[budweiser]

Hi all,

Anyone have any good tips or handy ways to get this job done?

I'm putting a plywood partition behind the passenger seats of the surf.......and want to make it as close to the profile of the actual truck. Any ideas how to get the right curves/cutouts so that the partiton fits snuggly?

I've been fecking around trying to make cardboard cut stencils that I can trace onto a sheet of plywood....but it's a lot of guesswork.

Any good hints or tips to make it easier and more accurate? Or will I just have to take a stab at it??

are you trying to change in to commercial?
i did this if it helps bottom folds up for long stuff after folding the seats, and use hallboard, mark, cut, mark,cut,...
i can show you nex th. if you are in tralee

[Big_ben]

Thanks Vince....that makes a lot of sense. Nic and methodical....hopefully to get a good result!!!

Budweiser...Yep it's NCT until Nov 2012, but I want to DOE and tax it commercially. Yours doesn't seem to follow the exact contours of the sides of the truck. (ie there are gaps between the partition and side of the truck?) Did that cause any trouble with the test?

How did you fix it in place??

[budweiser]

Thanks Vince....that makes a lot of sense. Nic and methodical....hopefully to get a good result!!!

Budweiser...Yep it's NCT until Nov 2012, but I want to DOE and tax it commercially. Yours doesn't seem to follow the exact contours of the sides of the truck. (ie there are gaps between the partition and side of the truck?) Did that cause any trouble with the test?

How did you fix it in place??

still in UK plates but to make it easier to import like commercial i changed from estate vehicle to light goods with dvla
and they where ok with that got the papers done there. but i will be changing here on Irish at the end of the year, let me know how are you get on.
did it on purpose the space when i did it first was driving me mad the crick and noise rubbing on the plastic,
hold it from the top of the seat belts bolts with a steel angled plate passing the bolt true (like it got an extra washer)
with the bottom depends what you going to to, if you cover the floor with same material (ply?) hold it to that, mine stays between the wheel arches and the seats no noise or vibration

[Dodge]

To get an edge that perfectly follows the inside of the truck:

Put a board about two foot wide vertically where you want the partition.

Attach a marker pen to a straight piece of wood long enough to go from the widest part of the truck and still reach the board.

Keeping the wood horizontal and the pen on the board in the middle of the truck move it down from the roof to the load area floor with the end following the line of the inside of the truck the pen will draw a line on the board duplicating the inside of the truck.

Do the same from the other side.

As long as the board is wide enough so that the lines from each side don't cross, cut the board vertically, put the two halves into the sides of the load area you'll now have a gap in the middle, measure this (should be the same top and bottom). Remove your two halves of board, place them on whatever you are making the partition from, measure and reproduce the gap you had in the middle, clamp and draw then cut out. This should fit exactly, it might be a tight fit, put it in bottom first horizontally then move the bottom down as you move the top up. If it's still too tight you can either remove some material from the edge where it pinches, or cut the board into two halves vertically and join it once it's in place.

Hope this makes sense.

[BigBobE]

i did mine with cardboard, but left the fabric covering the bulkhead a bit bigger than ply so it filled the gaps to the eye, i dont know how strict they are now on inspections at the NCT centre's but the silicone holding my bulkhead inplace was still soft when i got mine inspected....