Side Curtain Storage Box, Hinged Top Cover

By David DuBois

 

First off, I am writing this from memory of what I did some 25 years ago, so some of it may be a bit vague.

 

I started by putting support pieces at each end of the compartment to support the small end pieces that go over the fender wells on either side of the car.  I made end pieces up and covered them with vinyl to match the rest of the interior covering and fastened them in place with screws into the end pieces of the storage compartment.  The cover for the actual side curtain stowage compartment is made in two pieces, hinged together with 1” or 1 ½”  butt hinges at either end.  The back piece was cut to match the thickness of the back rail of the body tub and the cover for the compartment  was cut to fit over the compartment and mate with the front cover that hinges out.  Since I didn’t want the hinge knuckles protruding on the top, I mortised the two pieces of the cover to accept the hinge upside down (with the knuckle facing down).  This limits the travel of the top cover to less than 90°, but the top body rail itself  limits the travel to that amount anyway, so this doesn’t present a problem.  The entire assembly is covered with vinyl to match the interior covering, a strip (also covered with vinyl) is attached on the under side of the cover to provide a stop for the front panel and finally the male portion of a gripper snap is attached in position at each end for the straps of the front cover to attach to.  Probably the hardest part of the whole assembly is attaching the whole thing in place.  Here, I am unclear as to exactly what I did.  I may have attached the back piece of the cover to the rear flange of the storage box and then nailed it in a couple of places to the rear body tub rail.  I cannot see what I did (beyond the nails through the back piece into the rear tub rail) without disassembling the car.

 

Below are pictures of the final assembly and a couple of drawings (armature at best) to show how it is all put together.