Having
taken my 1934 2-seat PD Tourer on various camping/touring holidays, I have found
that space is a problem. So I designed a simple, but very effective
luggage rack, which is very easily fitted to the spare wheel of the car.
The
requirements for the luggage rack were that it would be light weight, easy to
construct, easy to fit, did not look like a dog’s dinner and most important as
economical as possible.
The
idea came from looking a bike rack. This is the type that slips over the wheel
and is attached by a simple ratchet strap system, unfortunately the pipe
diameter on these racks are too thick and would [possibly] touch the bodywork,
but the big down side is they cost around £70.00 and would need to be cut to
suit [so out of the question].
Having
just made improvements to the bathroom I found the ideal solution would be15mm
diameter copper tube, as used in domestic water pipe/central heating and can
easily be joined with the Capillary type (end feed) tee of elbow fittings. The
Yorkshire or solder ring types are too expensive and don't look as nice.
The
copper tube is light weight and the joints can be easily soldered together, and
once constructed the frame is very strong, the whole thing takes a few hours to
make and is well worth the effort and cost, approx £15 - 20.
This
design can be adapted to suit say a Box saloon /Chummy where the wheel is on the
outside.
Tools required:
1 x Pipe cutter/Junior hacksaw; 1 x Small flat file; 1 x Wire wool;
1 x Tin 1 x Solder on reel; 1x Small gas blow torch.
Parts Required:
1 x Short ratchet strap or similar; 10 x Tee [capillary
soldered type];
8 x Elbows [capillary soldered type]; Approximately 4
metres of Copper pipe
Item No
Length
Quantity
Item No
Length
Quantity
1
375mm
4
2
430mm
2
3
35mm
4
4
270mm
2
5
100mm
2
6
410mm
2
7
90mm
2
8
30mm
2
9
55mm
2
10
50mm
2
11
105mm
2
Cut into the following
lengths [To suit a 19" diameter wheel]:-
Item No
Length
Quantity
Item No
Length
Quantity
1
375mm
4
7
90mm
2
2
430mm
2
8
30mm
2
3
35mm
4
9
55mm
2
4
270mm
2
10
50mm
2
5
100mm
2
11
105mm
2
6
410mm
2
This article, written by Mike Davies, originally appeared in CA7C Seven Focus in
Feb 2007 pp24-25.
The
requirements for the luggage rack were that it would be light weight, easy to
construct, easy to fit, did not look like a dog’s dinner and most important as
economical as possible.
The
copper tube is light weight and the joints can be easily soldered together, and
once constructed the frame is very strong, the whole thing takes a few hours to
make and is well worth the effort and cost, approx £15 - 20.