DIY roof basket

[miatapasta]

So this project isn't done at all yet, but I wanted to introduce myself and show off what I've been working on lately. For my Miata I tend to use quality parts mixed with DIY, but for my off road/daily driver OBW I wanted to keep it as cheap as possible to allocate more funds into the Miata build.

 

Please let me know if you have any comments or criticisms. This certainly won't be a high weight loading basket, but this pallet is WAY overbuilt and can handle hundreds of pounds. The shortcoming is actually the Subaru's roof rails themselves. 

 

So, as mentioned, the DIY roof basket so far.

 

I have sunk exactly $0 into this. All lights, materials, metal, hardware, etc. I either cannibalized off other pieces, picked up for free, or already had laying around. If you're interested in such a project, here's what I'm doing.

 

We start with the plastic pallet. My friend manages a grocery store and let me grab one of the pallets from behind the store. 

 

So you want to cut out the center cross pieces. There is actually a piece of square metal bar that runs through one of the pieces. I used a hacksaw to cut it out and managed to save a solid 4 foot piece. Save it for later as you will use it to mount your spot lights on.

 

 

Here you see the plates I made to cover the cross beam cutouts. All of the flat plating material you see in this project is called Polymetal. It is the same stuff they make the oversized "lot for sale" signs out of. 

 

 

Next, I chose to mount some side lights. They are 6.5" flood lights. These will be good for peripherals. I mounted them to a square of Polymetal, and then screwed the metal plate into the pallet itself.

 

 

 

 

Next up, I made the wind faring. Again, Polymetal. It is actually set up to be hinged in case I need to pass a long object through the basket. This way the faring can move out of the way.

 

 

Lights, wiring, faring. You can also see the stainless steel U-bolts I'm using as a mounting solution.

 

 

Test fit so far.

 

 

Rear view.

 

 

Then you want to paint the wind faring. I actually am going to cover it with a "Subaru rally" decal I found online for cheap that is originally designed as a windshield banner. (The vinyl decal doubles as a cover for all the old screw holes in the Polymetal wind faring).

 

You'll also notice that I cut the bottom edge to contour to the roof.

 

 

And this is where I've left off. It still isn't mounted yet. The basket will house a shovel and a hi-lift jack for recovery purposes. It should have a higher weight limit than OEM because I've removed the factory adjustable crossbars, which had a pretty weak mounting system to begin with.

 

 

I have four spot beams to add to the front and I still need to run all the wiring, but it's starting to take its final shape. I'll update later when I have more done. It's been a fun project and you can't beat free!