Gas Can Holders
THE DRAWINGS ARE OKAY FOR A REAR DOOR WITH THE HANDLE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE
AND THE HINGES ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.
I do not know if any D model has the door hinges at the left side: if it is
so, the drawings should be specularly reflected left to right.
The missing sizes can be obtained just working around a couple of cans.
consider that NATO cans have slight variations in size, so allow at least
1cm clearance all around, except on the top L-shaped pieces, which should be
tighter, and some bending after completion of the work will help finding the
right fit.
do not make the C-shape piece tight on the cans: I have left 20mm of extra
room for easier insertion / extraction of the cans and to allow for some
dilatation of the cans when full and at high temperature.
Material used is iron. The main plate is 4mm thick, the rectangular section
tube is a 30 x 40 mm 3mm thick, all the other pieces (side members, C-shape
and L-shape pieces) are made from a 40mm x 4mm stripe.
The main plate with its 4mm is definitely very robust: a 3mm one would have
been enough, but this depends on your welding ability: if too thin it could bend
under weld (so hold it properly when welding to prevent this). The rectangular
tube I would not make thinner, and so for the various other pieces: you will
gain very little in weight.
Also, the main plate could be made less "tall": its lower part (90 mm below
the lower transversal rectangular tube) does not serve any purpose, I just
did the design while working, and did not know there was going to be no bolt
there: You could select the bolt pattern and adjust the main plate size
accordingly.
Everything was painted with a gray rust prevention paint and finished in
black. Some rubber lining was added at the right places to prevent can / can
holder rubbing and consequent paint damage. Instead of a belt to hold the
can in place (re. to drawings) I use an elastic cord with small hooks at the
ends (passing under the U's on the central oblique members and engaged on
the outside oblique members): cheap and handy.
On my SW, the main plate I have fitted just close to the hinges on the rear
door, the top right plate corner at the same height as the top of the middle
door hinge. The C-shaped piece turns out to be positioned (vertically) just
between the rear lamps when the door opens.
Before doing any drilling work, check that you can properly grasp the door
handle when placing the can holder (with cans in), and check for any
interference between the cans holder and the stop and direction lights: mine
has the protection grilles on the rear lamps and one has to be careful when
opening the rear door.
The can holder applies much less load than a spare tire on the door hinges
even when the cans are full (much less torsional momentum than the spare
tire). I have used a total of 15 steel bolts of size between 6mm and 4mm,
depending on the
attachment point. The bolt pattern I worked out directly from the door,
removing the internal cover and selecting proper points on the door frame
from the inside, making the holes and marking the position on the main plate
with a pin. Rust free steel bolts (A8-8 ?) are sufficient, there is no need
for high strength bolts.
Finally, I did not convert metric in inches: as everybody knows
1in = 2.5cm = 25mm
but the reason I did not converted the values is that you might have at hand
different material thickness that will work just fine.
I am available for everybody which might need additional measures and any
other info that might help.