Luther Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Hi all, newbie here and pretty recent 110 owner (it took me a while to pluck up the courage to actually buy one). I’m in the process of renovating a relatively good Puma and am thinking of fitting a wooden floor to the rear cargo space. To make life a little easier I was going to source some standard drawers (not yet at the stage of building them myself) and then installing a base across the entire floor. Using a plywood base, then adding some hard wearing slats over the top (ideally teak or something similar). Is this something that others have done ? Any tips or ideas ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharp Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Congratulations on your new toy! When you say a base across the entire floor do you mean spanning both wheel arches with a drawer in the space below? My 110 is a station wagon so only went as far back as the rear seats with drawers and cupboards. I put sound deadening pads on the floor and arches followed by carpet tiles up to and under the second row seats on the floor then built drawers and a seat on the right (looking in) and cupboards on top of the wheel arch on the left. I had considered plywood floor but my main concern in the back was to keep space to a maximum and the flooring I put in ended up slightly under the height of the metal threshold so didn't reduce the height and there is enough headroom to sit on top of the drawers and brew up. Probably quite rough and ready compared to what you're looking at and it's certainly not a shoot ready polished shotgun cabinet but does the job. Drawers are quite easy if you can cut a straight line in some ply wood and you will get the maximum amount of space building them yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellaghost Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 I would use solid wood over plywood if it gets wet the ply's will burst open and your base will be wrecked regards Stephen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blanco Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 43 minutes ago, Stellaghost said: plywood if it gets wet the ply's will burst open .... on that there are a couple of things you can do. Firstly buy the ply from a proper timber merchant, good quality exterior grades of ply will put up with an occaisional soaking. Beware of anything described as 'Marine' ply unless it carries BS1088 marking, (but be prepared for the cost of it!), .. genuine BS1088 is much more expensive. The second thing you can do which will make the best of any plywood is warm it up indoors/inside, and then coat it in marine grade two part epoxy, the warmer you get it the more moisture is expelled and the further in the grain the epoxy is drawn. A well coated ply panel on my brother-in-laws boat was as good as new after 40yrs when I cut into it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 Yes, exactly. I thought that the drawer under will give me a wide, flat load area. great point about using decent wood and coating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted April 13, 2021 Author Share Posted April 13, 2021 I think multiple levels of coated wood would be worthwhile. I was contemplating using some vapour barrier of some kind - but in some ways more worried about water coming up and under. the othe4 question is how to anchor it in. Will bolts into the arches be enough ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonpelly Posted April 13, 2021 Share Posted April 13, 2021 Planning on doing something similar myself. Was thinking of using the bolt holes that are used to secure the seat belt frames once they have been removed. Large sections of wood spanning the arches and bolted in. Drawers underneath in a housing laid on the floor but secured to the spanning timber. Simon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 So, this weekend I made a start on the wooden load area. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Luther Posted May 9, 2021 Author Popular Post Share Posted May 9, 2021 And some further work 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 That looks great. Keep the pictures coming of your progress. I'm think of some thing along these lines myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted May 9, 2021 Author Share Posted May 9, 2021 3 minutes ago, monkie said: That looks great. Keep the pictures coming of your progress. I'm think of some thing along these lines myself. Will do. I have cheated a little. Found some diy oak benches on ebay. Means I don’t have to shape the wood much. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Your wood working skills look a lot neater than mine! Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 Some further work. all the wood cut, cargo rails installed. Just need to stick and screw. (I am also going to make an insert for when the seats are folded forward. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vogler Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 That looks really nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 That’s purdy! Oiling the wood rather than varnishing or ployeurathane coating it would be more resilient to scratches. I presume you fitted big washers for the fixings for the cargo track to make sure the nuts don’t pull through the board. It’s a great looking job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luther Posted May 11, 2021 Author Share Posted May 11, 2021 I was going to varnish - but maybe you are right, oil might be the best option. Would also mean that a quick sand and re oil would bring in back to life. the cargo tracks have 14 screws into the board underneath. Do you think I need to go further ? I could actually take bolts through the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 That's beautiful! Seems like a shame to use it! I think if I was putting rails like that in I'd bolt right through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted May 11, 2021 Share Posted May 11, 2021 A lovely piece of work, almost too lovely for the back of a land rover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Hunter Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I agree with the above: a lovely piece of work. What are the blue rails in the photos? Sorry, but I just don't recognise them. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Adjustable tie-down rails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filbee Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 On 5/11/2021 at 5:47 PM, Luther said: The cargo tracks have 14 screws into the board underneath. Do you think I need to go further ? I could actually take bolts through the floor. IMO it depends what you are intending to use them for. I've fitted 3 Unwin rails like yours in the back of my 110 hardtop, and most if the time there are two minibus seats attached to them so I can get the kids in the back if we go off somewhere. I made damned sure I bolted them through the floor of the rear tub along the full length of the rails, using the correct spreader plates underneath where possible, and big old washers where there was room for the plates. I wouldn't be so worried if I was just going to slot some cargo/tie-down rings in them to use to stop a few bulky item sliding about. Just give some thought to how easy it would be for the rails and whatever the rails are attached to to separate from the vehicle structure 👍 Here's what I did with mine. Yours looks much nicer I have to say 😎😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filbee Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 5 hours ago, Troll Hunter said: What are the blue rails in the photos? Sorry, but I just don't recognise them. They go by several names including Unwin or Koller rails, cargo track, cargo rails and many more I'm sure. They look blue in the pics but are actually just sliver-grey machined ally 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troll Hunter Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Aah. Thanks. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 On 5/11/2021 at 8:47 PM, Luther said: the cargo tracks have 14 screws into the board underneath. Do you think I need to go further ? I could actually take bolts through the floor. It’s an absolute must. Countersunk bolt with nylock nuts and reinforcing washers of 25-30mm diameter would suffice, but nothing smaller than that. Screws would pull straight out of the wood in an accident with anything heavy attached to the rails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 On 5/14/2021 at 11:25 AM, Filbee said: IMO it depends what you are intending to use them for. I've fitted 3 Unwin rails like yours in the back of my 110 hardtop, and most if the time there are two minibus seats attached to them so I can get the kids in the back if we go off somewhere. I made damned sure I bolted them through the floor of the rear tub along the full length of the rails, using the correct spreader plates underneath where possible, and big old washers where there was room for the plates. I wouldn't be so worried if I was just going to slot some cargo/tie-down rings in them to use to stop a few bulky item sliding about. Just give some thought to how easy it would be for the rails and whatever the rails are attached to to separate from the vehicle structure 👍 Here's what I did with mine. Yours looks much nicer I have to say 😎😊 You’ve not got them tied into the chassis directly?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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