BillyJack
Active member
- Aug 14, 2010
- 1,227
- 0
Since it rained most of the holiday weekend, I used some of my idle time to get my homemade detail cart far enough along to be functional.
I had originally planned on buying and modifying a three-shelf cart from HF, but when a friend offered me a couple 24x17 inch aluminum pans and lengths of 1 inch angle, I took to the garage to build it all from stuff I had lying around.
The base is a piece of coated hardboard, with some short 2x4 blocks screwed to the corners, both to mount the casters and the uprights. The bottom compartment, dedicated to MF storage, is walled on three sides with storm-window plexiglass to keep 'em clean. I haven't decided on a front door yet, so I just have a clear curtain in place, weighted by a wooden dowel at the bottom. Dividers cut from foam signboard keeps the stacks separated into three categories: premium, mid-grade and utility.
The center shelf, lined with rubber mesh shelf liner, has canisters filled with applicator pads and a tray for gloves and finger pockets tucked to the sides, leaving a lot of space for a polisher or two.
In the upper compartment, also lined with rubber mesh, I hung a piece of aluminum flashing over one side to which I had glued a bunch of plastic pipe scraps as brush holders. Across the back and opposite side, I cut a few pieces from a heavy 4 inch mailing tube and attached them with binder clips to hold spray bottles, clay bars in baggies or even tuck in mf towels to keep them segregated while in use.
In theory, it should serve my needs well, but I'm sure a test drive or two may show where any revisions or improvements are needed. Since I had so much of the odds and ends already in stock, total construction cost was less than $25.
Thanks for viewing.
For those who have worked off something similar, any ideas for improvement?
Bill
I had originally planned on buying and modifying a three-shelf cart from HF, but when a friend offered me a couple 24x17 inch aluminum pans and lengths of 1 inch angle, I took to the garage to build it all from stuff I had lying around.

The base is a piece of coated hardboard, with some short 2x4 blocks screwed to the corners, both to mount the casters and the uprights. The bottom compartment, dedicated to MF storage, is walled on three sides with storm-window plexiglass to keep 'em clean. I haven't decided on a front door yet, so I just have a clear curtain in place, weighted by a wooden dowel at the bottom. Dividers cut from foam signboard keeps the stacks separated into three categories: premium, mid-grade and utility.
The center shelf, lined with rubber mesh shelf liner, has canisters filled with applicator pads and a tray for gloves and finger pockets tucked to the sides, leaving a lot of space for a polisher or two.

In the upper compartment, also lined with rubber mesh, I hung a piece of aluminum flashing over one side to which I had glued a bunch of plastic pipe scraps as brush holders. Across the back and opposite side, I cut a few pieces from a heavy 4 inch mailing tube and attached them with binder clips to hold spray bottles, clay bars in baggies or even tuck in mf towels to keep them segregated while in use.
In theory, it should serve my needs well, but I'm sure a test drive or two may show where any revisions or improvements are needed. Since I had so much of the odds and ends already in stock, total construction cost was less than $25.
Thanks for viewing.
For those who have worked off something similar, any ideas for improvement?
Bill