My 170S Build

Whilst I have the storage pocket between the seats on the bulkhead, it is difficult to get to when you are actually sitting in the car (I am not as flexible as I once was). I therefore wanted to have a ‘small bits tray’ a bit closer to hand – the obvious place being on the top of the transmission tunnel under the dash. I looked at the after-market options and decided that they were nice but well out of my price bracket (they are well over £100). And in fact, not all that practical given the they are made of netting so a bit of fiddle to put things in, and certainly not ear-bud-friendly.

And in my 170 the space for my legs is so tight, I cant get anything significant on the sides of the tunnel.

So I have made my own, using a £1.50 box I found in TK Max and two elastic straps, each end terminating in a plastic wedge.

I had been keeping these wedges, which are used in the installation of laminate flooring, for at least 20 years because ‘they were going to be useful one day’. The wedges hook into the gap between the tunnel cover and the carpet. That means that the storage box can be easily unhooked if necessary.

The whole thing is held together with pop rivets, which I have vast numbers of left over from the build. It works well and covers up that rather unsightly electrical connector that sits in front of the heater. I have put a liner of foam rubber to stop things moving around in the tray.

And it is just the right size to avoid interference with gear changes. I have fixed the phone power cable to the side to stop that flopping around when its not plugged into my phone.

OK, the colour aint great, but I can hopefully find something to cover that up in due course or find a better box to remake it with. But the tray works.

Update

I have found the tray really useful over the two years I have had the car. It keeps my sunglasses, ear buds, coins for tolls (I live near Oxford where we have an ancient but convenient toll bridge that requires coins for payment).

There have been a few occasions where I have found the lack of an interior light an annoyance, particularly when trying to get the keys into the ignition at night.

I have got through a number of bicycle lights over the years and have a small collection of unused lights in the garage. So I thought I could use one of the spare rechargeable front lights as an internal light by sticking it to the side of the tray. I used those high strength picture hanging strips so that it could easily be removed if need be. Result.

And I also added some of the leftover rubber trim around the top of the box.