Made my own battery cover!

[trippy1313]

A few months ago I posted in the wanted section for a Lasonic 920 battery cover.... mine was slightly warped, I tried do fix it, only to destroy it. It was quite embarrassing and I was pretty mad at myself. At the suggestion of a couple members, my options pretty much were, keep trying to fix it, or make one from scratch, like Chris (Lasonic TRC-920) has made for a few boxes.

Well I've been busy with my now 3 month old baby, but finally got around to messing with it. Tried fixing the one, no dice.

So I made one today, out of a single piece of steel, from a new quarter panel section of a Volkswagen. Found a color that isn't exact, but about as close as I'll ever find.

I would still like an original, but this'll do till then.

 

[hardmen]

Niceee...

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Looks good to me. Just use a nice firm piece of foam to make up for the thinner material and your batteries won't rattle around.

Good work,

James....
P.S My pet hate is a boombox or any device really with a missing battery cover!

 

[blu_fuz]

Not too bad and better than nothing!

 

[MrMcBlaster]

The cuts and bends on the clips......very very nice work! That's top work

 

[trippy1313]

Thanks, it took me two tries, the first I made out of aluminum. But as I wondered, it couldn't take the bending of the tabs. I never would have thought to make one though. Hopefully I'll get some foam soon.

 

[caution]

That's some nice work trippy, do you have experience working with metal?
With any luck someday we will be able to toss a good battery cover into a 3D printer and we'll all have perfect copies.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

NICE WORK!

I like the one piece design. Making the spring clips is the hardest part. Came out fantastic!

From a car panel...that is just ingenuity at it's best

 

[Cpl-Chronic]

Nice!! I'm guessing your an Auto-Body fabricator?

 

[SLO]

Wow nice work! It came out GREAT, the tabs look really good, can you make one for a Lasonic L30??? I'm missing the battery cover on mine.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Very nice work! That click- locking part of the top two clips are not easy to make!
Some talent is involved there. Also the length of the bend part for the click and lock has to do with the spring action.

Our member Chris's Lasonic TRC-920 method was excellent!

 

[trippy1313]

Very nice work! That click- locking part of the top two clips are not easy to make!
Some talent is involved there. Also the length of the bend part for the click and lock has to do with the spring action.

Our member Chris's Lasonic TRC-920 method was excellent!

Thanks, I got the idea from Chris's covers he made.

But yes I'm an autobody/collision repair guy. I don't often have to fabricate stuff, but I occasionally have a knack for it.

Chris- I agree about the clips being the hard part. To my advantage, I still had the damaged cover, so I had a good idea of the correct design. Without that it would have taken me a lot longer.

About the car parts, the cool thing with modern car panels, is they are almost always a higher strength steel than you would buy at a hardware store or whatever, quite a bit stronger, better quality metals.

 

[trippy1313]

Wow nice work! It came out GREAT, the tabs look really good, can you make one for a Lasonic L30??? I'm missing the battery cover on mine.

Without the back panel to fit it to I'm not sure. Unless it's the same as a 920. I wouldn't mind trying.

 

[redbenjoe]

The cuts and bends on the clips......very very nice work! That's top work

yes ...great job -- the spring clips are always the trickiest sections to make

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Thanks, I got the idea from Chris's covers he made.

But yes I'm an autobody/collision repair guy. I don't often have to fabricate stuff, but I occasionally have a knack for it.

Chris- I agree about the clips being the hard part. To my advantage, I still had the damaged cover, so I had a good idea of the correct design. Without that it would have taken me a lot longer.

About the car parts, the cool thing with modern car panels, is they are almost always a higher strength steel than you would buy at a hardware store or whatever, quite a bit stronger, better quality metals.

The most impressive part of this is the fact that it's all one piece. I typically make 3-4 clips per cover because they are so hard to create. They get farked up in the process. Not easy. I also made small slip on covers where the spring meets the plastic of the box so the plastic case doesn't wear away.

I used stainless steel in mine for the SPRINGY-ness, but my doors are made of sheet aluminum. WHY? Because it's what I had laying around

For sure, custom fab door, better than NO DOOR!

AND, another 920 can now ROCK the street!

 

[trippy1313]

Oooo I like the idea about the covers, I'm gonna have to check yours out again. I thought about doing the multi piece thing like yours, but personally for me, I would have struggled with aligning the clips, or screwing up drilling the rivet holes. I figured, I have a near endless supply of quality metal, I'll just measure 50 times, take my time and try one piece.

 

[ford93]

That is great work and dedication.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Oooo I like the idea about the covers, I'm gonna have to check yours out again. I thought about doing the multi piece thing like yours, but personally for me, I would have struggled with aligning the clips, or screwing up drilling the rivet holes. I figured, I have a near endless supply of quality metal, I'll just measure 50 times, take my time and try one piece.

I think it came out better than mine, the drag is having the rivets on the back. The clean look of the one piece looks better IMO.

I might have to go get a car hood from the scrap yard and try again

The real point is, these can be made!
It should show others that it can be done and if you find a radio that needs a batter cover, they should pick it up and go for it

 

[Retro Addict]

Excellent fabrication skills! Well done!

 

[trippy1313]

Haha, I'll tell ya what, I'll try to save some of the excess NEW metal we get, cut a bunch of door size rectangles and ship you some if ya want. I shoulda taken more pics or a video.