A one cubic foot storage locker for a Locost

Last update:  10/5/12
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Considering that there really isn't much usable space in the boot ("trunk") of a Locost and I wanted to add a passengers side foot rest, I decided to kill two birds with one stone.  A one cubic foot doesn't sound like much, but when you start with ZERO lockable storage it's a lot. It does cut down on the length of the passengers side foot space though.

I trimmed a pretty thick aluminum baking pan that measured 12" x 15" to a length to 13" length and am using it as the foot rest. The pan has a pattern embossed in the front face which accounts for the rough appearance in the picture.

I used a 10" long piano hinge attached to frame member "P" on the passengers side to hold the upper end of the pan. The lower end of the pan is angled approximately 25 degrees rearward till it touches the floor pan. I placed a 12" long  3/4" x 3/4" - 90 degree aluminum angle stock across the floor on the firewall side of the pan to hold the door in alignment and to act as the latch plate for the key lock. I glued a rubber strip onto the angle to eliminate any rattles between the pan and the angle There are also some angle aluminum pieces riveted to the back side of the pan to strengthen it.

The foot locker measures 12" wide where the bottom of the pan rests on the floor, it's 15" long on the floor, approximately. 13" long at the top of the locker and the height is limited to the height to the underside of the scuttle. The volume is much more than one cubic foot but I quoted that to the top of the chassis inside the locker. Either way it is big enough to easily hold my removable 13" diameter steering wheel, a scissors jack, tools, jumper cables etc with space left over.

I am using a piece of soft rubber floor mat fastened at the upper edge of the door to hide the lock and finish the floor of the car. The rubber basically hangs down the pan to the floor. By only gluing it at the top I am able to lift the mat up to get at the lock and lift the door open.

The lock mechanism was originally used on a lockable file cabinet. It rotates 90 degrees from OPEN to LOCKED.
Locker pan front

Passengers side view of  locker door.


 Locker pan rear

Rear view of locker door with angle aluminum
bracing. The small tab at the bottom is part of the lock.
Locker inside

Inside view of locker. Don't be fooled by the reflection on the left side of the white cloth. The cloth is approximately 15" long and 12" wide at the end closest to the camera.

The cloth is laying on the actual floor pan. There is an additional 1" of space on the right side and at the forward end of the locker due to the 1" width of the frame members. The height is only restricted by the height to the scuttle itself.