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All Saab V4 cars were fitted with two generous side bins for storage, but with no centre console there was not much room to keep things closer to hand. A map pocket to locate under the glovebox of early Saabs was available from the factory, as one of the many sport and rally accessories. This page shows a home-made equivalent. |
Home-made Map Pocket |
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This extract from the original sport and rally brochure shows the official Saab map pocket. |
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The design was for the pocket to be able to accommodate a standard sized, UK, map book. As a result the dimensions would be 380mm wide x 230mm deep x 60mm tall. To start the build a piece of steel was marked out and cut to give the final depth of the pocket. The first forming operation was to fold the outer ends of the pocket to 90º so that they could attach to the lid. This was done by clamping the sheet between two straight edges and folding by hand. |
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Next a 35mm diameter piece of bar was used to form the lower (rounded) corners of the pocket. The bar and sheet were held with a vice and a clamp and then the part was bent by hand. |
Part set up for bending |
The finished bend |
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With both ends formed a top part was cut to fit, from aluminium plate. Then the profile was traced onto a piece of plywood to complete the back of the pocket. |
Pocket parts assembled. |
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With clamps holding the assembly together, screws were used along all sides of the plywood to secure the bottom of the pocket. The front remained un-joined but this would be secured once the pocket was screwed to the dashboard. A cranked bracket was also made which would hold the rear of the pocket up against the glovebox. |
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The interior and exterior were finished in a satin black 'wrinkle' paint to try and match the dashboard. The process involved two thin coats followed by a final thicker coat a few hours later to produce the wrinkles. |
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To complete the front edge of the pocket some rubber finishing strip was ordered from Woolies.This part chosen was the smallest edging strip available, part number R100. This was a 3/8" deep U-section with a gap of 1.5mm. |
Rubber edging strip |
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The part was then screwed to the underside edge of the dashboard using some self-tapping screws along the front edge. The screws at each end also held the lid and sides together. It was secured at the rear using the cranked bracket and a flush screw inside the glovebox. The bonnet release was still accessible, but was adjusted so that it operated nearer to the closed position as it clashed with the map pocket if extended too far. |
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