My first instructable be nice....

I am a fabricator and wiring guy, run my own business in Australia.

You can ask me stuff here or on my Facebook page @ Pirateperformance

Simple metal fuse holder for a 4x4

What we are making today is a simple distribution/fusebox holder for a 4x4.

How hard? Moderate, need some welding skills and be able to use a grinder without loping off a arm.

How long? Set aside an afternoon(paint drying overnight)

What tools? You will need the following at a minimum:

Tape measure
Grinder with a thin cut off wheel
Welder(Mig, Tig or Arc are fine; i used a TIG in this)
Marker, scribe or pencil.
Drill with dill bits

Optional but great to have:

Cold cut saw
Square
House shaped magnet
Sanding disk for grinder
Bench top sander/grinder

What stuff: 3mm steel i had lying round in the workshop

Got that? Sweet lets cut and weld

Step 1: Measuring and Cutting

Measuring and cutting:

So we start by measuring the device we need to mount, and working out what bits we need to cut.

I wanted a rectangle that it could sit on, then i could find a mounting location and weld some legs into the desired location.

In my case i decided to make it 90mm x 160mm.

Measured all the bits and cut them on my cold cut saw.

Then dressed them on the bench grinder to make sure they sat square.

Put them into my square magnet holder and we begin tack welding.

Step 2: Tacking and Welding

Tacking and welding

Ok so now we have the first join ready to weld. Just put 2 tacks on each, starting with one side then moving around. checking each to make sure they are still square.

Flip and tack from the under side

Doing 2 tacks makes sure they wont heat warp. If you do one join all at once it will warp like crazy. The thinner the metal the worse it will be.

So now we have a rectangle the size of the device to be mounted.

Step 3: Fill Welding and Grinding

Fill welding and grinding.

Now we start welding, I do welded one full join, flipped it and did the opposite side to keep the heat even

Try to make sure you use a bit of filler and build it up a bit so we can sand it down and make it flush so the box sits nice and flat.( only a problem for TIG as you can fusion weld and create a dip)

Once that is down, time to hit it with the sander disk on the grinder.

Hit all the welds until they are nice a flat and match all round.

Time to work out a location.....

Step 4: Location and Leg Fabrication

Location and leg fabrication.

Now we have all the base sorted it time to work out where you want the bracket to mount.

I decided to use some factory mounting location nut for a accessory that only came on the petrol version

Same process as in the other steps: Measure twice, dress the cut and tack weld, then fill weld and grind down.

I also drilled the holes in the steel to get the bolts in the location.

NOTE: make sure you take not of where everything plugs into the device you are mounting.

No point doing all this work only to find you cant actually use the damn thing.

You should have an almost finished bracket now, congratulations!

Step 5: Final Sand, Edge Rounding and Paint.

Final sand, edge rounding and paint.

Now we have a nice bracket all ready, its time to sand it all back to bare metal(remove surface coating), round the edges.

The hand grinder is amazing for this step, make sure you go slowly on this step as you want the corners to look nice and even. You can ungrind off metal(well you can, its called welding but crates extra work)

Once you have it all looking sexy, time to paint. I used the finest Australian racing black i could find( $3 matte black from the local hardware)

Let it dry over night and you are good to go.

Wow look at that, almost as if it was meant to be there.

I didnt include taping threads or wiring in this instructable, but thats all coming in the next few

Introduction: Simple Metal Fuse Holder for a 4x4