WTF-J

Going through an Army Surplus store my boss suggested that there would be no more appropriate storage for the WTF-J than ammo cans.  We picked up a couple and looked for a good place to mount them in the Jeep. 

At first it looked like they would make a perfect center console, but the space between the back of the transmission hump and the transition to the rear deck was a bit too short.  Tried a couple of other places, but WTF-J gravity kept pulling them to the center console location. 

By cutting a wedge out of the front corner, the can would fit on the floor and as ammo cans are designed to be stacked, the height of two cans made a perfect location for a center console armrest.

Bolting the bottom can to the floor was no big deal and neither was bolting the top can to the bottom lid.  The problem with the "design" was that accessing the bottom can turned into a two-handed operation; the lid was soooo top heavy that as soon as it went over-center it would keep going into a less than graceful back flip.  The solution came from a couple of old gas struts that were salvaged from an old workbench.

By brazing a bracket into the lid, I could use the strut to limit the travel of the lid to 90° and hold it open while also stabilizing its lateral motion.  (I’m guessing that ammo can’s engineers probably didn’t anticipate this application in their hinge design.)  Testing the "system" with one strut suggested that one would provide more than enough lift, so the logical conclusion was to put one in each can.

At a later date, I might make some kind of cushion, but for the time being it works real well.  So it’s time to add one more item to the To Be Painted list, but once again it show the wisdom of listening to She Who Must Be Obeyed.