Picnic in the car

[ruffrecords]

My wife and I like to get a regular 'sea fix' so we drive down to the cliff side car park not far from us at Cromer in Norfolk, sit in the car, watch the world go by and have a picnic. The weather is not always clement enough to sit outside the car so we sit and eat inside. Thing is we have a Ford Edge SUV and unfortunately it is not what I would call 'picnic friendly'. In fact it looks like storage convenience has been completely forgotten (but that is another story). Anyway, I managed to find a tray with a drink holder that fits over the steering wheel so the driver side problem is solved. However, we have no solution for the passenger side right now. Even the glove box does not open flat so you could rest a cup on it. At the moment the passenger side is reduced to balancing cups, sandwiches and crisps on the dashboard which is nowhere near flat.

Then I came across a device that supposedly fits in a cup holder but its picture shows the fixing part has a big clip - no idea how you would fit that in a cup holder. However, this got me thinking. The Edge does have a pair of cup holders so I wondered if I could make something like a tray that plugs straight into the cup holders so we could use it as a small table between us to put our sandwiches and drinks on. The question is what to make it out of. I suppose I could whittle a couple of cup shaped pieces of wood and glue the to a flat piece to form the tray but whittling is not my forte. Any smart ideas how I could quickly and easily knock something up?

Cheers

Ian

 

[cyrano]

A pair of plastic cups, glued to a plastic serving tray?

Easy to get, easy to glue, easy to paint.

 

[iomegaman]

You know, I think what I would do is find a lunch tray of sorts that fit the need, then get a couple of disposable plastic cups, (make sure you have covered with paper/plastic wrap/etc/ the console/area where this device is going to go)...grab a can of dense expanding crack seal foam from a hardware store and a couple of metal brackets and spray the foam into the cups and insert the brackets...latter when everything is dry and formed attach the brackets to the bottom of the tray you wanted to use...at least thats how I would start...it would probably make a mess and I'd curse and swear because that expanding foam stains your hands like crazy but eventually I'd hit on a Red Green Duct tape approach that would make the women find me handy.

 

[Tubetec]

Maybe take a suitable bread board  , find some re-usable plastic hot drinks cups , maybe long wood screws could be used to attach them , nice n simple , no funky glues ,fillers or sprays .

 

[Script]

99p store or similar.

All plastic for easy cleaning.

Tray with rim to make at least a bit spill-safe.

Two toothbrush cups turned upside down and screwed onto underside (nuts and bolts) of tray. If fully flush top surface is a must, maybe go cups superglued.

Instead of tray top could go transparent box cut to desired height? Or tray mounted with two sealable smaller boxes and two drinkholders?

Nothing beats a picnic with a nice view.

 

[ruffrecords]

Thanks guys; the two plastic cups somehow fixed to a plastic tray seems the way to go. Time to go shopping.

Hey, Script - for once we agree on something; nothing beats a picnic with a view  ;D

Cheers

Ian