My 1999 Honda Odyssey hasn't had any cargo cover since day one when I bought it new. It was rather inconvenient when I have to hide from public view things I put in the cargo space with blue tarp in order to prevent possible theft from vehicle. Since the 1999 Odyssey's problematic & notorious transmission has just been overhauled, I thought perhaps it is about time to put in a nice looking cargo space cover for the next 100k miles.
Surprisingly, used cargo cover for this year, make and model was impossible to find, and a rare brand new one would cost at least 100 bucks with shipping. Decided to use one Sunday to construct this folding cover using parts I could find in my garage instead of tossing a hundred dollars away for a piece of dressed up cardboard.
Some improvisation required in this project as shown in the video and still shots. The final result is shown in the beginning of this video, followed by the details of the construction.
Parts used included a piece of spare peg board that was wide enough but barely deep enough (though with an acceptable gap at the cargo door when closed), plastic riser washers and tapering screws saved from some past furniture setups, metal washers, bolts and nuts in my garage collection, and surprisingly a rigid long gate hook I found bought many years ago rediscovered and used here. The only parts I have to purchase new were the small brass hinges (you can get them cheap from Lowes @ 4 hinges for slightly greater than 2 bucks - Home Depot charges more), plus one small zinc hinge found at Walmart (@ 97 cents for a set of two) and the C-channel aluminum frames for less than 9 bucks (from Home Depot - longest at 96 inches which two times 52 inches ain't enough - and therefore a small add-on piece had to be cut from the stem of a salvaged security alarm company's yard sign).
You may have to first decide on a maximum recline position the back row seat, then start mapping the size and shape of the cargo cover on a piece of large brown wrapping paper with tapes. I taped the paper at a level just above the cargo net hooks and penned the template on paper from there. The line drawing on the paper was then cut with scissors and would serve as the template for the peg board. Rest of construction is in video.
ROYALTY FREE MUSIC IN THIS VIDEO by BENSOUND
