Most liked posts in thread: Porch TV project - not car related at all...

Parts are on the way:

• 32" Toshiba flatscreen - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0872FYTWS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Wireless HDMI connection - I'm going to piggy-back onto my main living room TV, so whatever is displayed there will be send out to the mobile TV. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081QX17WK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Heavy-duty extension cord, to supply power to all the tech in the box. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EL16XBI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Case corner protectors (to save the case and my walls while moving it about): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JQYV4CO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Handles, to make moving easier: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074XP6H4G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• HDMI panel mount extension - The TV will be permanently mounted in the case, so this will let me plug in an external input more easily, if desired: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LX1FQPE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• Wood and some other case components to be supplied by my local Lowes.

I'm puzzling around a way to add some remote control storage to the box and ways to strengthen the construction...

 

I made it to Lowes this weekend... bought way too much crap. Finding the specific screws I needed to mount the TV in the box was a serious PITA.

The case will be 3/4" thick yellow pine (furniture grade)... mostly because I found a 3/4" thick piece of desktop material in pine that is made from pre-assembled/glued pine strips. It will made for a convenient back piece choice as it was flat, mostly sanded smooth and just a few inches over the right size, so I wasn't going to have to find someone to rip down a sheet of plywood for me in the store and then deal with two thirds of a sheet of plywood left over that I had no use for.

Also... any excuse for new tools. I've never gotten around to buying a router and I think the edges of this case would do very well with a round-over profile, so a new palm-router made its way into the cart...

I pulled the TV and sound bar out and laid 'em out on the workbench to take measurements. 32" TV and Soundbar.




Also... I made my rounds in Lowes, picking up all of the bits and pieces I'd need for the project. In that basket of stuff was several cans of spray paint. I was helping the poor check out lady (I had a bunch of screws and nuts from the fastener aisle that weren't in bags), so I was one of "those" guys, who took a while to check out. We got to the end of the end of the items in the cart and I looked up to the total on the register to see my total: OVER $23,000 !!!! I feigned a heart attack a la Fred Sanford and got a chuckle from the poor lady behind the register. Apparently something weird happened and the register thought I had over 4,000 cans of spray paint in the basket.

 

Holy crap. I just realized that the last of my bits and pieces arrived from Amazon today (except for a spare TV remote, but that's just a duplicate of what I already have at home), so I've gotta go spend some time cogitating over size / construction and then make a lumber run!

 

I got several hours of work in on the mobile TV cabinet this weekend (I work for a bank and got Columbus day off... woo for obscure Federal holidays!)

I measured up the back of the case, double checked w/ the TV and sound bar on top and then added another inch or two of depth... looks good... time to get the saws out.

After many hours of cutting, fitting and drilling pilot holes, I had this:



I posted this pic to my Facebook feed and a MINI friend questioned heat retention inside the box. The bottom of the TV is open-air and I put it on a 1" spacer from the back of the case (for cable and air flow), but his comments got me thinking, so I added some speed holes to the top of the back panel. This should allow hot air to rise and vent out the top with cooler air filling in from below.



I'm now filling in the screw holes & seams, sanding, priming and painting. The speed holes are wreaking havoc with my 2 tone paint job plans (overspray is a bitch when painting with both black and white paint), but I'll get it figured out... That part of the inside of the cabinet isn't easily visible when the TV is mounted up, so I'm going to spray the inside black, mask off from the inside and not worry too much about some white overspray showing through on the inside as it's not readily visible on the finished product.

I also had to order myself a bench vice. Any excuse for new tools, amirite? I've got some chunky iron brackets that I need to bend some hooked ends into and I don't have enough leverage with hand tools.

Sand... sand... sand... sand... sand (I hate sanding).

 

The new bench vice appeared this morning (wow... 1.5 day free delivery from Amazon on a 35-40 lb package) and I was able to bend out my 1/4" steel hangers without having to bolt the vice to the bench (bolts won't be here until Friday or Saturday). I have a feeling that is going to be a VERY handy thing to have about the house. I got a couple sets of soft grips (vice jaw pads) as well. The hooks for the box have been fit and some primer applied.

I got 3 coats of flat black on the inside of the box yesterday... that's looking good.

I had to take a call w/ a team in Taiwan this morning (7am meetings suck. I haven't had to set an alarm clock for 2-3 months!), so I'm hoping to break away from work early this afternoon and get the sanding done on the outside and get moving on the outside-of-the-box paintwork. Maybe I can wrap this project up this weekend! That's a joy of working from home... I can run out at lunch and spray paint for 10 min, let it dry and repeat a few times through the afternoon.

EDIT: I got the rest of the box primed and 2 coats of paint put on today... The paint seems very slow to dry, so it will probably be tomorrow before I can strip the masking off and move on to assembly.

 

Painting is done. I really wanted to try and do the assembly last night, but everything was just too tacky and I knew I'd muck up the fresh paint.

It's supposed to be a brilliant weekend here in Charlotte... sunny and high in the upper 60s. Sounds like some good TV watchin' weather!

 

Yep. We did condo life for 3 years when we moved to San Francisco. I'll admit that it was very nice, not to have to think about outside maintenance, landscaping, etc. I just had to keep the inside stuff working right and chip in a bit to keep an eye on the HOA (like every HOA, we had a few grumpy Karens / Brads who needed to be kept in check). The move into that condo was the reason I sold Jango, my first R53, but that move also let my wife make a career shift that wound up being very beneficial.

We did have a spectacular view out over the Pacific Ocean from that condo, though. Some gorgeous sunsets (and the San Francisco property values climbing 25%+ per year wasn't bad either ).

I'm going for something like a flight case, but open on one of the larger sides to see the TV.

 

I don't know why it amazes me every time, but I found several how-to articles for flight cases (like the image above) on YouTube. You can buy all of the hardware on Amazon. There are also companies that will make the cases for you, but I'm going to do this less by formal engineering (drawing out plans) and more by touch and feel (laying the components out on some plywood and getting a feel for how it goes together.

I don't need to go full-on flight case as my TV will really only travel the 50 feet from the closet in my office to one of the porches, but it's the right idea. I'm going to use some more normal hardware, plywood, glue and wood screws.

Bits and pieces are arriving daily. The TV and soundbar and extension cord arrived yesterday. The wireless HDMI transmitter came the day before. The luggage handles, case corner protectors and a bunch of other little bits just arrived this morning. If I have the time, I'm hoping to putter about in the garage a bit this weekend to lay it all out and start case assembly.

I'm trying to determine paint color... maybe a flat black interior with an off white exterior (to match the house trim) on the rails of the porch.

 

Aaaaannnnnnnnnnd DONE!

 

Yep... I love a good front porch and we spent some time making this one cozy. I got the Sonus setup out there (web-enabled speakers), ceiling fans put up and a good porch swing. Plus, for those of you who grew up in the South, the ceiling is painted light blue to keep the 'haints' away (evil spirits). We cover the front steps with a folding baby gate and take the dogs out with us... loads of old-timer fun.

Our neighborhood is wonderful. It was mostly full of 1940's era starter homes when we bought in maybe 4-5 years ago, but ours was one of the first homes to be flipped in the neighborhood (the old home torn down and a new one built on the lot). I'd guess my street is now 50% new and 50% original homes. The original ones that had some character and were well kept have generally been saved (thank goodness), but the house that had been on our lot had not aged / been kept up well and was not one of the nicer examples. Most of the new ones have been built in a style similar to the older homes.

It's a great mix of young folks, older original owners and some bohemian renters. My real estate agent said something like "If you want to be able to get a cappuccino and a tattoo in the same block, this is the place!"






We also did a TON of work a few years back, fixing some back deck errors (some idiot did the framing / decking) and turning the grass box of a back yard into something more attractive. The TV mount will probably go on the rail, in front of the rockers, most of the time, but might find its way to the back deck occasionally as well (summer movie night outdoors... have a BBQ and watch something fun outside)

 

That's pretty much what baggage handlers do anyway, right?