Initial Steps to Building a Car Caddy

Cut and assemble the plywood parts

Cut the large cabinet parts to size. Hold off on cutting the trim parts to length at this point. It’s smarter to measure and cut them to fit after the cabinet takes shape.

Reader's Digest Assembling the plywood parts

Assemble the four cabinet box sides first. Spread a thin layer of glue on the edges. If you have a brad nailer, pin the sides together with a few 1-1/2-in. brads. After all four sides are glued and pinned, drill 1/8-in. holes and screw the sides together with 2-in. screws and finish washers. If you don’t have a brad nailer, use screws and glue only. Skip the washers and countersink the screws wherever the screws will be covered by other pieces. Then add the pair of drawer rails, leaving a 5-1/4-in. space for the drawer. They’re in two parts simply to make the rail thicker to act as a divider between the doors and the drawer.

Reader's Digest Adding the cabinet drawer slides

Install the cabinet drawer slides and shelf standards before you install the back. Space the standards using plywood scraps. Look at the numbers stamped on the standards to be sure you don’t install them upside down. Use a self-centering bit set in the screw holes for drilling pilot holes. Then screw on the base panel and anchor each caster with 1-in. No. 12 screws.

Laminate the drawer door fronts and top

Plastic laminate is optional for this project. You could skip it and coat the parts with polyurethane instead. Apply plastic laminate to two pieces of plywood, one for the top and another for the door and drawer fronts. Cut the bottom for the rack and laminate that separately. Cut this part to the exact dimensions before laminating. Later, you’ll cut part C into three parts to make the doors and drawer fronts. (The width of the saw kerf will give you perfect gaps between the parts.) Rough-cut the laminate to size, about 2 in. larger than the plywood blanks. Do that by scoring the laminate with a utility knife (use a sharp blade!) and a straightedge. Make three or four passes, pressing firmly with the knife. Then carefully bend the sheet over a workbench edge and the pieces will break right at the score. Use a small foam roller to spread the contact cement on both the plywood and the back of the laminate. After the cement dries to the touch (it should be tacky but not wet), carefully hold the laminate over the plywood so all edges overhang the plywood, then lower it into position. Roll the entire surface with a laminate roller to force out air bubbles and get good contact, especially at the edges. Or, use the edge of a 2x4 to force down the laminate by pushing and dragging. Lastly, trim off the overhanging laminate with a flush-trim router bit. Then center, clamp and screw the top to the cabinet from the underside with 1-1/4-in. screws.

Add handles and the rack

Drill 1-in.-diameter holes 1/2 in. deep in both ends of the edge trim using a Forstner bit, then center, glue and nail the front piece in place. Cut the handle tubing (aluminum piping or a wood dowel) a bit on the long side and test-fit it by slipping it into the holes and holding the second edge-trim pieces against the cabinet. Cut a bit at a time off the end until you get a perfect fit. Then glue and nail the second trim pieces (with the handles in place) to the top.

Reader's Digest Adding the handles

Assemble the rack and mount it. Clamp the rack to the top while you screw it to the cabinet from the underside with 2-in. screws. Cut the wastebasket lip to fit and pin it to the base with 1-1/4-in. brads.