I looked at the realities of making a box to cover the stand, and I dunno... with the angles caused by the bent saddle, and the overall crude construction, there are no straight sides to be found. I could make it loose fitting, or custom-fit it, but it's still 5 pieces to cut and weld vs just one if I welded directly onto the stand.

Here are simulated before/after photos if I did weld it directly on. The black stuff in the first photo showing where I'd arc-weld it.

The second photo is via the magic of Photoshop. It also shows grinding off some of the other pointy edges.

The advantage of this (in addition to simplicity) is that you could grab it by the top without anything falling off.

I have some 3/8" thick steel that I could use too with a little more cutting, but I'm not really sure strength is an issue... I presume steel is a lot stronger than the cast iron that I think is used here on the stand? I also presume I can arc-weld steel to cast-iron (if that is what the stand is)? I must plead metallurgical ignorance again.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1992 300E Sedan (Sold)
1999 E320 Wagon (Sold)
1995 E320 Sedan
1995 E320 Wagon