I have been getting a lot of e-mails asking how the rear section of the car was built. How can I do that? Tell what all is involved. So, here are some behind the scenes pictures of what all took place to get to the finished product.

This is what the rear seat area looked like before we started. I put down several layers of Dynamat to ensure minimal road noise and to maximise the potential of my sound system.

Once the battery boxes were built, they were attached to a large piece of MDF. This would serve as a flat surface in which to build from. This would ensure that everything was "square"...at least in relation to each other.

This is the beginning of the rear framework. The rear area hold a Nitrous bottle, an EQ, 2 batteries, and 2 fuse holders. Each item has its own area. The hand is pointing to where the fuses should go. This was measured to ensure the fuse would be within 18" of wire length from the battery...which is a rule in most sound-off competitions.

This is what it looked like once all the framework was fininished. You can see that the center area, where the EQ will go, is covered in duct tape. This was done to ensure the fiberglass did not stick to that area. We were originally planning on making the EQ tub removealbe for easy tuning. We changed the plan at a later time, but that was the thought in the beginning. You can also see duct tape at the front of the framework. The was to keep the framework and th carpet becoming giberglassed together.

We used fleece material which soaks up a LOT of resin, stretches well, and is fairly thick. The fleece was stapled down on 1 side of the framework, and stretched very tightly to the other side, and then stapled down there as well. You want to stretch the fleece as tight as possible. As you add the resin, the fleece will sag under the weight. That makes it a lot harder to get the whole thing really SMOOTH in the long run.

Once all the fleece was stretched and stapled down, this is what the rear area looked like.

The next step was to apply the fiberglass resin. In this step, we used close to 2 gallons of resin, and had 4 people applying it. This was to make sure the resin didnt start to cure while we were still appling it. You have to make sure the resin soaks all the way through the fleece, so make sure you have enough resin mixed up once you start.

This is what it looked like once all the resin was applied. Remember that there is a lot of places covered in duct tape underneath. This will allow us to pull the whole thing out once the resin has cured. This picture was taken at about 2am....so it was time to go home for some sleep and to give the resin the proper time to cure (harden). The next morning, the extra fleece was cut away with a razor knife and the whole framework was removed from the car.

The first thing was to apply a few layers of Bondo to smooth things out. The Bondo will also make the fiberglass thicker and stronger.

Here Joe Zelano (in the jean shorts) of Elite Audio and Marc Richmond (in the hat) of Diamond Audio look over the whole thing. They are making sure the fiberglass is thich enough (structurally sepaking) as well as smooth enough. Just before the Bondo fully hardens, Marc would use a "cheese grater" to knock down the bondo. This tool saves a LOT of time in the sanding department. At this point, there was a LOT of sanding and applying Bondo. This was repeated until the piece was perfectly smooth and could be taken to Cutting Edge Customs for painting.

Once we got the panel sanded down to where we liked it, it was time to put it back in the car. This was done to ensure proper fit within the car. Here, Joe is adding some Bondo where the seat area meets the side panel. This curve also matches the curve of the Tenzo seats.

This is a little further along in the process. You can see the the once 1-piece rear is now 3-pirces. We made the left and right sides first, then finished with the center piece, as it is not painted yet. Notice the wooden covers over the battery openings. These were used for templates for the aluminum covers that were made. See page 10 for a full picture of the aluminum plates.

This is the center piece of the rear seat area out of the car. In the area that covers and houses the Nitrous Express bottle, we put strips of aluminum to carry that theme though the car. Here, we are building up the panel to meet the height of the aluminum with bondo.

Once the panels were sanded down with 400 grit sandpaper, paint was applied...jsut like you would the outside of the car: Base coat then clear coat. You can probably tell in this picture that the panels dont look the same as the "build-ip" pictures. As time went on, we decided that the rear set area needed to be in 3 sections: left, center, and right. This aided in the servicability of the rear area. On an Eclipse, the fuel pump is under the rear seat on the passenger side. I wanted access to this if necessary....without taking apart the whole car to do so.