PACKING SHELF / TRUNK
There were a lot of projects that I've been meaning to tackle
on this car and I've finally had time to work on them. The
packing shelf on this car was long overdue because the
original had peeled up (thin vynil stuck on with double stick
tape) in the early 80's. My Grandfather looking for an
inexpencive fix put in a piece of 70's shag carpet. This carpet
was usefull for the family cat to ride on when family would
take the cat on camping trips. (he was a cool cat). Believe it
or not that carpet was still in there to this day and it HAD TO
GO! I started first by removing the rear seat and trim panels
to get at the shelf. No change in the seat believe it or not, I
was a little bummed.
True 1970's GM comfort. Bed springs and a burlap sack.
They dont feel that bad on long rides though.
These are all the tools that I used to make my template for
the shelf.
This is the only shot I took of the former shag carpet shelf. I
cant believe I didnt rip it out sooner.
With the template all cut out Im ready to start applying the
foam. Now the foam that I got was from work. VW brake
rotors are packed in the quarter inch thick foam for some
reason and I took 3 pieces to make my shelf. You can get
similar foam at a Home Depot or Lowes.
After cutting the foam to shape I applied a little more foam to
the lip of the original shelf to complete the padding. After that
I mocked up my material and set the freshly painted speaker
grills on to see how they'd look.
This picutre might be a little confusing but with the fabric vynil
side down and the foam side of my shelf template down I
taped the vynil in place.
Turning everyhting right side up. I put my template on top of
the original shelf. I flipped the fabric so that only a 1 inch lip
was in between the new and old shelfs. I stapled them
together through the foam on top. I spaced every staple 1
inch apart and went the whole length of the shelf.
BOTTOM TOP
With the fabric now secure I flipped it back over (thus hiding
the staples that secure it) and spray adhesive on the foam. I
used 3M spray adhesive and Duck Carpet Tape to hold the
fabric to the foam. The carpet tape was great for holding the
contour of the lip towards the back.
To press everything down evenly I flipped the whole
assembly and pressed it to the table. Pulling the fabric
tight I applied more carpet tape to hold the the vynil to the
lip.
The hard part is now done and I could stop here. But I want
to reinstall the speakers and get some sound into this
beast.
See how the staples hold the material tight to the original
seam.
To cut in the speaker sections is simple. I found the center
of the hole and made pie cuts into the vynil. I applied more
carpet tape to the shelf and pulled each pie cut tight and
adhered it to the tape. I worked all the way around to get it
as tight as possible.
These are the speakers I chose to replace the old blown out
ones. Literally there was no foam holding the cone on the
speaker anymore. It had totally decinegrated. The new
thump is provided by 2 300W Pioneer 6x9's with tweeters.
The previous speaker grilles were flat and low key which was
perfect for this car. I didnt want to keep them black though
so I picked up some Duplicolor "Buckskin" paint and gave
them a few coats. I think they go well with the interior now.
Here is the shelf all installed. I couldn't decide which picture
to use so I posted them both.
The seat is mounted but just in temp to show you how it
matches.
I think the speaker grilles came out great and those
speakers are the shit. There loud and clear even with a car
that only has them in the rear.
Here is the older stereo that My grandfather put in the car
back in the early 90s' Its pretty low key and the bracket is
totally home built. I sprayed it with the truck bed liner
believe it or not, to give it that textured flat look. Its very low
key and your hardly even know its there.
TRUNK
The trunk didnt really have to be done, but I had taken
everything out of it to install the speakers and the shelf so I
decided to give it a refresh too.
Unfortunatly trunk mats hide the ugly truth. When the car was
purchased by my Grandfather in 1976 he discovered it had a
leaking back window. It had been leaking for a while and
rotted the floor of the trunk by the wheel wells. It wasnt rotted
through so my Grandfather (not having the money to have the
body work done) re-enforced the area with flat stock. Its a
gross cob job but it held together all these years so Im not
messing with it. Out of sight, Out of mind.
Wow it's amazing what $25 dollars worth of trunk speckle
paint can clean up (and hide)
I hadnt put any of the mats in yet allowing the paint time to
cure and harden. I'll update this soon and add the final
product picture.
PAGE 1 ~ BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CAR
PAGE 2 ~ ENGINE RECONDITIONING PHASE 1
PAGE 3 ~ ENGINE RECONDITIONING PHASE 2
PAGE 4 ~ FENDER RECONDITIONING
PAGE 5 ~ MISC ITEM RECONDITIONING
PAGE 6 ~ PRODUCTS USED
