My Trunk Looked Like Junk... So I Redid It.. With Pics

[BXX]

Titles says it all. The carpet looked like crap, spare tire cover was warped to no end. Battery relocated to the side looked even worse.. I finally did something about it..

 

This is the 1st stage, I will soon incorporate a speaker box and redo the sides to look really nice. Thank you 3/4" MDF

 

Now for some pics!!

 

How it started off as... Yeah, pretty sad

 

 

 

 

Relocating the battery tray to the spare tire well...

 

 

Bolted down, cables ran to it.. New ground. 1/0 cable

 

 

Battery installed and ready to go!!

 

 

3/4" MDF I picked up at Home Depot.. One panel already cut. No electric in my garage so it was done with all hand saws.. What a pain but well worth it!!

 

 

Both panels cut and test fitted. Fits snug the 1st time!!

 

 

Another view of the test fit with the side carpet panels in...

 

 

Spacers from scrap MDF to lift the floor up for clearence for the cables and future wiring

 

 

Closeup of them. Drilled and screwed into the body. BE CAREFUL where you drill. Sunk in head for clearence

 

 

Spray painting the side carpet panels black. Looks much better!!!

 

 

Spray glue on the cut panel. I used strong headliner and cartet adhesive. Dont be stingy with it!!!

 

 

Carpet layed on it into place. Rubbed firmly to adhere.

 

 

Panel layed into place to check fitment again... Looks good.. Onward!!

 

 

Both panels and carpet into place. No need to screw them down. They fit really tight. I will add a trap door to access the battery easily at a later date when I have cordless tools to do straight lines..

 

 

And when trimmed the carpet off the panels with a box cutter, be careful, something I didnt do

 

 

 

And there ya go, pretty easy to do and doesnt cost a lot. Adds a 'new' look to an old car!!!

 

-Bob

[White93z34]

I hope your trunk doesn't / never leaks.

[BXX]

I hope your trunk doesn't / never leaks.

 

It never has from above.. I was having issues with water coming in from holes in the body from stuff being mounted to it. But you can see in one of the pics where I covered and sealed them off and then painted over with black...

 

Im well aware MDF and moisure do not get along Learned that a long time ago when I left a speaker box in a leaking garage of a friends

[ManicMechanic]

Nice work Bob!

[Venom]

Looks even better than the small little pics on my phone LOL. Although I would never remove my spare tire because Im paranoid like that.

[slick]

I'd seriously reconsider the place you did your ground at. I'd move it to somewhere more near the interior portion of the car, keeping it as short as possible. Even where the trunk pan meets the interior frame of the car. The reason being, there are only a few spot welds here and there, not full seam welds that connect the two. You are probably picking a bit of resistance between the two.

 

I've always wanted to take a few short runs of 0 guage, and bolt them between the interior and the trunk pan, just to decrease the amount of possible resistance throughout the car.

[Garrett Powered]

I hope your trunk doesn't / never leaks.

 

even if it did he could fiberglass over it and pop the fiberglass off and still have the same shape trunk floor that doesnt weigh like 50 lbs extra. I had the same thing happen but it was still flat enough that it looked the same from above after I glassed it.

 

if that is indeed mdf, it is at least 50 lbs worth or more, especially after it gets soaked... which it will.

[BXX]

Ummm, its about 25lbs of MDF and wont get soaked, my trunk never gets wet...

 

Rob, those are all the cell phone pics.. If I can keep my hands from shaking it actually takes decent pics..

 

The battery has an adaquate ground that will work for now. Once I do an audio system, I will be running another run of 1/0 up front to the engine bay.

 

I put a voltmeter on it and have .25v drop from the altenator to the battery. Which is better than the .4V drop I saw when everything was stock and the battery was up front.

 

And if I end up with 200lbs of MDF and audio shit in my trunk, bit deal. Im sitting on adjustable coilovers and my car has 174K on it, It wasnt fast stock and at this mileage it never will be...

 

The cars a guinea pig for another CS in the future. Mine has some rust in areas underneath that started this winter that has me looking for a rust free CS to pick up next winter down south..

 

In the meantime, I will have fun with this one and transfer everything to the new CS when I get it and then scrap this chassis

[ManicMechanic]

There's been 3 or 4 1997 coupes on CL here...All gold...lol None had sunroofs either. BUT, they were all under $1000.

[BXX]

There's been 3 or 4 1997 coupes on CL here...All gold...lol None had sunroofs either. BUT, they were all under $1000.

 

Damn... Jay, I plan on taking my 1st week of vacation next year in mid Febuary, so plan on meeting me then as your area seems to be the best place to get one that is 100% rust free.

 

I would love to do it this summer, but I dont have anymore vacation days left

 

I can live without a sunroof if the price is right

[Garrett Powered]

I ain't baggin on it at all, I am just saying when you go to take it out in a few years watch, it will be soaked.

 

I had no leaks in my trunk either. condensation from water in the air even gets trapped under there.

 

It didn't even look waterlogged until I took it all out and sure enough it was ruined from the bottom up. the fiberglass shell I made off it was successful replica though

 

I am willing to bet money that is heavier than you say it is too. if it truly is 3/4" MDF and not 5/8ths or something, it is for sure more than 25 lbs. did you actually weigh it on a scale?

[BXX]

I dont expect to own the car anymore than until next spring. If it lasts 2 years, thats great.

 

I can really fuck with fiberglass to much, the resin triggers my migraines severely plus its a pain to work with.

 

And I didnt weigh it either, didnt really matter much to me.. I can tell you both panels weight about the same as a group size 75 battery...

[meltboy1]

That looks good man, I never woulda thought to put the battery there, but then again I am pretty anal about having a spare tire on me at all times, you never know what will happen...

[slick]

.25V drop ain't bad at all.

[BXX]

.25V drop ain't bad at all.

 

I was kinda shocked to see that myself.. '

 

When I 1st located it to the trunk on the left side there the ground was through a thicker part of the body. I measured .25v drop whereas stock location up front showed .4v drop.. Moving it to where it is now with the different ground still shows a .25v drop..

 

I checked because I was a little hesitant of putting the new ground there so I checked it..

 

If you think about it and have really looked at it, the trunk pan is attatched to a lot of the rest of the body with a good amount of welds...

 

And I dont need a spare tire anyway.. I have roadside/towing and I work for a tire shop too So no worries if I get a flat..

[meltboy1]

 

 

And I dont need a spare tire anyway.. I have roadside/towing and I work for a tire shop too So no worries if I get a flat..

 

lol ya, I just don't like being inconvienienced like that...

[slick]

Yeah, not a bad thought.

 

Someday, I'd still like to do several short runs of even 4 guage wire all over the body, just to try to eliminate any drop. But that's probably overkill, and I'd probably pick up more noise in signal cables

[Garrett Powered]

just have a roll cage installed and ground everything to that.