Trunk Area

[BadBird]

Last August I was getting ready to paint my 64 Futura but I came out of retirement to help train new folks at Boeing. Decided to wait on painting a while then the cold weather hit.....then while I was waiting for the warm weather I decided to work in my trunk area. I have built a fiberglass surround that holds four subwoofers and an amplifier. It covers the fuel fill tube. A couple of pictures attached show all the parts spray bondo'd to check for final fit.
I fabricated a cover that fits on the lower surface of the trunk lid but I am thinking of scrapping that and just installing triangular panels to fit on the bottom.
My intentions are to paint the car 1996 corvette yellow and the parts in the trunk will be gloss black.

[Jeff W]

Wow! That is smooth work. Can't wait to see it in paint. Where do you keep the spare?

[BadBird]

Spare? Who needs a spare? I will just make sure when I drive it that someone is going along with me to carry the spare. :banana:

[pbrown]

Nice job on the trunk. I hope to see it at a show this year.

[Luva65wagon]

Man... that is too cool! Would you be willing to help me learn to do that? I have an idea for what I want, but would like to learn from someone who's done it. I'm sure I could muddle through it, but it looks like you've got it down to an art. Probably would only take a half-hour to tell me the steps. Please? Pretty Please?

[BadBird]

I can show you everything I know about the subject. I had never worked with fiberglass before I started this so I am a rank amateur. I like you had an idea of what I wanted to do and got most of my help on the "how to's" from a web site. I am going to try and attach it here. http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=362337&postid=4057927

The guy who posted this info on that site has also helped explain some things that I couldn't figure out. He is extremely helpful.
If I can do this I guarantee anyone can. From what I've seen of your car you are far beyond me in "auto talents" so it would be a snap for you. It just takes a lot of time. Can't even guess the number of hours of sanding I've put into these parts.

[Jerry Kirby]

That is some amazing work. I really don't think it's as easy as you say though. Look forward to seeing it at next show.

Jerry Kirby
'65 Falcon Futura

[Luva65wagon]

That was a great tutorial compared to many I've seen. I appreciate the link!

[BadBird]

He covers almost everything a person needs to know. I did send him a couple of e-mails since I didn't know what "Cat Hair" or "Spray Bondo" were. The boxes that the material staples to takes a whole lot of planning and rework to have it all come out the way you want.
After you look at his thread on their site and follow his path you can see by the pictures I am posting that I just copied his style.
First I built the box as he did, then stapled fleece to the box and rings. Next I pulled the fleece over the body at the trunk seal area. Applied one heck of a lot of resin. Applied fiberglass mat and cloth to the back sides and on the finished sides.
That process was followed at the front main piece, both side pieces and both back pieces. Then I followed the same format to build the corner covers around the hinges.
I used the Cat Hair material as he did to close off the joints between all parts and then spray bondo was applied to give it's final sanding surface. I am about ready to primer and hope to paint them this week.
In that process there are numerous "Aw s*&^'s" and a whole lot of sanding, re-doing things that just didn't look they way I wanted and a lot of messes to clean up. Here are a couple more pics but I don't see a need to post very many since his thread gives very detailed directions.
If you look at his thread you can read some of the questions about cost. He mentions that he charged the owner around $9000 for the labor and stereo equipment. If mine comes out looking anything like his work I will be happy, but he is a professional and as I said, I am a rank amateur so my expectations are not the same, BUT.......neither are my costs. So far I am at one tenth of that number for the materials (wood,fleece, fiberglass and resin, bondo, spray bondo, etc), the CD player, two kick panel speakers, two rear deck speakers, four sub woofers and the 2000 watt amp. Free labor!!!!

[Luva65wagon]

So, where did you get the fleece and "spray bondo" (which I've never heard of either?) Were they locally purchased or mail-order?

My little project is nothing at all of this scope. I just want to make a mirror image of the spare-tire cover with maybe a 10 or 12" sub for the drivers side of my wagon. I have two 8" speakers in a flat panel now, which sound "just OK" compared to the rest of it which is really nice now. I want more of a textured finish as well to make it look like the finish of the spare-tire cover, not shiny high-gloss like the one in the thread you forwarded. Now that I see a good step-by-step I can move forward a little faster.

FWIW, I've been working on my stereo over the past few weeks and now have something that sounds really good (right John?) but it just lacks the solidity of the low end. And heck, I have a 1000w Alpine amp just for subs, so a couple cheap Fosgate 8"ers aint cutting it.

The place I bought all my stuff from (Car Stereo Plus on the corner of 164th and Meadow near the WallyMart) wanted $1500 for this little project. I said (to myself), thanks, but I'll figure it out myself. ;)

So... do you have a circle cutter or did you cut the holes with a jigsaw?

[BadBird]

I got the fleece from my mother in law who gave me more than I need, you can have some if you want. The spray bondo I got from Wesco but they called it something else when I asked for it. The stereo stuff I got at OnlineCarStereo.com.
In his tutorial he mentions that getting the smooth surface is one of the things that takes so long. I am sure you can come up with a textured surface that you are after.
for cutting the circles I have a router table and just attached the board to another board with a screw in the middle. I cut the outside diameter first. Then cut the inside circle out by raising the cutter head a little at a time to cut through as I rotated the part. I think it would be really hard to cut it out with a jigsaw.

[Luva65wagon]

Larry,

I'd really like to come by sometime and get a closer look at this. I'm going to start collecting what I need to do this and would like to get a first-hand look. Let me know if and when you might be available. If you've still got my cell number, maybe you can give me a call.

[BadBird]

I answered the note yesterday but didn't realize that I had to log onto the site for you to see my response. Al and I are going to the meeting tonight. If you want to come along with us that would be great. IF you want to drop by a little earlier I can show you the work. We intend to leave here around 6:15. If that doesn't work we can set up a time when we see you at the meeting later. Take care. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

Larry,

Got your message from your wife -- sorry you took up ill. Hope you get over it soon.

I'm pretty anxious to have a look at what you've done so i can get moving on the last step on mine. Whenever you're up to it, just let me know and I'll swing by.

Cheers-

[BadBird]

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you Roger. You can come by to see the process anytime. Give me a call. 425-359-8521 cell. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

Thanks Larry -- Needless to say I've been a bit overwhelmed with other things anyway. Maybe, if you're around this weekend you can spare a few minutes -- of course it's a holiday weekend, so if you're out of town or something just let me know what works for you.

[BadBird]

:banana:Finally got the parts painted and clear coated. I have half the parts sanded down at 2500 grit and then polished with 3M to buff out and polish the clear. So far they are looking OK. For an amateur it works. Here are a couple of pictures. Larry

[Luva65wagon]

Try as I might to get a "window of opportunity" to come over, this weekend opened a pandora box of projects - one thing leading to another. So we'll see how the next few days go. I have a trade show next week to do, so perhaps next weekend I can swing it. But those look really, really good... for an amateur. :D