Refurbished the parcel shelf

[TR7Aaron]

Here's a short tutorial on how I refurbished my parcel shelf..
Mine was really rotted - 33 years of sun, moisture, and who knows what else really took their toll. The vinyl covering had pulled away from the fiberboard wells and was faded, split, and torn. The shelf itself had tears and rotted corners and edges. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of it in this state, but you get the idea.
First, I removed the black pebble grain vinyl from the fiberboard. It came off it brittle bits and pieces.
Using fiberglass (in some places, several layers), I rebuilt the missing corners, edges, and re-enforced the crumbling parts.


The seat belt slots were all but gone so they had to be rebuilt.


This edge is about 60% fiberglass and 40% fiberboard.


Roughed in the new corner and edge.

The front edge (that runs along the wall behind the seats) was warped and torn. I clamped a 1" x 52" x 1/8" piece of aluminum along the back edge and fiberglassed it in place.


This had to be done in stages and several thin layers of fiberglass was used.


Finished with the 'glassing, sanded and shaped with a dremel. It looks bad, but it's pretty rigid and structurally much sounder than before.

I picked up some black fabric that has a nice texture (think very very short nap carpet) and has some stretchability. Using spray adhesive, I glued it over the top and tucked it around the sides and edges.The wells were a problem area as the material wouldn't stretch enough to cover the bottom and mold to the sides too. I wound up having to add in separate pieces for the wells and using some free form gluing, cut and pasted them into place. The thickness of the material helped blend the edges but they are visible. I get really anal about things like this but I accepted it as the best I could do unless I wanted to spend the money and have them professionally covered.



Installed...





Seat belt slot. The actual hole is much bigger but I just slit the material and slipped the belts through...


I know you can buy fiberglass parcel shelves for about $200.00 but I'm not trying to make a showcar, I just want a nice driver.




Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[Workshop Help]

Yes, very good job. We had the same repair done some 5 years ago and it has held up well.

Mildred Hargis

[PeterTR7V8]

Looks like a million bucks to me. Does the fibreglass come in sheets?


Never say die. At least not while you're still breathing.

[Rblackadar]

I'm in the process of re-doing mine....I have a textured paint from SEM and was wondering if you guys know if you can spray directly onto that board or would I have to coat it in Bondo or some other fiberglass resin...any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

[TR7Aaron]

The fiberglass mat comes in sheets and you cut it to shape. I tended to use lots of little pieces and over lapped them, especially on the curves. Definitely get yourself a box of disposable rubber gloves and a bunch of cheap, small paintbrushes. Fiberglass resin is nasty stuff and getting it off of skin can be tough. Don't forget facemasks too. When I was shaping it with a dremel, dust went everywhere. I did all that outside but it created a cloud of fiberglass dust.
As far as painting directly onto the vinyl, you might call the manufacturer about that. At the very least, scrub it down to get rid of the decades of dust and dirt and maybe hit it with an epoxy primer first.


Aaron
1976 TR7 FHC (an ongoing project)

[FI Spyder]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Rblackadar</i>

I'm in the process of re-doing mine....I have a textured paint from SEM and was wondering if you guys know if you can spray directly onto that board or would I have to coat it in Bondo or some other fiberglass resin...any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I have used crinkle paint (I assume it's that same as textured paint) on Selectric covers. I found that (when done in summer) you get a more crinkled surface if I put the cover under glass (green house effect) when painted as the sun would quickly heat up the paint. I would experiment on fiber board or fiberglass to see how it owuld work before doing it on the actual piece.


TR7 Spider - 1978 Spifire - 1976 Spitfire - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra

[UKPhilTR7]

This is a good one as this is the same idea as what I am going to do to my parcel shelf, great post.

[Rich in Vancouver]

The fiberboard on my car is in good shape but the vinyl has shrunk. I would be OK with this but a DPO added some extra screws to the back edge and they look like heck. I was thinking I may try removing the vinyl, filling the extra holes and painting the fiberboard with fibreglass resin(no matt or cloth) . I have seen "Vinyl Texture" spray paint available, possibly from Eastwood and was thinking that may do the job.
I do think I would pick up a spare shelf to try this out on...Just in case.

Rich

1975 TR7 ACL764U

[Rich in Vancouver]

The fiberboard on my car is in good shape but the vinyl has shrunk. I would be OK with this but a DPO added some extra screws to the back edge and they look like heck. I was thinking I may try removing the vinyl, filling the extra holes and painting the fiberboard with fibreglass resin(no matt or cloth) . I have seen "Vinyl Texture" spray paint available, possibly from Eastwood and was thinking that may do the job.
I do think I would pick up a spare shelf to try this out on...Just in case.

Rich

1975 TR7 ACL764U