Speedster Trunk - Any Remodeling Suggestions?

Well, Any carpet can be edged with bias tape or even leather by a carpet place so much per foot.  I have a felt type of cloth glued and it works well because it can be cleaned if you spill gas on it which I have. On my old IM I had it also made into a cover over the tank. NOT GLUED on the tank. It looked fine to me ... with gas being there there is always a chance of it removing the glue but the bottom of the trunk with felt is less of an issue IMHO.  Best of luck. 

DAP contact cement brushed on both surfaces and allowed to tack dry works find - or the spray 3M 90 (more costly).  You could buy a yard or so (it is usually 54 wide) of pleather and apply it to 1/8" luan paneling cut to size - just leave the carpet on the sides.

I chose to use a black carpet set from VS.  My car is stone grey with brown upholstery.  However, I felt black was a better choice for the trunk area in case of spills, dirt, grease, etc.  Also, as mentioned above, leave the tank cover loose so it can be easily removed for cleaning or inspection. 

IaM-Ray posted:

Well, Any carpet can be edged with bias tape or even leather by a carpet place so much per foot.  I have a felt type of cloth glued and it works well because it can be cleaned if you spill gas on it which I have. On my old IM I had it also made into a cover over the tank. NOT GLUED on the tank. It looked fine to me ... with gas being there there is always a chance of it removing the glue but the bottom of the trunk with felt is less of an issue IMHO.  Best of luck. 

Can you provide me a link to the felt-like cloth material you mentioned that you covered the tank with?  I'll check it out.  

WOLFGANG posted:

DAP contact cement brushed on both surfaces and allowed to tack dry works find - or the spray 3M 90 (more costly).  You could buy a yard or so (it is usually 54 wide) of pleather and apply it to 1/8" luan paneling cut to size - just leave the carpet on the sides.

I like the pleather idea.  

 I don't have a leak actually it was supplied by IM. 

But I have seen it at auto supply stores

That trunk carpet was installed prior to me buying the car some years ago.... Brian the po said he did the iron on edge binding ,  I will contact a couple of former NJ Replicar Club members that may recall Brian's last name as  all I recall is that he lived in Hawthorne NJ   ............   Should we not come up with the needed info a couple of ways I have done trunks is GM speckle paint ( it's water based rattle can that requires a urethane clear coat, or paint the tank ot match the car and do the rest of the area in satin black.    ~Alan

I did mine in truck-bed liner. Super functional.

Or upgrade to carpet and leather $$$$

Alan Merklin posted:

Or upgrade to carpet and leather $$$$

Very nice.  Know where I can purchase a kit like this?  If it's not a kit, and something you've done Alan, do you have templates or anything you can pass along?  

Custom one off using poster board templates then transferred to waterproof door cardboard. 1/8 foam backing then leather or vinyl. The battery cover was hinged covered 3/8" plywood.

Alan, on the custom one-off you posted, some questions:

1.  What did you use to wrap the fuel neck with?  Looks like rubber something or rather.

2.  How do upholsterers get the carpet to "curve" around the gas tank corners?  I've assumed I will have to cut/sew/glue and fidget with, but maybe there's a trick I don't know about where cutting isn't necessary in order to form around a corner.  Or maybe it just looks that way in the picture/s I've seen.  See attached examples.

3. Anyone with suggestions for how to finish the trunk hinges?  Those are sorta tough to make look like they've been done really well.  Some just cover with flaps and call it good (see pic of red car w/ beige carpet attached).  I'd rather do something a bit more finished: while it's just a trunk, it's what everyone will be looking at each time you're at a gas station when filling up with gas.  So eyes will be looking at the finishing touches.

Alan Merklin posted:

Custom one off using poster board templates then transferred to waterproof door cardboard. 1/8 foam backing then leather or vinyl. The battery cover was hinged covered 3/8" plywood.

Thanks for the tip, Alan.  I have ordered some carpet for my car to do the trunk, and hope to tackle it in the Spring.  I know the approach with carpet will be different, but the poster board templates idea is great.

I agree that was a good tip Thanks. Bob, you could also order some edging to match what you did from IM then have your upholsterer, carpet place, sew the bias/tape/ edging on.  I thought of doing something in the trunk myself but I have the spare tire and not sure what else I could do with it here is the trunk and the blowup 911 spare tire under the vinyl cover.  The only Idea I have right now is to have a new board made and easier screws to remove the panel so that I would not need a screwdriver to remove it.  Any ideas?  

1.   If memory is correct I came across a rubber boot in Lowes.

2.  Cut and sew produces the corners of the tank.  

3. Start with medium emory paper and sand then step to a finer grit followed by wheel polishing and you'll have beautiful hinges . 

Interesting Alan, have you thought of using chrome paint or the Rustoleum appliance epoxy it makes it look like a fridge, or powder coated look without the trouble. 

Sorry - In my reply regarding finishing the hinges (point #3), I didn't mean the hinges themselves: I meant where the hinges are in the trunk carpeting, and how they come through the carpet...

@BassPlayuh   I found the previous owner of your speedster   

@BassPlayuh , if you're worried about gas spills once you've got some spiffy new carpet installed, here's a thread with a remedy.

I was more concerned with practicality than looks, so just used a hand towel, but you could do the same out of vinyl, or even thin carpeting, I guess.

Nice thing about the towel is that you can just throw it in the washing machine when it gets dirty.

Stan, I love the idea of spray-on Bedliner for the Frunk liner.  I toyed with the idea of installing carpeting the same as the interior (which I have about 6 extra yards on a roll) but the backing is way too stiff to form around the tank.

So the questions I have are; Can I get spray-on bedliner in different colors? and is it more or less impervious to gasoline once cured?

To me the thin felt type is the best as it is moldable easily washable and can be glued over just about anything.  You can make it a removable cover on the tank etc. 

Gordon Nichols posted:

Stan, I love the idea of spray-on Bedliner for the Frunk liner.  I toyed with the idea of installing carpeting the same as the interior (which I have about 6 extra yards on a roll) but the backing is way too stiff to form around the tank.

So the questions I have are; Can I get spray-on bedliner in different colors? and is it more or less impervious to gasoline once cured?

Monstaliner can be tinted:

http://www.monstaliner.com/for...nstaliner_colors.htm

I imagine it is impervious to gas since it's designed to be in the bed of the truck and exposed to all sorts of contaminants.

There are two types of coatings people are using in the gun industry to "paint" firearms that are extremely durable. Previously coatings for firearms required the user to bake the items in an oven to cure the paint. Now the finish is available in a format that doesn't require baking the finish to cure. It does require you to let the product cure for almost 2 weeks before using it.

Cerakote is one and Duracoat is the other.

These finishes may or may not work for this application but the finishes are extremely durable and could provide you with another choice. They're not cheap so bed-liner that can be tinted might be a better option.