Boot Carpets

The last bits of carpet to install are for the boot.  There are quite a few pieces, so I laid them out and tried to figure out what they all were.

Since I have a larger fuel tank than normal, I asked Meena to add on material to the standard carpet so it would fit my tank.  This was done so the seam is on the edge of my tank.

I started loosely laying all the pieces in to see how they fitted.  I realised I was going to have to create a cover over the top of my fuel pumps just to fully protect them.  Also, where the fuel hoses run and I have a couple of valves in a void on the passenger side, this would be best closed in.  At the driver's side, this is a perfect size to hold my Windows 10 tablet in it's case, so this will remain empty.

Using some 20mm plywood, I cut a perimeter support around the pump assembly.  Then upcycling an old Land Rover Series 3 hardtop, I cut a piece of aluminium as the cover.  I stuck on some loop velcro on the bottom, and glued the rest with a mix of superglue for the wood, and CT-1 for the rest.  I sprayed it black although nobody will see it.  I used some edging strip to protect the wires / hoses.

For the side void, I just cut a piece of aluminium and screwed it onto the bodyshell.  Again, edging strip was used for the wires.

Now that everything was ready to go, I felt the easiest bits of carpet to start with were the upper side pieces - these go behind the outer roll hoop bar onto the rear wheel arch.  Minimal trimming required.  A bit of triming required on the leatherette flap around the roll hoop, and on the passenger side a bit of trimming due to my fuel pump cover.

Carpets were all glued in using EvoStick Timebond.

The next pieces I chose to glue in were the rear corners.  These are quite odd shaped, but are flat and require to curve compoundly.  With the floor carpet in place (Mine doesn't fit since my tank is bigger - need modificaiton!) as well as the rear panel, I marked where the rear quarters best fitted to ensure everything was covered.  These were glued in with the help of a clamp.  I trimmed pieces out of the carpet to aid the curvature and remove the ripples.

The main upper carpet which covers the top of the fuel tank as I mentioned had an extra section added in.  The seam fits at the correct location.  The only issue is, the side wings of the carpet are too short to cover the rear wheel arch.  So, I strategically cut the wings off the big carpet so that I could glue the wings on separately on the wheel arches.  The main carpet could fold around the fuel tank around 50mm so you can't tell from the boot opening that the carpet has been cut.  For the passenger side, I glued in off cuts to fully cover the new aluminium panel and the side of the fuel tank.  I have left the driver's side for my tablet.

For the main carpet, it has pre-cut holes for the roll hoops which velcro closed.  This needed minimal tweaking to fit due to my fuel pumps.  I glued the edga along the top of the tank and the front of the tank, but left the main part on top loose.  The carpet isn't too flexible, but through time it may follow the coutour of the fuel pump cover.

The boot floor carpet, the one that immediately meets you when you open the boot, is standard GD size.  Since my tank is bigger, I had to notch out the tank shape in the carpet.  I measured and marked a few times to double check I wasn't going to cut it wrong.  Once cut, it fits neatly up against the tank carpet.

For the rear section of carpet that covers the rear lights, this passes underneath the boot latch.  I had a look and felt that if I was to use self tappers, it would pass through to the outside...  I decided to mould in a boss with stainless nuts.  I set everything in position and made a mould and laid in P40, and then P38 fibreglass.  I left this to cure and then sanded it down a bit.  The boot latch now fixes using button head set screws.

The final part for the boot was to fit the seal and also some edge trim.  The seal is an adhesive type so I just slowly stuck it on - I made the join line up with the boot striker rather than the centre of the car.  I felt that having a different line might make it all look askew!  The seals and edging strip faily finish off the boot area.  All in all, a good job, and the boot is still big enough to get a lot of stuff in it.