Mike Frye

Making some progress.

Let me know what you think:

Weblinky

Carpet replacement is in the future.

As you can see, I went with vinyl to match the rest of my (tired) interior. I figure for like $10 a yard I'll go to school on vinyl and then if I ever redo the interior in leather, I'll have the patterns and a (very) little know-how.

I decided against the doors/hatches where the rear seats used to be because there's very little room behind there and I was going for 'sporty'. I want it to look like a two-seat sports car. At some point I'll also add a subwoofer behind the driver's seat, also in black.

It's all just 1/2" plywood, 1/4" foam padding and vinyl.

For the wood dividers I haven't decided whether to round them off and upholster them or to do them in oak to match the door panel inserts and the other interior accents I want to do in wood. Ideas?

It's not going to be a Budd or Champagne job, but if I can work out the gathering/bunching issues at the corners and make it look nice under the two hatches I think it will look nice.

Leslie 928 S2

Nice job, Mike!

Evil Patrick

I don't like it. It looks like a home depot project.

I'm not sure, but I believe "smoothing" the metal panels with some type of
lightweight, moldable, spreadable filler and then covering with some type of
indoor/outdoor carpeting would have given more room and looked better.

Just my opinion. Hey, you did ask for it.

Mike Frye

Patrick,

That's OK, You're right, I did ask for it. And thanks.

Do you really think it looks that bad?

What I didn't want was carpet over the whole back, because I don't really like that either. I was going for a look that doesn't look like a typical 'hatch back'. I wanted to see less space through the window, but with something more like factory appearance. I guess I missed.

Maybe I need to spend more time on molding and shaping the panels a bit. Is the vinyl the problem or the shape of it, do you think?

Bill Ball

I don't have a problem with just an angled panel where the seats used to be, but I don't understand filling in the cargo area and the purpose of the longitudinal wood divider. Having the dividers in a contrasting color brings too much attention to them. I agree with Evil that carpeting rather than vinyl would look better, and I would cover the whole area with a single carpet piece so the dividers are hidden underneath.

Mike Frye

OK, now we're getting somewhere.

How about if I just did carpet most of the way up the front section, and then maybe vinyl from there up (the rest of the car is carpet down low and vinyl above a certain point).

Maybe I don't need the cargo area covered with panels at all, I don't really need the space, and I just realized my golf clubs will never fit with it here.

No fans of the vinyl at all? I'm just not a big fan of carpeting the whole rear section, but maybe that's what will look best.

Thanks Bill.

Marcquito

what are the wooden dividers there for? I thought that was a 'frame' of some-sort holding down the vinyl until the glue dried...

Yes, if this is your permanent solution for having no seats- then I'd suggest going back to the drawing board and re-shaping your creation. It's a good project. Just make those lines flow! Howabout adding compartments kind of like the RX-7 has? You'd have some sort of storage if you needed it.

Good luck!

MarkRobinson

I figured you would have put a sub in there somewhere, & agree that carpet will keep it quieter & such. Lowes actually has a decent light-weight black carpet on the rolls in the back.

Jim M.

Mike, If a stranger walked up and looked at it, would he think "Home Made" or "Factory Option". I went for the factory option look. Not to dis your work but yours is "Home Made"!

Jim Mayzurk
93 GTS 5-spd

Mike Frye

Ok,

That last one stung a bit, but I asked for this. I guess I should have expected it, and it's all good. I don't want my car to look 'Home Depot', or home made. Granted it wasn't done yet, but I clearly need to rethink this.

I'm going to go back to the drawing board and hopefully come up with something that works.

I really do appreciate the honest appraisals and if everyone doesn't mind, I'll resubmit when I've got something worked out. I can't get an honest appraisal from anyone I know.

So let me get this straight:

Can the vinyl completely, it's just not working.
Work in more 'curves' or contour to the existing interior.
Carpet good, vinyl bad.
No exposed wood at all, carpet carpet carpet.
Work in some kind of hatch/hatches because that's what Porsche or a quality aftermarket outfit would have done.

If I've forgotten/missed anything feel free to chime in, it's a frenzy!

Just kidding. Thanks for the feedback and for not making it personal.

Charley B

Mike, the bottom of the hatch area is considered a "floor" and no one puts vinyl or leather on a floor. It just looks wrong. For the budget minded, continueing the existing carpet up and over the hump to the back of the hatch is probably the cleanest look for the least bucks. It also doesn't leave anything for the casual observer to see as out of place. If you want to split the carpet for access to the spare tire area I think it would look best with no divider. Sorry if it feels like rain on your parade, but at least you get straight answers and good ideas here. You do seem to have a great, constructive attitude about it.

3000teeth

I'm thinking of removing the back seats too --would love it if some you who've done it could post pics.

-T

Mike Frye

Anthony,

I'm going to weigh the seat backs that I removed, and compare it to the wood/carpet/hardware I end up with in the end. But I've got to think my car lost at least 25-30 lbs in this process (depending on what I have to do to get it right).


Travis,

Check out my previous post, lots of people posted on that one. (I don't know how to link to it). Just search for 'Rear Seat Delete' and you'll find it as well as the results of Sterling and Jim M.s awesom jobs. The bar is set really high!

3000teeth

Thx Sterling! You guys Rock!

tv

Why didn't you just fold the back seats down and be left with an open level factory carpeted surface?