Home made luggage cover
06-24-2010, 01:18 AM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Home made luggage cover
There’s been some questions lately about luggage covers, this is what I did, if you decide to make one I hope the following is of some help to you and give you some ideas of your own, I hope the text and pictures make it clear, this kind of thing is not easy for me and I’m no Dwayne.
My car came without a luggage cover when I bought it; the cover is handy to hide what you have lying back there but trying to find a good used or tatty one that you can recover is not easy, I know a guy in Australia and Champagne make them but at the moment my dollars need to go to other jobs on the car so I thought I would have a go at a home made one, not a complete copy but one that would work like the original and look presentable. My old S2 had one so I knew how they worked and fitted or so I thought.
The thing I needed before starting was the plastic bobbins for the bungee cord, these bobbins secure the cover to the sockets in the wheel arches and on the hatch, the bobbins are still available from Porsche, A friend sent mine from the UK he also measured the length of the rods for me, I think Roger should be able to get the bobbins. My interior’s Burgundy, I called into a fabric shop to check out what they have and found a shade of good quality Vinyl that would do at $16 per yd (54in wide) but first I needed to make a pattern, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought one and a half yards of black Vinyl for $6 to make the pattern, it’s the only color they had if you’re wondering why I bought black. From the hardware store I bought some aluminum channel, bungee cord and nylon spacers.
I took some measurements, I also had a picture of a cover with some measurements written on it saved from Rennlist I gave this info to my wife and she cut the Vinyl and sewed the hems for me, I didn’t include the extra part of the cover that unfolds and covers the rear seats when they are folded down.
The front rod/channel is easy to do, cut the cord to length, slide on the bobbins and knot, the knot has to be pushed into the bobbin so that it will locate in the socket, I then laid the cord in the channel and crimped the sides at each ends together to hold the cord in place as in the picture, this can then be slid into the front hem.
The rear rod/channel is a bit more complicated, once the channel is cut to length two holes need to be drilled, center the channel on the sockets on the hatch, mark the channel and drill about ¼ inch holes in the bottom of the channel, two holes need to be punched in the vinyl, same distance apart as well.
When the cover is in place and the hatch is opened the cord in the rear channel needs to stretch and slide, my first attempt the cord snagged where it passed through the holes, then I remembered on the original there’s a plastic insert which the cord slides through, I filed and glued some nylon spacers to fit inside the channel next to the holes, I also had to chamfer the front edge of the spacer to help the cord to slide. The cord in the front channel doesn’t stretch as much and didn’t cause a problem.
I cut the cord for the rear channel and got confused as it was clearly too short, I thought the cord ran from one bobbin, in one hole and out the other in the channel and back to the other bobbin, I rechecked Pet to make sure I’d got the lengths right, I had but then I noticed the 2 in the “number per car” column, so the rear channel had two cords, it took me a short while to figure how it worked, the cord for the right bobbin is fixed at the left end of the channel and the cord for left bobbin is fixed at the right end of the channel, this gives it enough stretch when you lift the hatch. I hope you can see from the pictures how it all goes together but it’s a bit fiddly threading the cord through the spacers, hem and knotting the ends of the cord, when the cover is off the car the bobbins need to be just under tension (Front and rear rods) so that when you shut the hatch the cover is pulled to the hatch and to the rear seats. This prototype works very well and I’ll leave it for awhile and see how it wears, cost for bits was about $35.
List of what I bought,
4 bobbins 928 555 775 02
From hardware store,
A length of 3/16 Bungee cord Pet gives the length of the cords which was handy, one piece 45.27 inches long and two piece’s 29.13 inches long. (The 2 short cords on mine ended up a little shorter to get the tension right)
Aluminum channel, (Front rod 3/8’ x 43.5 inches long, rear rod ½’ x 33.5 inches long)
Nylon spacers to fit inside the channel for rear rod
Vinyl, one and a half yards by 54 inches wide from Wal-Mart
And someone to sew the hems.
My car came without a luggage cover when I bought it; the cover is handy to hide what you have lying back there but trying to find a good used or tatty one that you can recover is not easy, I know a guy in Australia and Champagne make them but at the moment my dollars need to go to other jobs on the car so I thought I would have a go at a home made one, not a complete copy but one that would work like the original and look presentable. My old S2 had one so I knew how they worked and fitted or so I thought.
The thing I needed before starting was the plastic bobbins for the bungee cord, these bobbins secure the cover to the sockets in the wheel arches and on the hatch, the bobbins are still available from Porsche, A friend sent mine from the UK he also measured the length of the rods for me, I think Roger should be able to get the bobbins. My interior’s Burgundy, I called into a fabric shop to check out what they have and found a shade of good quality Vinyl that would do at $16 per yd (54in wide) but first I needed to make a pattern, so I went to Wal-Mart and bought one and a half yards of black Vinyl for $6 to make the pattern, it’s the only color they had if you’re wondering why I bought black. From the hardware store I bought some aluminum channel, bungee cord and nylon spacers.
I took some measurements, I also had a picture of a cover with some measurements written on it saved from Rennlist I gave this info to my wife and she cut the Vinyl and sewed the hems for me, I didn’t include the extra part of the cover that unfolds and covers the rear seats when they are folded down.
The front rod/channel is easy to do, cut the cord to length, slide on the bobbins and knot, the knot has to be pushed into the bobbin so that it will locate in the socket, I then laid the cord in the channel and crimped the sides at each ends together to hold the cord in place as in the picture, this can then be slid into the front hem.
The rear rod/channel is a bit more complicated, once the channel is cut to length two holes need to be drilled, center the channel on the sockets on the hatch, mark the channel and drill about ¼ inch holes in the bottom of the channel, two holes need to be punched in the vinyl, same distance apart as well.
When the cover is in place and the hatch is opened the cord in the rear channel needs to stretch and slide, my first attempt the cord snagged where it passed through the holes, then I remembered on the original there’s a plastic insert which the cord slides through, I filed and glued some nylon spacers to fit inside the channel next to the holes, I also had to chamfer the front edge of the spacer to help the cord to slide. The cord in the front channel doesn’t stretch as much and didn’t cause a problem.
I cut the cord for the rear channel and got confused as it was clearly too short, I thought the cord ran from one bobbin, in one hole and out the other in the channel and back to the other bobbin, I rechecked Pet to make sure I’d got the lengths right, I had but then I noticed the 2 in the “number per car” column, so the rear channel had two cords, it took me a short while to figure how it worked, the cord for the right bobbin is fixed at the left end of the channel and the cord for left bobbin is fixed at the right end of the channel, this gives it enough stretch when you lift the hatch. I hope you can see from the pictures how it all goes together but it’s a bit fiddly threading the cord through the spacers, hem and knotting the ends of the cord, when the cover is off the car the bobbins need to be just under tension (Front and rear rods) so that when you shut the hatch the cover is pulled to the hatch and to the rear seats. This prototype works very well and I’ll leave it for awhile and see how it wears, cost for bits was about $35.
List of what I bought,
4 bobbins 928 555 775 02
From hardware store,
A length of 3/16 Bungee cord Pet gives the length of the cords which was handy, one piece 45.27 inches long and two piece’s 29.13 inches long. (The 2 short cords on mine ended up a little shorter to get the tension right)
Aluminum channel, (Front rod 3/8’ x 43.5 inches long, rear rod ½’ x 33.5 inches long)
Nylon spacers to fit inside the channel for rear rod
Vinyl, one and a half yards by 54 inches wide from Wal-Mart
And someone to sew the hems.
06-24-2010, 09:58 AM
#5
Chronic Tool Dropper
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The one that's in my car has a pair of panels that zipper together and live folded in half, dangling from the forward crossbar piece. Intent is to cover stuff on the rear seat area when they are folded down, but they are "along for the ride" >99% of the time. Your solution looks handy, simple, easy, inexpensive, and could even be done with vinyl and a little glue by those that don't sew.
For those playing along at home, the little fittings at the ends of the cords are available from the Usual Suspects for somewhere less than $1/ea last time I looked (a while...). The two crossbars can be easily fab'd from metal tubing from H-D, and the elastic cord is an easy local supply from the fabric store.
For those playing along at home, the little fittings at the ends of the cords are available from the Usual Suspects for somewhere less than $1/ea last time I looked (a while...). The two crossbars can be easily fab'd from metal tubing from H-D, and the elastic cord is an easy local supply from the fabric store.
06-24-2010, 10:06 PM
#6
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
No prodution plans, just my solution for a cover.
Maybe someone could put together a hardware kit leaving the buyer to choose what ever fabric suits them.
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06-28-2010, 12:41 AM
#9
Three Wheelin'
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Ivan can you measure your finished piece for me?
The measuring suggests that the length be 28.5" with additional 1.75" hems on each side. Test fitting with my fabric seems a bit long. My measuring tape seems to suggest this thing shouldn't be longer than about 28" total(ish).
maybe a pic with your seats up will give me a better look of where I should be measuring from?
The measuring suggests that the length be 28.5" with additional 1.75" hems on each side. Test fitting with my fabric seems a bit long. My measuring tape seems to suggest this thing shouldn't be longer than about 28" total(ish).
maybe a pic with your seats up will give me a better look of where I should be measuring from?
07-08-2010, 11:24 PM
#10
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Sean,
Sorry only just read your post.
The length of my cover is 28.5 measured flat, including the hems, rods removed.
Pic of seats up but doesn't tell up much.
Sorry only just read your post.
The length of my cover is 28.5 measured flat, including the hems, rods removed.
Pic of seats up but doesn't tell up much.
07-09-2010, 03:23 AM
#11
Three Wheelin'
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Ivan, thanks.
I already trimmed off the inch or so to give me something close to that
I am actually done, but had to leave town for a bit, so its sitting at home all I have to do is install and get my lengths correct for the front and rear to finalize. I did a nice sturdy black canvas material and i think it looks great!
Thanks for the help on the thread!
I already trimmed off the inch or so to give me something close to that
I am actually done, but had to leave town for a bit, so its sitting at home all I have to do is install and get my lengths correct for the front and rear to finalize. I did a nice sturdy black canvas material and i think it looks great!
Thanks for the help on the thread!
07-09-2010, 11:53 AM
#13
Drifting
Great Job!
Looks very well done. I was thinking of doing the same but can't find the material that has the lycra in it for the faded one I have. the lycra addition seems to make it more versatile to form fit things.
Looks very well done. I was thinking of doing the same but can't find the material that has the lycra in it for the faded one I have. the lycra addition seems to make it more versatile to form fit things.
07-09-2010, 10:17 PM
#15
Chronic Tool Dropper
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I've been looking too for something close to the original black stretch fabric, but come to dead-ends at the regular local fabric places. Meanwhile, it's easy to find awning canvas, black denim, genuine Sunbrella, or even just vinyl upholstery materials. I'm ready to use one of those, and leave a rear flap of maybe 4-6" behind the rear bar. With nothing big in the back it will just hang down out of sight; with something bigger it will just drape nicely over the back of whatever's back there. I really need something that will protect the area at the top of the tool panel, plus the tool panel itself, from normal sun damage. The rear wing does that most of the time, but not always. I need quarter panel covers too, kind of like the dash covers. It's a long list already and a slippery slope!