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Rear Trunk Insert

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Scorpion8

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
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Juneau, AK
Has anyone done anything with that cardboard insert that covers the spare tire in the rear trunk? Mine is warped like a rolling ocean, and with summer coming am looking for some good ideas for projects.

Any ideas, pics or suggestions would be appreciated.

Are they different from grade? GL, SE, SVT or is this part one size-fits all?
 
pre98 it was the board and a carpet seperate. post 98 its all one peice.

I have heard of others wetting it down and leaving weights on it for a few days to straighten it out.
 
BrApple said:
pre98 it was the board and a carpet seperate. post 98 its all one peice.

I have heard of others wetting it down and leaving weights on it for a few days to straighten it out.
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Only the 95s had the seperate cardboard and carpet. 96 on all had the one piece setup.
 
Mine (98) seems to only have a board in the center over the tire, and flappy carpet pieces hanging off on the side. But it also has a roller-coaster layout to it now.
 
Yea, that's why I posted the link of the '95 trunk insert so you know what to look for to replace your cardboard one.

Or you can just make your own from wood and cover it with carpet as was suggested already.
 
As Brapple said, you can fix the board by just soaking it really good, then putting wieght all over it. Once it dries, it will be flat and look new again.

I did that with 2 so far. Not only was it spotless after washing it, but it was no longer warped.
 
CSVT1214 said:
As Brapple said, you can fix the board by just soaking it really good, then putting wieght all over it. Once it dries, it will be flat and look new again.

I did that with 2 so far. Not only was it spotless after washing it, but it was no longer warped.
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I'll have to examine the possibilities of that. What's to keep it from re-warping?
 
Don't put anything on it to keep it from re-warping. What would be the wisdom of a thin piece of plywood cut to match it underneath and glued together?
 
Scorpion8 said:
I'll have to examine the possibilities of that. What's to keep it from re-warping?
Click to expand...

They warp from excess weight and moisture which loosens up the board allowing it to reshape.

If you have a trunk leak, count on it being warped the first day it rains. Fix any leaks first.
 
blu_fuz said:
Pre98 is the best setup.

I put a plywood floor over my spare tire cover and set the carpet over that. I did see someone put a full size spare in the trunk. They could have used 2" foam board around it then placed the carpet over the wheel and the foam board.

Thread:
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/showthread.php?t=33160&highlight=spare+foam
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i agree i did the same thing with mine. i used 3/8" plywood. you can use 1/2" as well but i didn't see the need for it. once you use some plywood, you shouldn't have that problem again. just use the original piece as a template. you can even installed the carpet if you want it to look nice.
Joe
 
Big Jim said:
I've been thinking of using a 1/8" sheet of aluminum cut to fit with the carpet stretched on top. That should be light enough, strong enough, and not likely to warp.
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That's a great idea similar to what I was thinking. You'd have to treat the edge with something (rubber trim) so it didn't rattle around and perhaps run some bracing to stiffen it but it should last forever.
 
Scorpion8 said:
That's a great idea similar to what I was thinking. You'd have to treat the edge with something (rubber trim) so it didn't rattle around and perhaps run some bracing to stiffen it but it should last forever.
Click to expand...

You'd have to put ridges in the aluminum to keep it from bending and a piece of rubber along the edge would work great. Most ppl don't have the tools but if there is a decent shop around that can do it I'm sure it wouldn't be too much.
 
I built a new one using the same material that the original was made out of, however I did make some modifications. I built a structure behind it. I boxed in around the spare tire so that it has something to support the weight of anything I put in the trunk. Total cost was about $12.
 
yeah i modified mine with 1/2" aluminum angle. screwed three pieces the width of the trunk and notched the edge out and then screwed the outside edge down to ensure it would stay where i wanted it. was plenty strong enough to support my nitrous bottle.
 
1/4" plywood worked for me. the stock cardboard-like piece is sandwiched between two pieces of felt. i used a steam iron to make the edge start to peel, then peeled it apart, used the old cardboard as a template, and then used some spray on glue to stick the felt to the newly cut 1/4" plywood. much sturdier than OEM, and minimal weight increase.
 
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