Next boot related project are the side panels. These I’m making out of aluminium, line with carpet and some rubber trim to seal them against the tub.
Passenger side panel is simpler, just a big triangle.
On the driver side there is the tank filler and the vent valve in the way. Here the first piece goes in for a test fit. This used to be one of the old small side panels from outside the boot area which is why there is glue all over it.
After a load of foam board templating I created this piece of aluminium. The black lines show where it needs bends.
After bending this comes a very solid piece.
Test fitting the bent piece.
This is the filler tube for the tank and the tank vent that this piece fits around.
The rest of the side panel is held on with rivnuts and bolts with cup washers. There’s not much room so these need to go in as two pieces and then joined.
To better secure the passenger side I created a 90º piece of aluminium and riveted it on. This means the back of the panel sits on the boot floor. In hindsight it would have been cleaner to add this as part of the main part, but the join will be hidden.
Ran into another clearance issue on the driver side – the spare wheel tub gets in they way.
To fix that I added a curve into the metal here – gives it about 1cm clearance from the spare wheel area of the tub.
Parts removed ready for carpet.
Driver side covered
Impact glue going on to the passenger side.
On the back of both side have rubber to reduce the chance of vibration and some JDM chopped tape. The sides are held in with a bolt into a rivnut. The rivnuts are mounted into the rear suspension towers.
The finished side panels with rubber edging added to close the gap to the tub. There are some very small wood screws holding the complex part into the boot floor. This is mostly to top that end wandering around.
On the passenger side the carpet is left long which better hides the edge.
Only one panel left to go for the rear. No more loosing small things forever out the back of the car!
