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Home made trunk enclosure almost done! 1st gen

16K views 52 replies 27 participants last post by  Jeff1964 
#1 ·
Well I was bored a few days ago, I can't drive my nova until I rebuild the trans, which I'm hoping will be by next month, so anyways I was bored thinking what else can I do to my nova that would make it that much cooler and cleaner looking without spending a lot of money, the trunk. I thought it would be cool to make panels and wrap them in foam and cover them in vinyl, I didn't know how to go about it so I searched for examples but didn't really find what I was looking for so I just made it up as I went along and so far it's looking pretty good, I'm surprised, but anyways here's some pictures of my week so far.

I just started by tracing the floor hump in the trunk to get the sharp down and then I just started lightly trimming it until it fit snug under the rear quarter panel



Again I started measuring and trimming up pieces of cardboard and taped them for mock up. I had to go back a few times to trim up the section that needed clearance for the trunk hinge,




Then next day I went to Home Depot and bought 3 sheets of MDF (2) 1/2 thick and (1) 3/4 thick, cost me 30 bucks, got home and started tracing the templates I made, and pull out the jig saw and started cutting

Here's the first piece , came out spot on, any imperfections or small gaps will be gone with the foam and vinyl.


Second piece, in which has been cut more for hinge clearance, alot more actually after this picture was taken


The piece that shoots straight to the back seat had to get trimmed up after the center wall was cut out. But that's there idea,



3/4" wall was a bit frustrating at first to find a starting point, I ended up just measuring the dip in the trunk and worked my way up, definitely measure (more) just so when I went to cut, I wouldn't over shoot it and cut too much, but I did have to go back and measure like 10 times before making another cut,each time I trimmed it up,


Perfect timing too because my trunk carpet that was on back order showed up that night so I was able to throw it in and get a bedders feel of how things are going to fit.


Center panel cut out and fits great!




So pretty much what I did to the passenger's side I just flipped and did to the drivers side but It did need to be trimmed up differently, they werent exactly the same also because the inner wheel well on the drivers side comes up alot closer than the passengers side, so they did have their differences



And here's finished look/mockup !






This next week I will start sticking the 1/2 foam and mocking up the car amp to the center wall, and lastly the vinyl and panel supports

More pictures on the way as I move along :)
 
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#3 ·
Thanks!, I wish I had actually written down the measurements for the panels so I can share it with everyone. The good thing about mdf is that it's really easy to work with, cut easy with no effort, just don't get it wet, that's why I'm wrapping it In foam and vinyl. But yeah I bought the carpet from summit racing, fits like a glove, if you but it through summit ask to get it drop shipped you will get it to your house in like 2-3 days
 
#11 ·
Yep I took the hinge clearance to account and it clears :yes:

But I yeah about staying up, it fit really tight the way it is, but I'm going to support the side and back panels with the extra space not being used behind the panels with boxed or triangulated 2x4s in probably 2 sections with good long Velcro strips so I can take it off and on when please,

so I can get to the wiring or lights a bit easier, I did leave a small gap,the Pics don't show it but if u lean in You can see part of the socket, again if you stick your head inside the trunk. but is unnoticeable from just standing outside

It might sound a bit confusing but when I post more pics it will make more sense
 
#17 ·
Yes the trunk hinges are symmetrical but the drivers side wheel well does stick out alot further, then the passenger side, the only way to make it even would be to bring the passenger side panel out to be even with the drivers side, but I'd rather have the space in my trunk then to make it look exactly the same. And takr up more room,Honestly it's not that noticeable in person and probably even less when it's wrapped
 
#27 ·
FWIW I used an "L" bracket attached to the inner most stud/screw on the brake light on each side, and then I used J clips (nuts) on the flange that is created at the wheel / trunk pan joint - after drilling a small hole for the screw. The pieces that wrap around the wheel wells and hinges are mounted with Velcro as well as the back piece under the package tray. Easy to remove and not heavy at all.
Keep up the good work - it should look really nice .
 
#31 ·
Nice idea, count me in when you get template measurements all tee'd up. Looking forward to seeing finished result.:)

QUOTE=Esteban mejia;1985089]Well I was bored a few days ago, I can't drive my nova until I rebuild the trans, which I'm hoping will be by next month, so anyways I was bored thinking what else can I do to my nova that would make it that much cooler and cleaner looking without spending a lot of money, the trunk. I thought it would be cool to make panels and wrap them in foam and cover them in vinyl, I didn't know how to go about it so I searched for examples but didn't really find what I was looking for so I just made it up as I went along and so far it's looking pretty good, I'm surprised, but anyways here's some pictures of my week so far.

I just started by tracing the floor hump in the trunk to get the sharp down and then I just started lightly trimming it until it fit snug under the rear quarter panel



Again I started measuring and trimming up pieces of cardboard and taped them for mock up. I had to go back a few times to trim up the section that needed clearance for the trunk hinge,




Then next day I went to Home Depot and bought 3 sheets of MDF (2) 1/2 thick and (1) 3/4 thick, cost me 30 bucks, got home and started tracing the templates I made, and pull out the jig saw and started cutting

Here's the first piece , came out spot on, any imperfections or small gaps will be gone with the foam and vinyl.


Second piece, in which has been cut more for hinge clearance, alot more actually after this picture was taken


The piece that shoots straight to the back seat had to get trimmed up after the center wall was cut out. But that's there idea,



3/4" wall was a bit frustrating at first to find a starting point, I ended up just measuring the dip in the trunk and worked my way up, definitely measure (more) just so when I went to cut, I wouldn't over shoot it and cut too much, but I did have to go back and measure like 10 times before making another cut,each time I trimmed it up,


Perfect timing too because my trunk carpet that was on back order showed up that night so I was able to throw it in and get a bedders feel of how things are going to fit.


Center panel cut out and fits great!




So pretty much what I did to the passenger's side I just flipped and did to the drivers side but It did need to be trimmed up differently, they werent exactly the same also because the inner wheel well on the drivers side comes up alot closer than the passengers side, so they did have their differences



And here's finished look/mockup !






This next week I will start sticking the 1/2 foam and mocking up the car amp to the center wall, and lastly the vinyl and panel supports

More pictures on the way as I move along :)[/QUOTE]
 
#33 ·
I'm really diggin' it! Can't wait to see the end result. Nice work and keep that ball rolling!

Anybody know the difference between 1st and 2nd gen dimensions for this template. I'm curious how close they would be. I know the shape of the 1/4 panels are different but maybe the interior dimensions could be really close???
 
#36 ·
UPDATE!! trunk enclosure!!!

well ive been really busy these past few weeks and tried squeezing all i could on the trunk build. it is moving along, slowly but surely..:yes: now for some pics!! i have a lot of pics but im just going to post the ones that count!! no need to post a million different angles of the same pic so here we go.

started wrapping the panels with foam. used 3m spray...could have worked better.


the battery was very helpful since i only have 2 hands. lol


all glued






flipped it and let the glue dry a bit


cut the vinyl to size


started wraping the vinyl and stapled it all together. i cut the vinyl in pieces to really bring in the corners and get every wrinkle out. and it came out pretty good:turn:



here is one of the panels mocked up and fits very nicely!!! yaaay


i got lazy and tried to get a visual on where the amp was going to go, worked for me, .....i did do some double checking measurements after this. sorry for the crappy quality


made an outline and marked the hole that needed to be drilled out and where my wire would feed through


about to start gluing and wrapping the back wall. this one took forever!!


and the finished results on the wall, disregard my face, yes i was actually happy about it:yes:




i still need to wrap those 2 small corner pieces but again i just havent had alot of time, but anyway heres an idea of how its going to look like. im really happy with the results so far.








so i still have to finish laying down dynamat and wire everything up. more pics soon!!!
 
#38 ·
thanks! haha i know its a bad habit of mine, good thing i only feel like working on my car when i cant go to bed, so im usually up till 3am working away while everyone is sleeping, my mother would kill me if she found out i was doing all of this in the kitchen/living room, especially with that nasty 3M spray, i cleaned up though!!!:turn: shhhhhhhhhh.:D
 
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