In addition to adding custom sport seats I decided to remove the rear seats and replace them with a cargo storage area. I've seen this done on several 928's before and had some ideas on how to make it look more like Porsche would have done it. My plan is to have a shallow tray in front of the raised floor area covering the amp and subwoofer. Below the tray would be a storage area on each side of the hump for the transmission with a door that would open behind each front seat. This will all be covered in factory slivernit carpet. In my planning stage I realized that I would need to relocate the 6 inch speakers from their stock location to the lower front portion of the doors. When I have the interior rear quarter panels recovered I will do away with the holes for the factory speakers.
I started the project by shaping the side bolsters for the storage tray. I wanted them to follow the curves of the quarter panels, so I had to protect the leather so the fiberglass wouldn't stick to it. I did this with duct tape. I'm using thin wood that is 1/4 by 3/4 that is very flexible. Its possible to bend it around the shape of the interior and I will build a frame using this wood combined with fiberglass to keep it in the shape that I want.
After bending the strips around the the way I wanted them, using fiberglass I added some upright sections to firm up and help hold the shape needed. Then I cut some fiberglass mat to fit in the areas between the uprights to add even more firmness to help hold the shape.
Then I added some more pieces to the frame, to add thickness and more strength for rigidity.
After the above dried I was able to remove it from the car and I added some more wood.
This was followed by several layers of cloth and resin, followed by several layers of mat and resin.
The passenger side was made at the same time and using the same method. The pieces are not level on the lower portion but are shaped to fit around a wire harness on both sides.
Here is a picture with both side pieces completed, as well as the front ledge peice roughed in.
Keep in mind that the front will not be flat. It will be contured to wrap forward toward the door trim, as well as contoured forward for a forward facing section over the center hump to contour to the interior of the car so that the enclosure appears to be shaped around the seats. There will still be plenty of room behind the seat unless someone tall is in the passenger seat.
Here is a pic with the storage area fronts in place. I'm going to make the doors myself and use 928 factory glove box latches and handles to match the Porsche interior design.
Since I'm leaving the rear AC in the car I'm going to put a vent on the front of the storage area facing forward so that the rear air can still be used.
Here is a pic showing how I'm going to blend in the flat sheets to the interior of the car.
Balsa wood works well for this as its thin and flexable. It also bends in a uniform way so its easier to get the form shaped the way you want it and then use fiberglass resin to help it hold the shape. Then a layer of fiberglass cloth and then a layer of fiberglass mat will strengthen it.
Here you can see that the project is finally starting to take on its near finished shape.
As you can see the balsa wood really helps radius the transitions between the pieces of wood that are at different angles. Below you can see up close how they are going to help this look like just another added box in the cargo area.....
Here is a pic of both sides with the balsa wood and a few layers of fiberglass to help it hold its shape.
This is close up of how the storage addition will blend into the center hump in the car.... I'm using the location for the rear center console as a template.... This is the perfect time to do this since I have new carpet to install after I finish the rear cargo area and moving the speakers.
Now that 90 percent of the shape is done, after a few more small pieces of balsa wood around the hump I can remove it from the car, and sand it down a bit. This will be followed by shaping with bondo.... Its easier to sand and shape than fiberglass resin.....
Here is a shot of the tray from the open hatch.
This is how the cargo tray looks with 5- 6 more coats of fiberglass resin with cloth and mat, followed by several very thin layers of bondo for the final shaping.
I've spent quite a bit of time working on the detail finish, as well as getting the hinges and doors to line up and leave a proper gap for the carpet. To calculate the gap between the doors and the frame I took some new carpet and measured 2 peices pressed together. Here it is with the doors installed.
Here is how the doors will open.
I'm still waiting for the latch assembly to arrive, and once I get them installed I will have the carpet put on by a local place. The carpet is so expensive I don't want to chance damaging it with all of the complex curves.
Heads
& VarioCam
