Embossed 2G Trunk Floor
Overview:
When I bought my eclipse, it did not come with a trunk floor, but rather a piece of felt the
separated the spare tire from the rest of the trunk. This article will describe the process I took to
build my own carpeted trunk floor.
This tutorial can be done over a weekend if planned ahead, and with a cost of ~$60.
Tools Needed:
Drill (dremel tool works better) and small drill bit
Jigsaw
Scissors
Materials Needed:
~6x8 ft. felt carpet padding
~6x8 ft. car carpet
¼ in. 4x8 ft. plywood
¼ in wood molding
Short screws
Spray adhesive
Poster board, scrap cardboard, and tape
Spool of colored string
A thick sewing needle
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Large binder clips
Recommended:
hinges
Steps
Start by cutting out sections of the poster board, and placing them in the trunk. Crease the poster
boards pieces on the edges of the wall of the trunk, and mark with a marker, after marking, cut
along the line and check again for accuracy. Tape the pieces of poster board together to a large
piece of cardboard for reinforcing, and add pieces as you work your way around. When finished
you should end up with a working footprint of the trunk like below.
Once you are satisfied with the cardboard cut-out, place it over the plywood and trace it. Then
take the jigsaw and cut out the floor from the plywood. Use the drill and jigsaw to cut out a hand
hold. Place the plywood in the trunk to verify that it will fit before proceeding.
Shave off whatever is needed for a close fit. By this point you will realize that it is not easy to
get the whole piece in and out. Though I didnt think of it at the time, if I had to do this over
again I would cut the board in half and attach hinges to allow it to fold. This would allow much
easier access to the well below and make it easier to take in and out. Like I mentioned before, I
did not do it, so I will not try to include instructions on how to do it, and you will still be able to
take the floor in and out if needed without hinges.
Once the floor fits flush with the trunk walls, measure and cut off about ¼ inch from the outside
perimeter to leave a gap of about ¼ inch between the wall and the plywood trunk. This gap will
take into account the carpet it will be covered in, and allow clearance for it.
I used the extra plywood to construct the Diamond Star logo. If you want to do a different
design, I would like to give the advice that the more complex the design, the much, much more
time it will take to complete.
Next trace out the plywood floor onto the felt carpet padding, and the BACK of the carpet, and
set aside for later.
The pieces that make up the logo can be simply glued to the floor with elmers glue, as it will be
secured better later. When gluing the pieces down, place something heavy over them while they
dry, because I noticed the corners of mine curved, or warped up a bit while drying.
While the glue is drying, cut out the carpet padding. Before cutting out the actual carpet, be sure
to increase the outline by at least 3 in. (4 in. is better) all around, and cut it out. The extra 3in all
around will be folded to cover the edges of the trunk.
Set these aside for later.
When the glue is dried, draw an outline around your design about a half centimeter away, and
place a mark every centimeter along that line like in the picture below.
When all the marks are
placed take the drill or dremmel tool and small bit and drill out holes where the marks are. These
holes are where the stitching will pull the carpet around the logo, giving it the embossed look to
it.
Tip: Drill double wide holes outward so that you can stitch around it twice. The 2x stitching
will make it more noticeable as it will be 2x the size.
This next step is the most time consuming and painful. It is very tedious, and you have to be
paying attention or it will turn out bad.
Take your string and measure out and cut a few 3-4 foot sections. Tie one end of the string
around the holes in the plywood, and thread the other end through the tick needle.
(Hint: I had
a hard time getting the string through at first because it was a little too thick for the eye of the
needle. I solved that problem by looping a piece of thread through the eye, lassoing the string
and pulling it back through.)
Center the carpet over the plywood and start stitching. I recommend using the Pekinese backstitch .
The reason I instruct you to use 3 to 4 foot sections of string is because if they
get much longer than that, the string begins to fray from passing through the carpet and plywood.
Be sure to keep a good amount of firm tension in the string, if it is too loose, the carpet will lift
away from the corner and look sloppy, too much tension and you could wind up snapping the
string on the abrasive corners of the holes in the plywood bottom.
When you get to the end of each section of string, tie on the next piece on the bottom of the trunk
floor. The way I attached the sections of string went as follows:
1. Tie the old string around the new one with a square knot.
2. Tie the new string around the old one with a square kont.
3. Pull the two knots next to each other, and tie each ones loose ends together with a
square knot.
Continue this process, taking time to look over the whole design to ensure you are happy with
the look of the embossing, until you are done. This took me about 5 hours to do. I took an
old leather work glove, and cut the finger off of it and packed it with carpet padding scraps to
cushion the feel of the needle on my finger tip.
Halfway done!
At this point I realized that I had perforated my trunk floor and bought some ¼ in. wood molding
from the hardware store, and some short screws to reinforce it.
Cut out sections of carpet padding to fit around the reinforcements, and use spray adhesive to
secure it down. I added another layer of carpet padding over it, but its not really necessary.
Now with the extra 3-4 in. of carpet, fold it around to the bottom of the trunk floor, and secure it
with hot glue. The carpet wont want to stay, and thats what the large binder clips are for. Use
the clips to hold it in place while the glue cools. During that time, cut out whatever sections you
need to to make the next section of carpet fold around the contour nicely, and then repeat the
gluing, clamping, cutting, and folding process until you are finished.
Then trace the trunk floor over the back of another piece of car carpet, and cut it out. Lay the
piece over the bottom the floor and trim as needed to make it nicely cover the glued ends of the
top. When you are satisfied, hot glue the bottom piece on, and weight it down while it cools.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Overview:
When I bought my eclipse, it did not come with a trunk floor, but rather a piece of felt the
separated the spare tire from the rest of the trunk. This article will describe the process I took to
build my own carpeted trunk floor.
This tutorial can be done over a weekend if planned ahead, and with a cost of ~$60.
Tools Needed:
Drill (dremel tool works better) and small drill bit
Jigsaw
Scissors
Materials Needed:
~6x8 ft. felt carpet padding
~6x8 ft. car carpet
¼ in. 4x8 ft. plywood
¼ in wood molding
Short screws
Spray adhesive
Poster board, scrap cardboard, and tape
Spool of colored string
A thick sewing needle
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Large binder clips
Recommended:
hinges
Steps
Start by cutting out sections of the poster board, and placing them in the trunk. Crease the poster
boards pieces on the edges of the wall of the trunk, and mark with a marker, after marking, cut
along the line and check again for accuracy. Tape the pieces of poster board together to a large
piece of cardboard for reinforcing, and add pieces as you work your way around. When finished
you should end up with a working footprint of the trunk like below.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Once you are satisfied with the cardboard cut-out, place it over the plywood and trace it. Then
take the jigsaw and cut out the floor from the plywood. Use the drill and jigsaw to cut out a hand
hold. Place the plywood in the trunk to verify that it will fit before proceeding.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Shave off whatever is needed for a close fit. By this point you will realize that it is not easy to
get the whole piece in and out. Though I didnt think of it at the time, if I had to do this over
again I would cut the board in half and attach hinges to allow it to fold. This would allow much
easier access to the well below and make it easier to take in and out. Like I mentioned before, I
did not do it, so I will not try to include instructions on how to do it, and you will still be able to
take the floor in and out if needed without hinges.
Once the floor fits flush with the trunk walls, measure and cut off about ¼ inch from the outside
perimeter to leave a gap of about ¼ inch between the wall and the plywood trunk. This gap will
take into account the carpet it will be covered in, and allow clearance for it.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I used the extra plywood to construct the Diamond Star logo. If you want to do a different
design, I would like to give the advice that the more complex the design, the much, much more
time it will take to complete.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Next trace out the plywood floor onto the felt carpet padding, and the BACK of the carpet, and
set aside for later.
The pieces that make up the logo can be simply glued to the floor with elmers glue, as it will be
secured better later. When gluing the pieces down, place something heavy over them while they
dry, because I noticed the corners of mine curved, or warped up a bit while drying.
While the glue is drying, cut out the carpet padding. Before cutting out the actual carpet, be sure
to increase the outline by at least 3 in. (4 in. is better) all around, and cut it out. The extra 3in all
around will be folded to cover the edges of the trunk.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Set these aside for later.
When the glue is dried, draw an outline around your design about a half centimeter away, and
place a mark every centimeter along that line like in the picture below.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
When all the marks are
placed take the drill or dremmel tool and small bit and drill out holes where the marks are. These
holes are where the stitching will pull the carpet around the logo, giving it the embossed look to
it.
Tip: Drill double wide holes outward so that you can stitch around it twice. The 2x stitching
will make it more noticeable as it will be 2x the size.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
This next step is the most time consuming and painful. It is very tedious, and you have to be
paying attention or it will turn out bad.
Take your string and measure out and cut a few 3-4 foot sections. Tie one end of the string
around the holes in the plywood, and thread the other end through the tick needle.
(Hint: I had
a hard time getting the string through at first because it was a little too thick for the eye of the
needle. I solved that problem by looping a piece of thread through the eye, lassoing the string
and pulling it back through.)
Center the carpet over the plywood and start stitching. I recommend using the Pekinese backstitch .
The reason I instruct you to use 3 to 4 foot sections of string is because if they
get much longer than that, the string begins to fray from passing through the carpet and plywood.
Be sure to keep a good amount of firm tension in the string, if it is too loose, the carpet will lift
away from the corner and look sloppy, too much tension and you could wind up snapping the
string on the abrasive corners of the holes in the plywood bottom.
When you get to the end of each section of string, tie on the next piece on the bottom of the trunk
floor. The way I attached the sections of string went as follows:
1. Tie the old string around the new one with a square knot.
2. Tie the new string around the old one with a square kont.
3. Pull the two knots next to each other, and tie each ones loose ends together with a
square knot.
Continue this process, taking time to look over the whole design to ensure you are happy with
the look of the embossing, until you are done. This took me about 5 hours to do. I took an
old leather work glove, and cut the finger off of it and packed it with carpet padding scraps to
cushion the feel of the needle on my finger tip.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Halfway done!
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
At this point I realized that I had perforated my trunk floor and bought some ¼ in. wood molding
from the hardware store, and some short screws to reinforce it.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Cut out sections of carpet padding to fit around the reinforcements, and use spray adhesive to
secure it down. I added another layer of carpet padding over it, but its not really necessary.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Now with the extra 3-4 in. of carpet, fold it around to the bottom of the trunk floor, and secure it
with hot glue. The carpet wont want to stay, and thats what the large binder clips are for. Use
the clips to hold it in place while the glue cools. During that time, cut out whatever sections you
need to to make the next section of carpet fold around the contour nicely, and then repeat the
gluing, clamping, cutting, and folding process until you are finished.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Then trace the trunk floor over the back of another piece of car carpet, and cut it out. Lay the
piece over the bottom the floor and trim as needed to make it nicely cover the glued ends of the
top. When you are satisfied, hot glue the bottom piece on, and weight it down while it cools.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
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