Trying to learn more about materials and techniques for future mods, and trying to improve the interior appearance of my car a little. Three projects.
First: lighter, cleaner, cheap new floormats
I used my old worn-out and heavy floormats as a template for new mats using on sale carpet I got at Lowes for a house project:
Then I used this botton thingy I found on the ground somewhere long ago to make the eye for the floormat's hook on the driver side:
and..
Second: mounting with trim tape and painting two-tone
I bought this classic early civic "CVCC" badge at a junk yard last year and decided finally to play with it. I only just learned about "trim tape." ...
Painted green:
Painted black with plastidip:
Plastidip cut away with an exacto blade:
Third: practice fiberglassing by making small "instrument panel"
Here is the final product, to the left, in front of the shifter:
Cardboard aided design! I found the right shape by trim-fitting cardboard and then applied the fiberglass directly to the cardboard:
Then I soaked off the carboard:
Lessons learned:
1) Cheap carpet is not that sturdy under the stress of the driver's heals, so I have been putting down paper to prevent premature wear on the driver side.
2) Plasti-dip does not always peel all that precisely. I had to redo my CVCC badge and the line is not quite as clean as I wanted it to be, but it looks good.
3) After I liberated the fiberglass from the cardboard, the fiberglass warped. A guy I know who shapes surfboards gave me advice on blending different sorts of fiberglass cloth to get greater strength and control warping.