12 replies to this topic

[Modmobile]

After purchasing myself some rather lovely new designer seats , the pale grey parcel shelf in my chelsea just looks WRONG. How easy is it to remove? Should it be covered or painted? I want to do some stuff myself *rolls up sleeves*

[miniboo]

really easy to remove the parcel shelf covering just lift it up.

[The Fat Leodensian]

After purchasing myself some rather lovely new designer seats , the pale grey parcel shelf in my chelsea just looks WRONG. How easy is it to remove? Should it be covered or painted? I want to do some stuff myself *rolls up sleeves*

The O.E Shelves are rubbish anyway! Flimsy Naff bits of cardboard!

I made this one by pulling some 3ply from a skip, removing the old shelf and using it as a template, then attacking with a jig-saw.

I havn't got round to covering this yet, but it does have advantages over the original:
Its somwhere to put speakers
It cuts down road noise from the boot area
It looks better (or it will when iv'e covered it )

Tip for anyone doing the same though: (as i found out to my frustration)
Its better to fit the speakers/sub to the shelf before you put the shelf in, 'because you cant get a good screwdriver between the shelf and back screen! (not a problem if your back screen is out during a rebuild)

Hard to take a good pic of though!

Al

Attached Files

•  PDRM0026.JPG   108.76K   15 downloads
•  PDRM0025.JPG   106.51K   20 downloads

[minislapper]

Let's not forget that the rear metal parcel shelf is a structural part of the car. By chopping out massive amounts of metal from the shelf you are weakening the structure of the car.

[Dan]

Yes, quite substantially. It's also the rear fire bulkhead for the cabin.

If you are removing your original parcel shelf trim and it hasn't been out before you could find that it is retained (just lift it out? ) by the rear seat back screws. You need to drop the screws down from inside the boot, one each side before you can remove the shelf trim. Don't loose the spacers on the screws, they stop the back of the seat being pulled down too far when you put them back in. Also the shelf could have two rivets through it depending on exactly when it was built (it seems that some days they couldn't be bothered). These can easily be drilled out if they are present.

Re-covering it will be very easy. Which seats have you got then? You don't mean Mini Designer seats do you? Smelly Brighton deckchairs?

[The Fat Leodensian]

Let's not forget that the rear metal parcel shelf is a structural part of the car. By chopping out massive amounts of metal from the shelf you are weakening the structure of the car.

Where I have cut holes for speakers I have bolted some reinforcing rings from the boot side. These are quite substansial metal rings that I found in the back of the window factory where i work. I suppose one could recreate these by cutting them from thick sheet metal?

al

[Modmobile]

Yes, quite substantially. It's also the rear fire bulkhead for the cabin.

If you are removing your original parcel shelf trim and it hasn't been out before you could find that it is retained (just lift it out? ) by the rear seat back screws. You need to drop the screws down from inside the boot, one each side before you can remove the shelf trim. Don't loose the spacers on the screws, they stop the back of the seat being pulled down too far when you put them back in. Also the shelf could have two rivets through it depending on exactly when it was built (it seems that some days they couldn't be bothered). These can easily be drilled out if they are present.

Re-covering it will be very easy. Which seats have you got then? You don't mean Mini Designer seats do you? Smelly Brighton deckchairs?

Oy, cheeky so and so.....they're my smelly brighton deckchairs now. I love brighton....london to ? and the brighton mod riots yay!
Thankyou for your nice informative answer though

[Dan]

Yay, rioting! woohoo!

[minislapper]

What about a nice piece of black carpet or something like that? In fact, I might have a spare board and a piece of carpet in the shed doing nothing. Any good?

[gsms]

Covering the rear shelf is really easy. Its just a flat panel, so all you need is your rear shelf template to draw around on the fabric you choose.

I've covered certain bits of my interior in black "leather" vinyl





Guy.

[Al*]

I built a parcel shelf covering out of wood.. then stained it to match my dash and steering wheel.... also built pieces to go in the backseat storage bins.

Al

Attached Files

•  wood_parcel_shelf.jpg   83.6K   14 downloads

[Dan]

Sounds very cool Al.

[Modmobile]

What about a nice piece of black carpet or something like that? In fact, I might have a spare board and a piece of carpet in the shed doing nothing. Any good?

Aw, thanks for the offer * but I think I'm going to go for the kid friendly vinyl option (wipe clean)