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Making a new boot
gingerprince - 15/5/17 at 06:06 PM

So for years I've been unhappy with my rear end (oo-er!) My MK came with a custom tank so not much space in the back, and no storage at all. Also, the lid was a lump of plastic that was basically hinged on the seatbelt mounts, meaning access to the tank was very difficult (especially on track days trying to tip a 20L jerry can in there!)

Anyhow, finally decided to do something about it, and made a storage space and new lid from fibreglass.

Original lid was about 3KG. New lid is 2KG, and boot is just over 2KG, so for 1 extra KG (or a productive dump!) I've got much better fuel tank access, and some storage to boot (pun intended).



[Edited on 15/5/17 by gingerprince]

CosKev3 - 15/5/17 at 06:29 PM

Nice job

Made one up for mine out of alloy,rear stays on the cage make it a awkward job though

CosKev3 - 15/5/17 at 06:33 PM

Description
Description

Banana - 15/5/17 at 09:31 PM

Both look good. Now can you do a video on how to do that resin forming. Is it as simple as it looks?

peter030371 - 16/5/17 at 07:25 AM

Gives me some ideas for my boot later in the year

Just a thought but have you put some drain holes in it for when you (inevitably) spill some fuel?

nick205 - 16/5/17 at 09:28 AM

I made mine from thin plywood covered with black vinyl. Hinged section with a lock for access to the fuel filler.

ash_hammond - 16/5/17 at 09:54 AM

Following

gingerprince - 16/5/17 at 08:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by peter030371
Just a thought but have you put some drain holes in it for when you (inevitably) spill some fuel?


There's a hole around the filler so any dribbles will miss anyway, but I have put a couple of drains at either side. Mainly because a few drops got in there when I washed it, so next job is to put a rubber lip around the top to keep rain splashes out


quote:
Originally posted by Banana
Both look good. Now can you do a video on how to do that resin forming. Is it as simple as it looks?


Can't really do a video myself ( would have to buy more materials and do it all again ) but it's fairly straightforward, if a little messy. There's loads of videos on youtube on how to do layup.

Boot compartment basically made a shape out of cardboard to fit in the available space, then covered in packing tape. Glass/resin kit cost about 25 quid (
http://www.fiberglasssupplies.co.uk/acatalog/RESIN_KIT.html) and was enough for what I needed. Lay up wasn't perfect because my roller got "sticky" and set so I got a couple of bubble as it set, but nothing structural.

It's not very smooth as it was laid up from outside-in (not what you'd do if you were doing it "properly" but the buck-mold-item process for a single hidden item seemed overkill), but I intend to line it with felt to help deaden sound of any stray spanners etc. Painting it would look poor if not flatting back, but it's more function over beauty!

The boot lid I just taped up my old lid and glassed onto that. Main problem with that was the tape overlaps were clear and it took a good while with the random orbital to flatten it good enough to vinyl/paint. Then just had to split the boot panel and make some suitable brackets so the hinge would "up and over" from underneath.