vtluu
03-19-2005, 10:25 PM
If like me you've taken out your trunk mat many times, the padding on the bottom of it tends to come apart and the mat no longer sticks very well to the particle-board that goes over the spare-tire well. As a result, anything slightly heavy in the trunk (like a toolbox) slides around and the trunk mat just bunches up and becomes somewhat useless.
So, there I was loading up the car for tomorrow's autocross, assessing the disintegrating trunk mat and thinking to myself, "I wish I had one made of some sort of tough, grippy rubber material." And then it occurred to me, what did I have lying around the house? A big roll of TirePlast (http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=322&)--tough, grippy rubber material. :D I'd bought the stuff to make mudflaps for the rally car, but one roll was enough to make six sets so I had quite a bit left over.
http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/images/fullsize/standard/526_tireplast.jpg
So, I lay the stock mat on top of the TirePlast roll, and used half-width masking tape to trace out the outline of the mat; chalk would have been a bit faster but I didn't have any.
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
Then I used a pair of kitchen shears to cut out the new mat:
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
There's plenty of room for error so precision isn't terribly important. Here's the new mat, installed in the trunk:
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
An easy, worthwhile and inexpensive DIY project. TirePlast is available for $40 from Tap Plastics (http://www.tapplastics.com/) in 4'x8' rolls; one roll is enough to make one, maybe two mats. It's a fairly tough non-slip material made of recycled tires and plastic, also useful as a mat to put down on the ground while working on the car, etc.
So, there I was loading up the car for tomorrow's autocross, assessing the disintegrating trunk mat and thinking to myself, "I wish I had one made of some sort of tough, grippy rubber material." And then it occurred to me, what did I have lying around the house? A big roll of TirePlast (http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=322&)--tough, grippy rubber material. :D I'd bought the stuff to make mudflaps for the rally car, but one roll was enough to make six sets so I had quite a bit left over.
http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/images/fullsize/standard/526_tireplast.jpg
So, I lay the stock mat on top of the TirePlast roll, and used half-width masking tape to trace out the outline of the mat; chalk would have been a bit faster but I didn't have any.
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc2NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
Then I used a pair of kitchen shears to cut out the new mat:
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc3NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
There's plenty of room for error so precision isn't terribly important. Here's the new mat, installed in the trunk:
http://www.we-todd-did-racing.com/wetoddimage.wtdr?i=wODM1NTc4NnM0MTNkZmQzMXk1NDE%3D
An easy, worthwhile and inexpensive DIY project. TirePlast is available for $40 from Tap Plastics (http://www.tapplastics.com/) in 4'x8' rolls; one roll is enough to make one, maybe two mats. It's a fairly tough non-slip material made of recycled tires and plastic, also useful as a mat to put down on the ground while working on the car, etc.