Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

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JCS
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Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by JCS »

Fellow Forum Members,

The rear window shelf is made of fiberboard and is brittle from years of sun and heat damage.
I removed the shelf, to re-stain the leather, and found the shelf had broken/cracked in 3 places.
It had been removed previously and recovered.

I bought a box of medical wood tongue depressors, and used Elmer's wood glue, and c-clamps.
I shaped the notches and such with a bench grinder.

I now have a surplus of tongue depressors, if you want to buy 9 each TD's for $2.50 with $1.00 mail = $3.50 total
Instead of buying a box of 100. Send me an e-mail, pay via PayPal.
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Jay
'88 M6, Red/Tan
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sansouci
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by sansouci »

I wonder how difficult it would be to make a mold from pourable latex and use fiberglass or carbon fiber to make a new parcel shelf.
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dwcains
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by dwcains »

I think you'd want to make a hard mold to reproduce such a large part, but it would be a nice part for someone to reproduce. There was a similar thread here not too very long ago where someone basically coated the whole rear deck with fiberglass mat and resin to reinforce and preserve its structure. Not necessarily pretty, but once installed and covered with the carpet or leather, it's fully hidden. The deck in my car is in great shape, but it is coming out sometime soon for some audio wiring, and I may fiberglass it for posterity.
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JCS
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by JCS »

The fiberglass a good idea, but BMW used staples into the fiberboard in a few places.
You need to be careful around the roll up rear sun screen, because of the thickness of the fiberglass.
The sun shade slips in from the top.

I also had to replace some of the factory cushioning, with 1/4" foam.
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Jay
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by dwcains »

Dean
Lutz, FL

'85 635 CSi Euro #9402254
'87 Spider Veloce
'92 Spider Veloce
'08 350Z

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Landsnark
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by Landsnark »

Resurrecting this thread because I'm currently in parcel shelf hell...

I won't get into all the gory details, but let's just say that I have way too many hours into this and it still looks bad. The 2 main issues:

1. Particle board is crumbling, especially around the ends of the opening/riser. I've reinforced all edges with fiberglass, with mixed results - do enough fiberglass to really stabilize it and the staples won't penetrate #-o

2. Can't get a clean, wrinkle free wrap (of vinyl) in those same corners of the opening. The M6 has stitching here, which I replicated, but it is a compound curve and just dastardly to get right. I've already burned through 3 yards of expensive vinyl.

Currently I am so disgusted that I'm ready to throw the whole thing away. :evil:

At the expense of originality, I'm seriously considering building a shelf from scratch using 1/4" birch plywood. I would skip the riser section and just make the whole thing flat. Of course I would pad and cover it, but it would be a simpler design. Without the riser I would have to come up with another arrangement for the 3rd brake light or maybe just delete it. And I'd need to leave a gap under the rear window for the HVAC vents :-k

Just curious about what others have done, other than fiberglass reinforcement. Anyone built one from scratch?
Bryan
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slofut
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Re: Rear Window Speaker Shelf Repair

Post by slofut »

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=23768&p=168729#p168729

I used carpet to recover to expedite the process. One layer of fiberglass cloth (not mat). No staples, spray headliner glue.

#-o :oops: Obviously I didn't really read your post...

It would be easy enough to make a flat shelf if originality didn't matter. And a replica could be made using fiberglass but would take a bit of time. I'd probably make it in two or three pieces. Hard to find good ones used. btw... my 87 has a carpeted shelf (not vinyl) as original.
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