Luggage Compartment Restoration/Upgrades

[AFB24911S]

TL;DR: the frunk is an underappreciated part of the car, but with some TLC and a new set of carpets it really becomes a nice little compartment. I've got restoration tips, neat facts, and other info about the frunk to share.

When I purchased my 1977 Porsche 911, I was disappointed by the usability and appearance of the luggage compartment. The charcoal carpet was scratchy and the snap buttons were broken; carpet adhesive had been sprayed on the left & right fenders but had failed, leaving a gunky yellow appearance; the gas tank was scratched, and the color was dull; the battery tray was showing signs of surface rust; and everything was in disarray. So, I decided to dedicate some elbow grease toward improving the "frunk." A month or so later, several weekends of scrubbing/working later, I am extremely happy with the results and have some interesting information/tips to share.


Gunky old adhesive


Unbecoming plain carpet


Random disused wires


Rust, grime, and junk


Before-battery compartment


Scraping


Still more scraping


Primer


Gas tank paint


New "Car Bone" front carpets in. I think they hide the brake booster and fuse box well, and make the compartment more inviting; but, they hide the fuse box and the brake booster, so the carpets have to come out for any work on either of those those.

The first order of business was to remove the battery and repair the rust in the battery tray. The spacing is tight; I had to use a ratchet to remove the positive terminal cable. The factory weatherproofing had been sprayed over the area, so I used both a flat head screwdriver and a wood chisel to remove the rubbery material. Then, I used 100 grit sandpaper and wire brushes to remove the remaining rust and weatherproofing to expose bare metal for primer. There are some frustrating nooks and crannies in this area, the worst is the lip welded to the back part of the battery tray; there was a bit of rust there, so I painstakingly removed paint and surface oxidation there with the brush. Once all the metal was exposed, I applied a base coat of primer and a touch up coat before applying flat black paint. To confine paint removal and painting, I blue-taped the areas that did not require repair.

Next was de-cluttering and cleaning; I used soap and water and toothbrushes to remove 45 years of grime, and I traced all the disused wires before removing them (previous owners had installed an alarm system that was not being used, and the AC doesn't work so I removed those wires after taking lots of pictures). It was at this point that I found the rubber block where the base of the factory Bilstein jack goes; it's a neat little piece of the vehicle, there's supposed to be a rubber strap that holds the upper part at the center. I removed the spare tire, cleaned it, and purchased a spare wheel clamping bow to hold the spare in place. (Mechanical note: both the battery and spare tire, two big heavy things, were not clamped down when I bought the car; the pre-purchase inspection showed that the front wheel bearings were toast, so I highly recommend clamping both of those things down on your car if they aren't already to avoid any undue wear.)

While cleaning, I noticed there were some holes in the lower part of the compartment that lead right to the road; not such a big deal here in SoCal, but a very big deal in snowier climates. Getting drain tubes to fill in the holes. The factory put them there, so they must be required to vent the compartment, but there must have been a drain tube originally I think. Correct me if I'm assuming wrong.

To remove the yellow, ugly adhesive, I bought rattle-can 3M adhesive remover from O'Reilly's: it was $30, which is an awful lot when Goo Gone is $10, but it worked better than could have been expected. After taping off the painted outer surfaces and everything not covered in old adhesive, I sprayed the product on, let it sit for about 2 minutes, and wiped the adhesive away with shop towels. In sensitive areas next to wires, I sprayed the solution onto shop towels until they were saturated and laid them over the adhesive. With both methods, it took me 4 hours of spraying, wiping, and spraying again while cleaning other things to make the fenders look brand new. Lots of elbow grease, but I think it looks an awful lot better than it did.

To really freshen up the look of the "frunk," I decided to repaint the gas tank and buy new carpets. I'm not great at color matching, but the closest I got was "Safari Vest" (a Behr color, available at Home Depot) in a satin finish. Again, I used wire brushes to remove damaged weatherproofing and applied primer before applying color. (I applied my first coat too thick and it's still a little sticky; don't make my mistake! Apply light, even coats and don't worry about covering every dot of the surface in one go. You'll get it on the next coat.)

Finally, it was time for the new carpeting. Rather than replace the original carpet, I decided to upgrade to a black/grey houndstooth pattern product offered by Car Bone Liveries (not available on Pelican). With shipping, the 3-piece carpet set cost $490. The first set they sent me was for a different model; the second set was the correct one, and fits-sort of. I have to say that the carpets are so thick that they don't flex around the shock towers very well. The snaps in that area kept popping off. So, I fabricated some adapters: I cut some 18 gauge sheet metal, bent it into a 90-degree angle, and installed a male snap on one end and a female snap on the other. These adapters relieved stress on the snaps, and are working well so far. The center part of the carpet set doesn't fit perfectly onto the back panel either, but it doesn't need to; the side pieces hold it in place pretty well. Overall, for $490 it doesn't fit perfectly which is a disappointment but the material quality and workmanship are excellent so I decided to make it work and am happy with my results.

My original tool bag was absolutely saturated in oil. One afternoon, I scrubbed and dried and soaked and scrubbed that thing about 10 times until it was clean enough to touch without getting oily hands. By all appearances it's the original tool bag, so, worth it?

Oh, and I connected the luggage compartment courtesy light near the passenger's side hinge. Previous owner or mechanic had disconnected it. I like it, all I had to do was spray a little contact cleaner and work the button back and forth for it to start working again. If yours is missing or it's been disconnected, just look for a spare wire or route a new one off a fuse that stays hot even without the key.

What do you think? Over-restored, paint too bright? Have any of you bought the Car Bone carpet and had similar fitment results?

Replacement parts used: spare wheel clamping bow; rubber jack strap; machine screw for spare wheel clamping bow; tail lamp drain tube (all Pelican)

New product installed: https://car-bone.pl/shop/porsche-trunk-mat-black-grey-houndstooth/

Tools used/materials applied: 3M adhesive remover (greatest aerosol invention since WD-40); dish soap; toothbrush; wire brush; 100 grit sandpaper & sanding block; masking tape; rust-oleum primer; rustoleum flat black; brushes; "Safari Vest" paint (Behr color); wrenches & ratchet (all Home Depot or O'Reilly's).

[famoroso]

Nice work!

The front carpet set looks sharp. Shame it isn't plug & play though. I have grey / black houndstooth Car Bone floor matts, but haven't had a chance to install them yet as my car has been getting a 3.4 / transmission / suspension build.

[echecsqueen]

Nice job. Looks great

[NY65912]

Looking good