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View attachment 1371053 View attachment 1371054 Very happy with this product...it fits, it works, it looks great and is well built! Thanks fellas...I now have a place to hide my wife's'S XMAS presents...I added a little extra foam I had from a sound deadening project. otherwise I just followed the instructions. FYI this is her rig and she is getting a full load of recovery gear...and now it will have a new home!
@papabeach, I like the foam. What did you do with the wiring? Had you already rerouted to relocate license plate, or?
I installed my tailgate storage panel from Back Bay Customs and couldn’t be happier. A true work of art and great attention to detail. Thank you @Notch for bringing this product to market (side storage panels next ?)
There had been some discussion in a few threads about ideas for carpeting the access panel. I was able to re-purpose the stock carpet and now have a soft place to sit and my dogs are able to jump in and out without slipping.
After typical installation of the access panel here are the steps I followed for the carpet:
1. I removed the stock carpet from stock backboard by pulling stitching and staples from the plastic welt around all four sides. It is also adhered to the board with contact cement but at 20 yrs old the adhesive had lost most of its stick. I pulled the plastic edging from the top edge of the stock backboard and was able to reuse that on the top of the new access panel.
2. There had been some earlier discussion as to whether a “stealth” carpet install would be possible to hide the storage area. This would be very easy and the stock carpet is almost exactly the same dimension, including radiused corners, as the Notch panel. A good quality Velcro around the edges would work just fine for this method. The latches are thin enough that they are a not noticeable bump under the carpet.
3. The stock carpet is backed with a vinyl/rubber material that was still in good shape after all the years. I researched adhering carpet to aluminum on the boating forums and ended up using 3M Super 77 spray contact adhesive.
4. For permanent adhesion both surfaces need to be coated with adhesive. From past experience, spray adhesive overspray gets EVERYWHERE and so I carefully masked off the surrounding vehicle, access door edges, lock holes, interior door stops, and access panel hinge.
5. With this adhesive there is really no repositioning so the original placement of the carpet needs to be right. No second chances . To this end I marked the center of the carpet with a corresponding mark on the access panel.
6. I sprayed both surfaces, waited till the tack was correct per 3M’s instructions, and then placed the carpet on the access panel working from the center outward towards the edges. The carpet was then weighted with plywood and about 100 lbs evenly distributed for 24 hours.
7. Probing with a needle, I was able to locate the gap between the door and frame and then using an x-acto knife I sliced the cut all around the edges of the door. The lock holes were trimmed in the same way.
8. There is enough pile thickness in the stock carpet that when the locks are installed they sit slightly below the level of the carpet for a nice flush look.
9. When the door is closed and latched you have to look twice to see the outline of the carpet cuts.
Thanks! Yup. 50 Allen Ave, Stop in some time if you like.Beautiful work. You're in North Deering?
Sounds good. If you ever need help with mechanical or repair work just let me know.Cool. I will. With my 97 Lx after birf and tie rod are done.
Looks nice I'll try and set my budget asideThings are moving on these. I have the edge profile finalized and the lift strut located and working great with a fabricated lower bracket and a welded tab on the lid. Both powdercoat colors are picked out. I have boxes of hinges, latches and hardware ready to go. Waiting on the laser cutter is the hard part. They are good at what they do so they are busy.
We had a great camping trip last weekend in Western Maine. The prototype storage lid got a lot of use. It's so sweet to have access to it without unpacking. The climb up to the "site" was really loose gravel with some mini-fridge size rocks mixed in. I had to winch over a rock at one point and when I had to open the lid to get a shackle it was obvious that a lift strut is really nice to have when you are parked nose up.
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