Faded Parcel Shelf

[cobra]

I just completed this and highlighted it in my journal: link

I had BM3109 on hand, but opted to try the paint first because I figured the extra thickness would feel weird, and the little crevises seemed like it would be hard to get right especially with the little trim pieces.

I could always wrap it after anyways if the paint route turned out bad, but I'm happy with the results.

Great job on all the re-covering!

[bavarian3]

I just completed this and highlighted it in my journal: link

I had BM3109 on hand, but opted to try the paint first because I figured the extra thickness would feel weird, and the little crevices seemed like it would be hard to get right especially with the little trim pieces.

I could always wrap it after anyways if the paint route turned out bad, but I'm happy with the results.

[cobra]

I have painted a few now, some things that I have learned are:

Do not bother trying to source paint meant for fabric, the ones that I used this on actually turned out worse, for best results, use simple cheap matte black spray paint.

When painting with the black paint, the initial coverage may seem poor, at which point one might be inclined to add a lot more paint by applying several wet coats in rapid succession.
However, I have found this causes the paint to bead together in certain locations, which leaves a really rough and poor finish, and it still requires a lot of paint to get somewhat decent coverage.

The thing I found that works best is running a light coat not too close to the shelf, and then letting it dry completely, not just flash off for 5 minutes, but for example wait an entire hour, afterwards apply another light coat, and repeat until done.

Doing it this way you need far less paint and see the coverage increase quickly (vs. barely at all when doing wet coat after wet coat) and less paint means a better and less rough finish.

Definitely agree with your technique if going the painting route. Too much paint will glob up then you're screwed.

The fabric paints they sell are rubbery and flexible compared with a regular paint that might be brittle. But if it works it works!

[bmwfnatic]

I have painted a few now, some things that I have learned are:

Do not bother trying to source paint meant for fabric, the ones that I used this on actually turned out worse, for best results, use simple cheap matte black spray paint.

When painting with the black paint, the initial coverage may seem poor, at which point one might be inclined to add a lot more paint by applying several wet coats in rapid succession.
However, I have found this causes the paint to bead together in certain locations, which leaves a really rough and poor finish, and it still requires a lot of paint to get somewhat decent coverage.

The thing I found that works best is running a light coat not too close to the shelf, and then letting it dry completely, not just flash off for 5 minutes, but for example wait an entire hour, afterwards apply another light coat, and repeat until done.

Doing it this way you need far less paint and see the coverage increase quickly (vs. barely at all when doing wet coat after wet coat) and less paint means a better and less rough finish.

[Nate047]

I painted mine, came out “okay” and I would just advise getting two cans of paint and plan on doing a bunch of coats to get good coverage. Also plan on it smelling like paint for a while, leave it out to dry for at least 3 or 4 days.

[cobra]

Is that BM-3109 or BM-134? (Or some other fabric)

BM3109 is a perfect match for the pillars
The stock parcel shelf does not have a felt backer like the BM3109 fabric so some care must be taken to trim it carefully so the c-pillars fit into the grooves and whatnot. I also had to slightly modify the seatbelt plastic guides to fit the thicker material.

[karter16]

Finally, the simplest solution is just to cover it with new fabric.

Is that BM-3109 or BM-134? (Or some other fabric)

[cobra]

Reporting back after getting my rear shelf repaired. Learned a lot in this process... skills and knowledge I didn't really need to know . It turned into a bit of a science project...

I highly recommend anyone trying this do NOT try dying the fabric black. I first went with the commonly recommended RIT dye, however RIT is made for natural fibers and the shelf material is a plastic/synthetic. It might look good momentarily, and then it turns into a sharpie and will mark anything and everything black that it touches. If you try rinsing it off, the dye just washes out (even with dye fixative) and you're back where you started.

I also tried the fabric paint and that worked surprisingly well, but made the fibers very rough/coarse. The trick is to do multiple very thin coats if you go this route. Lots of room for user error.

Finally, the simplest solution is just to cover it with new fabric. There are no weird contours that make it hard to do. It also looks the best. I suggest skipping straight to this step.

[Norocehcap]

I absolutely had a mosaic of crumbling sound deadening under my rear seat too haha, I also had to break all the clips holding the plastic piece behind the seats not 1 came out nicely. And yeah also found the center bolt holding the parcel shelf under the speakers the hard way as well.

[cobra]

Yeah it's not very hard but it is extremely time consuming just to get the shelf out. I had to take mine out to remove the rear tint, I thought it would take 10 min, it did not.

I already had my c pillar covers out. I hate removing those with all the brittle plastic clips and the lights. The rest of the job wasn't as bad as I expected.

It was interesting finding a mosaic of crumbling sound deadening under the rear seat.

[Norocehcap]

Yeah it's not very hard but it is extremely time consuming just to get the shelf out. I had to take mine out to remove the rear tint, I thought it would take 10 min, it did not.

[aziego]

Thanks for the info. This is another item on my list of to dos on my '05.

[cobra]

Just throwing it out there - I am dying my rear shelf because it's completely purple like the photo above as well.

On my 05, there was another center screw holding the shelf down that is not mentioned in ANY diy or video out there. In order to access it you must remove the speakers from the trunk and it's an 8mm screw from the bottom.

[Thoglan]

How easy/hard is the shelf to remove? Last I checked, it required dismantling the rear seats and side bolsters. I wish there was a way to redye this in situ …

Air80 tint is something I’m considering for many reasons. One of which is: it might look pretty cool on LSB. If anyone has pics of this tint (or similar) on their car, please DM me. FWIW, I had Huper 70 on some of my cars and, although thick, it does an amazing job at cutting heat and UV. Remember kids, darker tint doesn’t mean exponentially more protection.

Its not very hard. You can just fold down the rear seats. Unclip the black plastic shoulder piece on the top of the bolsters. Take the plastic cover that runs along the back out. Remove c pillars, and unplug/unbolt the speakers. Then undo the seatbelt mounting underneath the bench seat so you can feed the seatbelt through the cutout in the parcel shelf, might have to pop the seat base out and slide it forward a bit to get to those bolts.

The worst part is just taking the c pillars out since they are pretty delicate and you can pretty easily unstick the fabric on them if you are too rough. The rest is just push pins and clips pretty much.

[LSB4Me]

How easy/hard is the shelf to remove? Last I checked, it required dismantling the rear seats and side bolsters. I wish there was a way to redye this in situ …

Air80 tint is something I’m considering for many reasons. One of which is: it might look pretty cool on LSB. If anyone has pics of this tint (or similar) on their car, please DM me. FWIW, I had Huper 70 on some of my cars and, although thick, it does an amazing job at cutting heat and UV. Remember kids, darker tint doesn’t mean exponentially more protection.