How To: repair sun faded /damaged parcel deck (G50 writeup)

[db_autotek]

If you have a faded parcel shelf, as my black/black 1994 G50 did, it is indeed fixable! Another issue you may have, as I did with every Q so far, is the fabric on those goofy clips coming unglued and looking very unsightly. My newest Q spent the first 16 years of its life with no window tint, thus the once-black parcel shelf is now a hideous blue/gray. How the fabric comes unglued, well who knows. The solution is to repair the deck and get window tint! 15% tint all around looks great on a black Q. Here is the write-up guide to repairing the damage. Cost: maybe $10 - $20 depending on what you need to get. Cheap!!

Items Needed:Screwdrivers (really you only need 1 phillips, but you may wish to gently pry a couple things.)Needle-nose pliers or upholstery clip pry tool, to remove the clips. 1 can of Duplicolor Fabric Spray http://www.duplicolor.com/products/vinyl.html for my black Q, I purchased the flat-black (not the gloss black), available at most reputable auto parts stores. I imagine for grey or tan, you may have to look up the Duplicolor part number on the website and order it from your parts store.1 plastic drop cloth for painting1 roll of painters tape1 tube of clear craft glue (only if your fabric needs repairing.)A very small (jewelers-sized) flat head screwdriver or similar object (only really need if your fabric needs repairing)Helps to have: some duct tape or similar (to pick up any fuzz and stuck hair in the deck), a clean horse-hair brush (boot brush) to brush the deck clean.

Okay here we go!• Remove rear seat and rear seat back. o There are detailed instructions everywhere on how to do this. In brief, remove the seat bottom by lifting one side at a time while pulling the release clips at the front/bottom. Lift the seat bottom out. The center armrest back panel is velcro’ed to the seat back, just pull it. Remove those 2 phillips screws. Get down and look at the bottom of the seat back, remove 4 phillips screws. Now, LIFT the seat back straight UP to slide it from the retailing holders. Completely removing the seat back is not necessary, it will rest comfortably for a few hours on the floor of the car.

• Remove the parcel shelf. o If you have a third brake light (i.e. you do not have the spoiler-mounted-light) then you must remove the brake light bulb and assembly. If I remember correctly, this is done from the trunk. 2-screws or nuts I think it was. o Remove the 3 pop-clips which were hidden by the seat back. o Now the rest of the parcel deck is pop-clipped onto the shelf base. This is not a time to be shy, you will swear it must be screwed in somewhere. But just take a little time and strength and pop each pop-clip until the deck is removable. Make sure you handle the deck with some degree of care, it may be fragile after years in the sun. I remember bending a section of the one on my last Q45. Oops. o The deck should be out of the car now, go ahead and lay it face-down onto the plastic drop cloth.

• Remove speaker grills (6x Phillips screws per side). Note, the particular plastic around the speaker grills and of course the metal is not very porous, and thus the paint will not adhere well. If for some reason you want to paint those too, you will need to sand them down, use a good quality primer, and then preferably use a different type of paint. Not recommended.

• Clean the deck in your preferred method. (note how faded it is) o I started with a clean horse-hair boot brush and then used duct tape to go over the deck and pick up any remaining fuzz, hair, whatever. I felt that a vacuum would not pick up the small pieces of hair and fuzz, but if you have a shop vac, go for it. o If you are feeling OCD and clean it with any liquid or foam upholstery cleaner, then wait several hours before continuing to allow it to dry.

• Take this time to repair any loose fabric on the compartment door and those 3 clip cover things. o Do not completely peel off the fabric, if any is still glued, but lift the fabric up enough to apply small amounts of the clear craft glue. o As seen in the pictures, and as you have probably guessed by now, apply some glue to the little track where the fabric will tuck into. You do not need much glue. Don’t use a lot and make a big mess. I got it just right and NO glue came out and onto the visible fabric. o Using your fingers to smooth out the fabric and keep it as tight as possible, proceed to go around the track and tuck the fabric into the track and into the glue. o The compartment door may not be as easy due to the large amount of fabric, and don’t plan on it being perfect, just better than it was. If you are feeling brave and have experience with upholstery, you may choose to completely remove the door fabric and completely re-glue it. IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO THIS, then you must purchase spray adhesive (I strongly recommend the line by 3M. Super 77 or 80 will be appropriate for this particular piece, even High 90.) Follow the directions and tape off / newspaper the whole deck so that NO spray glue gets anywhere but on the door surface. o You may have to work the fabrics for a few minutes to get it right. In my case, the button clips came out perfect but the door did not. It does look much better though. In the future I might rip the fabric off and upholster the door with matching black leather.

• Back to the painting. o Tape off the sides of the compartment door and tape off the latch button and surround. I often find that for oddly-shaped pieces like the button and button surround that several small pieces of painters tape will work better than large pieces. o Shake the can for a few minutes and spray nice, even, and light strokes! o Here you have to go by eye, and follow the directions. Don’t rush it and DON’T use thick coats. Wait a few minutes between coats! Remember to spray from the front and the back of the deck to ensure that the back (where that vent is) and the back of the compartment door is also covered. o Pic: halfway through the first coat. Just for reference. Notice I really didn’t care to tape off the plastic around the button clip covers. The paint will adhere perfectly and the clips never receive any physical wear, so I didn’t see the point, and would be a PITA to tape off. o Note that the spray will dry evenly, and looks better to the eye than the pics. o Also note that random little things may blow onto and land on the deck during and between paint coats. Go ahead and pick them up with hands or tape. The paint will not come off onto hands. o Pic: after the first coat. DON’T expect it to look amazing after the first coat! The first coat is only for light coverage, and is in no way intended to represent the finished work. Wait about 10 minutes or so. o Pic: after the second coat. It should begin to look more even now. Definitely starting to look more OEM black now, and much better than the faded grey/blue. (it really does look better in person at this point than on camera) o Remember to get all angles, including carefully opening the compartment door and spraying the small bit which is hidden in the front when closed. Looking back on it, I should have just propped the door open barely above the button before painting. o Pic: after the third coat. You can apply a little stronger on this coat. Should be looking good and even by now!! Looks great! Also, your can should be about empty by the end of this coat. This should be sufficient for this job.

• When done, it will dry very quickly and will not come off onto hands or clothing, but you may wish to leave it for a few hours in a ventilated garage or even overnight to dissipate any odors.

• Remove the tape, clean off any overspray on the button with a Q-tip and strong cleaner or CAREFULLY with nail polish remover. I did not have any overspray. Take this time to clean your speaker grills. An air compressor would work great here, or just wipe them down and blow any fuzz out from behind. Re-assemble the speaker grills, and take a few moments to admire your like-new parcel deck. Now is perfect time to replace those rear speakers with some fresh ones. Size is 6x9, replacement takes only a few minutes. o Pic: I decided to take the few minutes and replace with some Sony’s until I can replace all the speakers with Alpine R’s or Kickers.

• When ready, replace the parcel shelf back into the car, replace seat back by lifting up and sliding down onto the holders then replacing screws. Replace seat bottom with care for the seat belts. Done! Woohoo!

• Pic: finished product. I know the door upholstery didn’t come out perfect, but all things said and done, it looks 100 times better than it did!! Good luck!
Modified by db_autotek at 2:33 AM 2/10/2010

[Q451990]

Very nice! I did this to mine as well. Never had the fabric peel up on the door though... guess I was lucky.

I really like the black on black color combination. We have it on the wife's G, and it's very easy to maintain. Tint and a sunshade makes it quite bearable in the summer.

Heath

[db_autotek]

After a couple weeks, I am excited to report that the fix looks amazing and I am extremely happy with it. Bang-for-the-buck I feel like it has been one of my best repairs/mods ever.

If you are worried about any smell, don't be. Yes there was a light odor for about a day, but that is due only to the fact that I put the shelf right back in when I was done. Leave it out for an day or two in the garage and no scent.

I don't know what it looked like new, but from the un-faded areas, I'm sure it looks better now. It is truly, actually, black. The compartment door fabric is still loose, but I am not concerned. The local fabric/craft store has real black leather which I plan to use to re-upholster the compartment door with.

If your parcel deck is even partially faded, discolored, irreparably stained, or just want to modify the color, GO FOR IT! See the website above for the colors.

[CINNALOCKS]

Or you could just do this....................http://www.floormatsnmore.com/infiniti/ ... rpet.xhtml

Not to put you down but, personally I like this custom deck cover a lot better