Heya.. after reading flymikeair's diy and grabbing some pics from him, I definately wanted to do this and the weight savings plus the look seemed a pretty sweet package deal.
Materials needed:
1/4" Plywood sheet ( I used luan.. was pretty durn light) (10$~)
a 6'x3' roll of auto carpet from pepboys or similar (10$~)
Staple Gun
Socket wrench with 10, 12 , and 14mm sockets
Some sort of cutting tool, I used a circular table saw to cut the width then used a sabre saw to do the corners due to the size of the piece.
Some spare time!
Materials recommended:
Planing tool: The desired shape isnt exactly a straight cut, and the corners are less likely to jab you in the kidneys if theyre nice and round
Peel and stick velcro
6$ for PLENTY), Could use other methods or adhesive.. or even none as the piece doesnt rattle or vibrate, the carpet sort of keeps it in check.
I origionally got a piece of 50 1/4" X 22" plywood and simply traced the seats out on them and used a planing tool to make adjustments from there, however my final (with rounded edges, so measurements are not exact) measurements were 49 1/2" x 19 3/4" x 42 on the smaller end. I would suggest starting with a larger piece and working it down as the shape I ended up with is not anywhere near straight, but neither is the interior as there are a few plastic "humps" you need to work around when fitting the piece.
![Image]()
First off, to remove the back seats you need to simply lower the backseat tops and use a 10mm(i think) socket to remove 2 bolts on either side of each seat, then they simply pull out towards the front of the car.
I dont recall if there are what size if any bolts are holding the lower bench in once the top is removed, but its pretty obvious when you get there.
With the seat tops and backs removed, your car will look something like this:
![Image]()
You need to remove the following:
2x Seatbelt clip thingie
2x bracket that held and adjusted the seat backs (in the center)
2x brackets on either side of the car
You need to keep the 4 "U"-shaped brackets that were holding the rear seat bench in, as they will also hold the piece of plywood.
With those bits removed, the next order of business is to remove the two seatbelt retractors, if you do not, they will rattle when the bass hits or when you go over a bump/etc. Also, its more weight to remove =]
Your retractor looks like this in its untouched, virgin form.:
![Image]()
First you need to remove the plastic screw knob from the side of the unit, then pry off the "button" in the rear with your fingers or a flathead screwdriver, revealing a 12mm bolt. Pop the bolts on either retractor and you can then remove the plastic housing.
You are then left with this:
![Image]()
![Image]()
The seat belt is held in place by the single 14mm bolt you can see, simply unbolt this and you can remove both retractors.
IMPORTANT!!!
Make sure you tie the seatbelts in a knot (or similar action) to prevent them from fully retracting in, as you will have one tough time getting them back out if this is the case:
![Image]()
With all of your tiburon back gutted and looking rather ghetto in its bodycolor glory, now attempt to test-fit your board, and make adjustments as necessary to get it to fit. It should fit nicely along the front lip of the seat bottoms and rest along the 4 U shaped brackets in the back:
![Image]()
Once you have desired shape and dimensions, You need to place your board ontop of the carpet and staple down the sides, leaving enough along the front and back of the piece to allow it to overhang beneath the trunk floor, and down over the bottom of the seat bases, to provide a much cleaner look. You need to leave approx 6" or less along the front edge of the piece and I just left the remainder of the 3' piece of carpet hanging from the rear, this gives you alot of space to secure the back underneath the trunk floor, making the whole thing alot sturdier.
Make sure you cut out the 'hanging' ends to the widths of their appropriate sides as shown
![Image]()
Use PLENTY of staples to secure the carpet, and I would also suggest using smaller staples or sewing the peel and stick velcro to the carpet every 10 inches or so along the front and rear edges of it. When you place the piece in the car, match up the other sides of the velcro with where the pieces youve sewn/stapled on fall.
This, plus a few pieces (or other adhesive) along the edges of the board should keep the whole piece very sturdy and rattle-free.
In the back, lift up the trunk floor (make sure you push back the clips that hold the cargo net so that they are flush with the side, or it wont pull up) and pull the rear "hanging" piece of carpet back as far as possible and secure it with more peelnstick velcro. Mine went pretty much to the spare tire.
![Image]()
You will need to cut the center of the front "hanging" piece of carpet to allow for the center "hump" in the middle, I just did this while kneeling down in the back seats and it doesnt look TOO bad (well okay maybe a little
![Image]()
And thats pretty much it... If anyone has a better scale than I and would like to tally up the total amount taken out of the vehicle, id appreciate it. The piece you are replacing in, carpetted and all weighs probably less than 6 pounds
I weighed everything up, and as a decent approximation its 59 lbs.
![Image]()
![Image]()
Materials needed:
1/4" Plywood sheet ( I used luan.. was pretty durn light) (10$~)
a 6'x3' roll of auto carpet from pepboys or similar (10$~)
Staple Gun
Socket wrench with 10, 12 , and 14mm sockets
Some sort of cutting tool, I used a circular table saw to cut the width then used a sabre saw to do the corners due to the size of the piece.
Some spare time!
Materials recommended:
Planing tool: The desired shape isnt exactly a straight cut, and the corners are less likely to jab you in the kidneys if theyre nice and round
Peel and stick velcro
6$ for PLENTY), Could use other methods or adhesive.. or even none as the piece doesnt rattle or vibrate, the carpet sort of keeps it in check.I origionally got a piece of 50 1/4" X 22" plywood and simply traced the seats out on them and used a planing tool to make adjustments from there, however my final (with rounded edges, so measurements are not exact) measurements were 49 1/2" x 19 3/4" x 42 on the smaller end. I would suggest starting with a larger piece and working it down as the shape I ended up with is not anywhere near straight, but neither is the interior as there are a few plastic "humps" you need to work around when fitting the piece.
First off, to remove the back seats you need to simply lower the backseat tops and use a 10mm(i think) socket to remove 2 bolts on either side of each seat, then they simply pull out towards the front of the car.
I dont recall if there are what size if any bolts are holding the lower bench in once the top is removed, but its pretty obvious when you get there.
With the seat tops and backs removed, your car will look something like this:
You need to remove the following:
2x Seatbelt clip thingie
2x bracket that held and adjusted the seat backs (in the center)
2x brackets on either side of the car
You need to keep the 4 "U"-shaped brackets that were holding the rear seat bench in, as they will also hold the piece of plywood.
With those bits removed, the next order of business is to remove the two seatbelt retractors, if you do not, they will rattle when the bass hits or when you go over a bump/etc. Also, its more weight to remove =]
Your retractor looks like this in its untouched, virgin form.:
First you need to remove the plastic screw knob from the side of the unit, then pry off the "button" in the rear with your fingers or a flathead screwdriver, revealing a 12mm bolt. Pop the bolts on either retractor and you can then remove the plastic housing.
You are then left with this:
The seat belt is held in place by the single 14mm bolt you can see, simply unbolt this and you can remove both retractors.
IMPORTANT!!!
Make sure you tie the seatbelts in a knot (or similar action) to prevent them from fully retracting in, as you will have one tough time getting them back out if this is the case:
With all of your tiburon back gutted and looking rather ghetto in its bodycolor glory, now attempt to test-fit your board, and make adjustments as necessary to get it to fit. It should fit nicely along the front lip of the seat bottoms and rest along the 4 U shaped brackets in the back:
Once you have desired shape and dimensions, You need to place your board ontop of the carpet and staple down the sides, leaving enough along the front and back of the piece to allow it to overhang beneath the trunk floor, and down over the bottom of the seat bases, to provide a much cleaner look. You need to leave approx 6" or less along the front edge of the piece and I just left the remainder of the 3' piece of carpet hanging from the rear, this gives you alot of space to secure the back underneath the trunk floor, making the whole thing alot sturdier.
Make sure you cut out the 'hanging' ends to the widths of their appropriate sides as shown
Use PLENTY of staples to secure the carpet, and I would also suggest using smaller staples or sewing the peel and stick velcro to the carpet every 10 inches or so along the front and rear edges of it. When you place the piece in the car, match up the other sides of the velcro with where the pieces youve sewn/stapled on fall.
This, plus a few pieces (or other adhesive) along the edges of the board should keep the whole piece very sturdy and rattle-free.
In the back, lift up the trunk floor (make sure you push back the clips that hold the cargo net so that they are flush with the side, or it wont pull up) and pull the rear "hanging" piece of carpet back as far as possible and secure it with more peelnstick velcro. Mine went pretty much to the spare tire.
You will need to cut the center of the front "hanging" piece of carpet to allow for the center "hump" in the middle, I just did this while kneeling down in the back seats and it doesnt look TOO bad (well okay maybe a little
And thats pretty much it... If anyone has a better scale than I and would like to tally up the total amount taken out of the vehicle, id appreciate it. The piece you are replacing in, carpetted and all weighs probably less than 6 pounds
I weighed everything up, and as a decent approximation its 59 lbs.
