[Reamonster]

Hi everyone! I'm not sure if anyone would be into this but I wanted to share my progress on what I feel is a pretty good looking idea. Since my Insight leaked for so long, the carpet was ruined and had to come out. It was moldy and just soaked. That coupled with continually fooling with the IMA system led me to appreciate how lovely the bare aluminum and technical wizardry looked from an asthetic standpoint. So I've decided to go all bare and and do bed liner paint for the floor, and made an aluminum frame to hold glass panels to display the IMA components. It's still a work in progress but I'm super excited about how it's turning out!

 

[olrowdy01]

Hi everyone! I'm not sure if anyone would be into this but I wanted to share my progress on what I feel is a pretty good looking idea. Since my Insight leaked for so long, the carpet was ruined and had to come out. It was moldy and just soaked. That coupled with continually fooling with the IMA system led me to appreciate how lovely the bare aluminum and technical wizardry looked from an asthetic standpoint. So I've decided to go all bare and and do bed liner paint for the floor, and made an aluminum frame to hold glass panels to display the IMA components. It's still a work in progress but I'm super excited about how it's turning out! View attachment 89997 View attachment 89998 View attachment 89999

This reminds me of a friend of mine who was so excited to drive his homemade Lowcost (see my Avatar) Lotus 7 replica the first time, that he made the [very temporary] bucket seats (the 5 gallon size) for it. The top of the door sill on a Lowcost is only 18" above the ground so it looked like we were sitting on top of the car rather than in it.

 

[Reamonster]

This reminds me of a friend of mine who was so excited to drive his homemade Lowcost (see my Avatar) Lotus 7 replica the first time, that he made the [very temporary] bucket seats (the 5 gallon size) for it. The top of the door sill on a Lowcost is only 18" above the ground so it looked like we were sitting on top of the car rather than in it.

That's a pretty slick ride though!

 

[kickstop.5]

The exposed ima pack is awesome . Great idea

 

[Reamonster]

Here's the finished (?) product. I might paint the carpet pieces black, not sure yet. I also have some LED lights I might put in there, but that might be overkill. I also omitted the flap for the storage well since there's nothing to really attach it to now, and flipping that thing up and down with all the shopping I do was a pain in my a$$.

 

[Dougie]

How noisy is it?

 

[Reamonster]

Not sure yet, I haven't put the seats back in to drive it. I've been driving it without carpet and trim for about a year, so I probably won't notice any difference. I'm sure there might be some rattles from the glass, but I've mounted it on rubber tabs to hopefully stop any noise. I've got some seat covers coming so I may not put the seats back in until then. I'll keep you guys updated, thank you all for the feedback! I just f*cking love this car!

 

[Tekuno Ichigo]

The bedliner trick is what I used to stiffen the chassis on my 240sx. So you gained some slight stiffness as a bonus. Might be slightly noisier though.

 

[Drtye]

I'm digging it. Although I'm a fan of anything motorsports influenced. Race cars don't have carpet 😂.

The naked IMA is really cool. Could make a sweet training setup for a technical class. Almost want clear BCM and MCM covers now.

 

[SSSSSS]

That's a really cool idea. I wonder how much weight you saved?

 

[jime]

Neat. I thought of doing this once myself. There is a 10 year old thread somewhere in the archives. I had a slightly different objective - to make the car as light as possible primarily by eliminating all the IMA stuff. Never did it though.

I'm sure there might be some rattles from the glass, but I've mounted it on rubber tabs to hopefully stop any noise.

I hope you aren't actually using window glass. If it should break in a frontal collision, the shards will cut you to pieces.

A polycarbonate(Lexan) sheet would be much safer. I think Lowes and Home Depot stock it, but if not it is available from a variety on online sources.

 

[SSSSSS]

Neat. I thought of doing this once myself. There is a 10 year old thread somewhere in the archives. I had a slightly different objective - to make the car as light as possible primarily by eliminating all the IMA stuff. Never did it though.



I hope you aren't actually using window glass. If it should break in a frontal collision, the shards will cut you to pieces.

A polycarbonate(Lexan) sheet would be much safer. I think Lowes and Home Depot stock it, but if not it is available from a variety on online sources.

When the pandemic is over there will be so many polycarbonate sheets floating around people won't know what to do with them. I can't imagine folks will leave them up in the stores/banks/restaurants.

 

[minor4326]

I love the see-through cover. I would do this instantly except I've found I've that the rug /insulation that goes on top reduced noise a lot.

 

[Reamonster]

I doubt I'm saving much weight, although that carpet felt like 50lbs with all that water it soaked up. As far as the glass, it's thick tempered glass from a piece of furniture. Will it break in a collision? You bet. Did I think of that beforehand? Nope sure didn't lol. Looks like I will be switching to poly! My main intent was to have something sturdy enough to set things on, so the glass is a surface I can still utilize for grocery trips and things. It would have to be a thick sheet as these are 1/4 inch thick.

 

[jime]

Quarter inch is available, at least from online vendors. You can also have it cut to size by the vendors, but it also cuts well with ordinary wood saws, particularly plywood blades. It is very machinable, can be cut, milled, filed, drilled and tapped.

I used a piece in my V3.0 LTO conversion to mount the BCM/MCM and other electronics.

 

[Arbus]

If it's the kind of glass that break into a bajillion pieces you'd be okay, I bet. It would just add to the excitement! Though, I've seen that crazy stuff blow apart with a single strike of a metal object. Watch what poly you buy. Some of that breaks into shards that could skewer you, too!

 

[Willie Williford]

Just how much excitement do you need in a "crash".

 

[Arbus]

Just how much excitement do you need in a "crash".

Laughing. The ones I've been in would have all been improved with a bajillion pieces of glass all over the place! Granted, now, I've not been in dozens of them. Yet...

 

[William]

Laughing. The ones I've been in would have all been improved with a bajillion pieces of glass all over the place! Granted, now, I've not been in dozens of them. Yet...

How about a piece of plexiglass instead? Like the look.

 

[th0masv]

How about a piece of plexiglass instead? Like the look.

A polycarbonate(Lexan) sheet would be much safer. I think Lowes and Home Depot stock it, but if not it is available from a variety on online sources.

For everyone's clarification on acrylic/plexiglass vs polycarbonate/lexan:

Acrylic aka plexiglass chips and shatters easily, though it'd be better than the safety of a glass sheet
Polycarbonate, also commonly known under the brand name Lexan, does not shatter, and is quite a bit more durable.

They both look very similar, make sure you know what you're buying or repurposing.