12-03-2012, 05:42 PM
Warning: This guide has almost 50 photos, all are hosted as attachments to the site in their full size formats. This is because after spending ages fixing and editing the guide and ordering the photos on my computer so they made sense i wasnt going to spend another couple of hours resizing them all so I apologise if it takes a little time to load.
Boot Smoothing and De-Locking
Finally got time to write this guide for here. Your best to do this on a dry, calm and sunny summers weekend, not the winter like I did however I did this back in 2008 and its still holding up well but now on Mark Aireys car.
So anyway, get your Haynes manual out for the wiring diagrams and stripping the boot down. Its torx bits to hold the black cover and the rest is pretty obvious when you see the locking mechanism.
Here is the standard locking solenoid for the boot with a new rod to operate the boot catch. The rod is made out of a bike spoke, even a BMX one is just long enough.
[attachment=0]
Iâ??ve already removed my rear wiper so I decided to use the wiring from that to save trying to run a wire up the car. This is the plugs in the boot before I started playing. The white plug is the c/l plug and the yellow and red ones are off the wiper motor.
[attachment=1]
This is the wiring after. All the plugs pop open allowing you to pop the wires out and swap them over. I stuck the yellow/green earth in one side and the grey in the other. I had tested the solenoid to see which way round I needed to wire it to get it to pull so I knew what wires would go to what side of the plug.
[attachment=2]
This is the plug in the steering shroud for all the wiper controls. The big white wire (arrowed blue) is the main power for the wipers and is only live with the ignition so the key needs to be in to open the boot. The grey wire (arrowed red) is the grey rear wiper wire in the boot and you need to chop this at the plug then wire from the fat white wire via a switch to the grey wire. The white wire (arrowed green) I cut by mistake and had to re wire.
[attachment=3]
You then need to remove the lock and button. I did this using brute force and a big screwdriver but you can undo the screws if you want. Then using some super-duper glue such as this....
[attachment=4]
....... and some metal or solid plastic plates cover over the holes.
And before you say aaaarrgggghhhh you cant use glue you need to weld it, I have used glue previously on my Polo to do the same thing and thatâ??s still holding up 18 months on.
[attachment=5]
[attachment=6]
I decided to fix the few little dents and where thereâ??s rust bubbling behind the paint. Really hurts inside to take 40 grit paper to my shiny boot to give it a good key for the filler to stick to.
[attachment=7]
In went the first bit of filler. It was such a small hole I only used a tiny bit of filler but got it pressed right in all the same.
[attachment=8]
Waited for it to dry and sanded it off with the 40 grit again.
[attachment=9]
Added another layer of filler to smooth out the imperfections.
[attachment=10]
And sanded it back again. Then I went over it with wet sanding sponges of medium, fine and very fine leaving me with this smooth finish.
[attachment=11]
As I canâ??t finish it till the weekend and filler and primer absorb water I decided to give it a couple of coats of paint so I masked it off roughly and off we go. This is how it stands now.
[attachment=12]
This is how it looked the next morning.
Thereâ??s still a dent I have to deal with and the filler appears to of shrunk slightly but itâ??s all stuff that will be fixed next weekend before I spray the whole thing.
[attachment=13]
Swapped the button over from a rear fog button to a heated window one. Both Buttons use wires 1 and 3 to operate the solenoid.
[attachment=14]
I also through a bit of trial and error worked out which wires would make it light up and connected these with the dodgy blue connectors. The fat white wire is the one that makes my boost gauge light up and green/yellow is earth.
[attachment=15]
And this is how it looks now. The other button is for something else.
[attachment=16]
So onto the smoothing again. I sanded it back a bit with some 40grit and it quickly became clear that I was indeed gonna need more filler in the holes as they werenâ??t flush.
After putting in a thin layer of filler I sanded it back with some 120grit wrapped round a block of wood about 1" by 0.5" by 8" and sanded in an up and down motion so the filler would follow the contours perfectly. I repeated this with 400 and 600 grit.
I also went over the rest of the boot with a medium, fine and very fine sanding sponge to give the paint a good key.
[attachment=17]
I see no point primering the bits of the boot where I havenâ??t sanded through the paint so I only masked off this bit and gave it a few coats of primer and this is how it stands now.
[attachment=18]
Right after another half dozen coats of primer cos I like to sand it back a lot I was almost ready for the colour. I sanded back the primer to a smooth finish. I took the lights out to paint some of the tiny rust bubbles behind the lights.
[attachment=19]
[attachment=20]
Then I masked the car inside and out and halfway down the sides.
[attachment=21]
And I added the first light coat of black paint only on the primered area. I donâ??t want it on mega thick round the sides so it will be easier to blend.
[attachment=22]
Got another coat on and it looked like this
[attachment=23]
Then another coat after and I got a run (can too near to boot) however this is how it is now. Waited an hour then flat it back and put a top coat on it. I can see my reflection in it already so Iâ??m quite happy.
[attachment=24]
Right rubbed back the runs and put the top coat on.
Itâ??s looking good, just need to keep the heaters on it till it dryâ??s then go over it with the rubbing compound and the polish and it should look top notch
[attachment=25]
Ok all the masking tape is off and Iâ??ve done a corner and joint to its final look.
So in the last hour Iâ??ve removed all the masking.
[attachment=26]
[attachment=27]
But then being the muppet that I am I let the boot go up and it hit the garage door with a bit of force leaving a huge scar down it that Iâ??ve now touched up but still looks shit.
[attachment=28]
[attachment=29]
Lights refitted. Looking nearly finished now.
[attachment=30]
Hereâ??s the join before I did anything with it. Looks smooth already because I rolled the edge of the tape.
[attachment=31]
I decided to see how a corner would look when finished so I went over the paint with rubbing compound then Meguirs step 1 paint renovator then Meguirs step 2 polish then Meguirs gold class wax and this is how it turned out.
[attachment=32]
[attachment=33]
Lookâ??s good in the daylight and rain.
Canâ??t wait to go over the whole thing with the rubbing compound etc and just generally have a dry weekend to do the whole car.
[attachment=34]
Right hereâ??s the rubbing compound that i use.
[attachment=35]
Put it on a bit of cloth and rub it in. Circles on big areas, straight lines over joins. Be aware it does take paint off so donâ??t use it too often. Iâ??ve been over the boot once with it and the joins twice and thatâ??s it. Itâ??s also very good for getting overspray off paintwork. Donâ??t let it dry on and remove with a damp cloth.
[attachment=36]
It does leave paintwork with a matt finish but the join has nearly disappeared already.
[attachment=37]
The next step after this is this t-cut paste on the joins and imperfections only to try and colour them in a bit.
[attachment=38]
After that itâ??s on to the paint work renovator, polish and wax. These are what I use and I just use them as per the instructions.
[attachment=39]
And the finished job. Canâ??t see the join at all.
[attachment=40]
[attachment=41]
[attachment=42]
Decided those pictures didnâ??t do it justice so i parked it round with the sun on it.
[attachment=43]
[attachment=44]
[attachment=45]
[attachment=46]
[attachment=47]
Costs for this are;
Bike spoke £free
Wiring £free
Switch £1
Primer £2
Gloss black £2
Pug black for top coat £6
2 big rolls of masking tape £2.50
Huge tub of elbow grease £free
Finally got time to write this guide for here. Your best to do this on a dry, calm and sunny summers weekend, not the winter like I did however I did this back in 2008 and its still holding up well but now on Mark Aireys car.
So anyway, get your Haynes manual out for the wiring diagrams and stripping the boot down. Its torx bits to hold the black cover and the rest is pretty obvious when you see the locking mechanism.
Here is the standard locking solenoid for the boot with a new rod to operate the boot catch. The rod is made out of a bike spoke, even a BMX one is just long enough.
[attachment=0]
Iâ??ve already removed my rear wiper so I decided to use the wiring from that to save trying to run a wire up the car. This is the plugs in the boot before I started playing. The white plug is the c/l plug and the yellow and red ones are off the wiper motor.
[attachment=1]
This is the wiring after. All the plugs pop open allowing you to pop the wires out and swap them over. I stuck the yellow/green earth in one side and the grey in the other. I had tested the solenoid to see which way round I needed to wire it to get it to pull so I knew what wires would go to what side of the plug.
[attachment=2]
This is the plug in the steering shroud for all the wiper controls. The big white wire (arrowed blue) is the main power for the wipers and is only live with the ignition so the key needs to be in to open the boot. The grey wire (arrowed red) is the grey rear wiper wire in the boot and you need to chop this at the plug then wire from the fat white wire via a switch to the grey wire. The white wire (arrowed green) I cut by mistake and had to re wire.
[attachment=3]
You then need to remove the lock and button. I did this using brute force and a big screwdriver but you can undo the screws if you want. Then using some super-duper glue such as this....
[attachment=4]
....... and some metal or solid plastic plates cover over the holes.
And before you say aaaarrgggghhhh you cant use glue you need to weld it, I have used glue previously on my Polo to do the same thing and thatâ??s still holding up 18 months on.
[attachment=5]
[attachment=6]
I decided to fix the few little dents and where thereâ??s rust bubbling behind the paint. Really hurts inside to take 40 grit paper to my shiny boot to give it a good key for the filler to stick to.
[attachment=7]
In went the first bit of filler. It was such a small hole I only used a tiny bit of filler but got it pressed right in all the same.
[attachment=8]
Waited for it to dry and sanded it off with the 40 grit again.
[attachment=9]
Added another layer of filler to smooth out the imperfections.
[attachment=10]
And sanded it back again. Then I went over it with wet sanding sponges of medium, fine and very fine leaving me with this smooth finish.
[attachment=11]
As I canâ??t finish it till the weekend and filler and primer absorb water I decided to give it a couple of coats of paint so I masked it off roughly and off we go. This is how it stands now.
[attachment=12]
This is how it looked the next morning.
Thereâ??s still a dent I have to deal with and the filler appears to of shrunk slightly but itâ??s all stuff that will be fixed next weekend before I spray the whole thing.
[attachment=13]
Swapped the button over from a rear fog button to a heated window one. Both Buttons use wires 1 and 3 to operate the solenoid.
[attachment=14]
I also through a bit of trial and error worked out which wires would make it light up and connected these with the dodgy blue connectors. The fat white wire is the one that makes my boost gauge light up and green/yellow is earth.
[attachment=15]
And this is how it looks now. The other button is for something else.
[attachment=16]
So onto the smoothing again. I sanded it back a bit with some 40grit and it quickly became clear that I was indeed gonna need more filler in the holes as they werenâ??t flush.
After putting in a thin layer of filler I sanded it back with some 120grit wrapped round a block of wood about 1" by 0.5" by 8" and sanded in an up and down motion so the filler would follow the contours perfectly. I repeated this with 400 and 600 grit.
I also went over the rest of the boot with a medium, fine and very fine sanding sponge to give the paint a good key.
[attachment=17]
I see no point primering the bits of the boot where I havenâ??t sanded through the paint so I only masked off this bit and gave it a few coats of primer and this is how it stands now.
[attachment=18]
Right after another half dozen coats of primer cos I like to sand it back a lot I was almost ready for the colour. I sanded back the primer to a smooth finish. I took the lights out to paint some of the tiny rust bubbles behind the lights.
[attachment=19]
[attachment=20]
Then I masked the car inside and out and halfway down the sides.
[attachment=21]
And I added the first light coat of black paint only on the primered area. I donâ??t want it on mega thick round the sides so it will be easier to blend.
[attachment=22]
Got another coat on and it looked like this
[attachment=23]
Then another coat after and I got a run (can too near to boot) however this is how it is now. Waited an hour then flat it back and put a top coat on it. I can see my reflection in it already so Iâ??m quite happy.
[attachment=24]
Right rubbed back the runs and put the top coat on.
Itâ??s looking good, just need to keep the heaters on it till it dryâ??s then go over it with the rubbing compound and the polish and it should look top notch
[attachment=25]
Ok all the masking tape is off and Iâ??ve done a corner and joint to its final look.
So in the last hour Iâ??ve removed all the masking.
[attachment=26]
[attachment=27]
But then being the muppet that I am I let the boot go up and it hit the garage door with a bit of force leaving a huge scar down it that Iâ??ve now touched up but still looks shit.
[attachment=28]
[attachment=29]
Lights refitted. Looking nearly finished now.
[attachment=30]
Hereâ??s the join before I did anything with it. Looks smooth already because I rolled the edge of the tape.
[attachment=31]
I decided to see how a corner would look when finished so I went over the paint with rubbing compound then Meguirs step 1 paint renovator then Meguirs step 2 polish then Meguirs gold class wax and this is how it turned out.
[attachment=32]
[attachment=33]
Lookâ??s good in the daylight and rain.
Canâ??t wait to go over the whole thing with the rubbing compound etc and just generally have a dry weekend to do the whole car.
[attachment=34]
Right hereâ??s the rubbing compound that i use.
[attachment=35]
Put it on a bit of cloth and rub it in. Circles on big areas, straight lines over joins. Be aware it does take paint off so donâ??t use it too often. Iâ??ve been over the boot once with it and the joins twice and thatâ??s it. Itâ??s also very good for getting overspray off paintwork. Donâ??t let it dry on and remove with a damp cloth.
[attachment=36]
It does leave paintwork with a matt finish but the join has nearly disappeared already.
[attachment=37]
The next step after this is this t-cut paste on the joins and imperfections only to try and colour them in a bit.
[attachment=38]
After that itâ??s on to the paint work renovator, polish and wax. These are what I use and I just use them as per the instructions.
[attachment=39]
And the finished job. Canâ??t see the join at all.
[attachment=40]
[attachment=41]
[attachment=42]
Decided those pictures didnâ??t do it justice so i parked it round with the sun on it.
[attachment=43]
[attachment=44]
[attachment=45]
[attachment=46]
[attachment=47]
Costs for this are;
Bike spoke £free
Wiring £free
Switch £1
Primer £2
Gloss black £2
Pug black for top coat £6
2 big rolls of masking tape £2.50
Huge tub of elbow grease £free
I think my smooth boot was either stored dodgily or welded but it seems to have warped so it always looks open from one side!
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hock: 
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