1962 Triumph TR4 Restoration Brian Sanborn, Groton, MA

Restore the Boot The boot or trunk was in good shape..  not rusted,  luckily, but it was really ratty.  The paint was never redone and was worn through to cream color primer in many places.  The trunk fiberboard partition was all beat up and the spare tire boot cover was coming apart and sagging. This a simple grunt job.  First, you strip out everything and degrease, scrub and clean until you a have paintable surface.  You must wrap up the harness wires or disconnect them and bag them.  Another less obvious thing is that unless you complete seal off the trunk... the spray paint will find its way into the interior an lay down a fin coating of overspray.   The best thing to do is tape all the seams on the rear cockpit interior panel and stuff rags everywhere that is not solid surface.  Then cover the entire car in sheets or tarps.  The rubber trunk seal and everything beyond must be protected with masking tape or some other scheme.  Since I was replacing the trunk partition, I used the old one to control overspray into the gas tank area.  You need to stuff all the spaces that are open very well with crushed up newspaper or some other method.  I used an ordinary outdoor furniture type of  spray can paint that was a close match to Signal Red.  Unless you are aiming for concours plus this will be fine.   When things were dry completely, I replaced the back partition, the spare cover board and  leather tool strap with new stuff from TRF.  I also painted all the black hardware with black engine enamel.  Another thing remember is to leave the trunk open to completely dry for at least a week or you will get the paint sticking to things. As you can see the results are great.  Just like new from 3 feet.