MGRV8 Footwell Panel Protection

I noticed when I first saw the car that the pointed footwell panels next to the door seal are very prone to being “scuffed” or “rubbed” with your shoe when getting in the car. This was damaging the panel and making it look untidy. I needed to find a way to re-enforce and to prevent these edges getting worse or even to break off. Ideally a solution that was as invisible as possible without having to go to the expense of replacing them.

I looked for a clear channel that I could slide under the panel that would support and protect this edge and found that the spine bars used to grip paper folders looked ideal. They come in various colours including transparent.

After a few prototypes I finally decided on a shape as shown in the pic below. The taper at the front allows the spine to more easily slide onto the bottom edge of the damaged panel and the “tails” at the other end are long enough to be gripped into the door sill trim. The whole piece is about 7″ long which includes the 3″ tails. Best to heat the spine in hot water which makes it easier to cut with scissors.

Initially I couldn’t get the spine to slide over the damaged backing of the side panel until I placed a piece of tough flat plastic over the damaged area ….. removing it when done. I used a piece of plastic which I cut from an old container.

The spine bar needs to be pushed along the bottom of the panel up to the tails. I then removed the nearest 3 screws from the door seal trim to allow sufficient movement to tuck the tails behind the trim and refastened. This holds the panel edge firmly in place protecting it from being dislodged again.

Job done. The spine bar which is made from thin but tough polypropylene provides a strong extra support to the panel edge which should prevent further damage.