Where to cut trunk floor?

[gb623]

Wheres the best line to cut on trunk floor if rust is in area circled in pic below? Do I just go to the nearest solid metal or is there an easiest  line in the profile to follow. I'd rather leave the spare tire bracket if possible , it & surrounding floor are  solid, as indicated by rust area.

[dougs bs23]

Looks like the typical rust areas for an E. IMO, it would be best to remove the entire pan,, drill out your spot welds all the way around the entire thing, carefuly remove your lock and filler tube shield (what else do you call it? ) be carefull you dont drill thru the frame rails,this is where spot weld cutters really come in handy, use a cutting wheel to slice along the tail panel (stay a couple inches in for final cut and fit.  Year one has about the best deal on trunkfloor with new fuel tank supports +/- $150.00 plus freight. Also check you extentions if the floors rusted, id be willing to bet the extentions are too,, Hit them with a wire wheel top to bottom, If you also need them replaced autobodyspecialt probably has the best deal on them.  take your time,, youll have to work the panels some to get a good fit (It;s hammer and dolly time )lay the new panels in place to get your final cut along the tail panel,, be careful you dont slice thru the  lower panel where your bumper bolts thru ( what do u call it) If I can replace a trunk pan and extentions anyone can,  my mistake was I idnt take pics of it as I went   duh,,  good luck,,, have fun, happy cutting and welding

[moparnut]

 
I would replace the whole piece,I didnt have to replace the extentions.Click on my yahoo pics in my sig,there are a couple of pics there when i did mine on the GC

[RUSTY Cuda]

I did the whole pan also, only problem is at the back, usually rotted but the pans come up an inch or so short of the tail pannel I had to make those out of 20 guage!

[moparnut]

I did the whole pan also, only problem is at the back, usually rotted but the pans come up an inch or so short of the tail pannel I had to make those out of 20 guage!

They are an inch short because most people dont or dont need to remove the rear panel to replace the trunk floor

[gb623]

Yeah I hadn't thought about at the tail panel. Mines rusted out all the way to the tail panel, and I probably have to replace just alittle of the lip on the tail. None of the products have the last 1 " of return lip HuH? Well I'll have to fab that out of the sheet 20 ga. I have I guess.  And yes I have to replace the extensions. Heres some pics , don't know how good you can see though.

[dougs bs23]

you may wan to consider replacing the tail panel as well.  It may cost you a few more $$ to do this but IMO would be easier then fabing something in its place and not having it look correct,, unless of course you know someone that has a sheet metal shop and can turn something workable out for you

[dougs bs23]

ooopppps forgot to ask about the issue you have near the tail panel.. Is it rusted in the panel itself ir the "corner piece"  that fills inbetween the actual tail and trunk floor.. If its just the corner it is a seperate piece and if you have a brake you can make it yourself fairly easily

[gb623]

Yeah its just in the corner. The down turn leg . I can make that.

[RUSTY Cuda]

Just a little note about that lip, it is far from a 90* bend, it kinda curves up & in at the ends, I made it in sections & sliced notches into the side less seen to accomadate the bends, not too hard(& mines not perfect but you really dont see it after the cars back together) my goal was solid metal rather then 100% correct! Rich.

[gb623]

I hear that

[ShelbyDogg]

My rear tail panel looked exactly like yours. I put mine in with 5 pieces and did alot of welding and grinding at the corner.  Very easy to do if you can stand inside the trunk, so get it all done before putting the trunk pan in.

Rob

[LugNut]

Wow, glad to see I wasn't the only one needing to replace that last bit.  I used 18 gauge, and it took a long time.  But with it in place, the rear of the car is much stronger (was barely held together by the quarters).  I made it with one ~4 inch by 58 (?) inch piece of metal, and I reproduced the two little dips (about 9 inches on each side of the center line).  I used two 2x4s, lots of C-clamps, and a rubber mallet to make the main bend.

I still have to do the right end cap, and the new repro trunk extension panels seem a little short.  Anyone else find their extension panels not long enough to reach from the outer wheel well to all the way out to the tail panel?

[ShelbyDogg]

Mine were too long. I had to bend them up at the rear and down at the front to get them to fit.

Here's a tip.  Put your quarter on first then make everything fit to them. I welded on my right outer wheel house, it shrunk a little or moved, then the quarter didn't match up.  To fix it, I had to cut the entire lip off about 3 inches in, then add a strip of metal to extend it. The quarter's finish is what matters so put it on first.

[rtgambit]

Wow, glad to see I wasn't the only one needing to replace that last bit.  I used 18 gauge, and it took a long time.  But with it in place, the rear of the car is much stronger (was barely held together by the quarters).  I made it with one ~4 inch by 58 (?) inch piece of metal, and I reproduced the two little dips (about 9 inches on each side of the center line).  I used two 2x4s, lots of C-clamps, and a rubber mallet to make the main bend.

I still have to do the right end cap, and the new repro trunk extension panels seem a little short.  Anyone else find their extension panels not long enough to reach from the outer wheel well to all the way out to the tail panel?

My Challenger needs that bend replaced as well. I'll be picking up the sheet metal this week to fab the new section.

My trunk extensions were exactly the length that I needed. The only down-side is that I have to re-work the corners where the tail panel fits into place.

Wheres the best line to cut on trunk floor if rust is in area circled in pic below? Do I just go to the nearest solid metal or is there an easiest  line in the profile to follow. I'd rather leave the spare tire bracket if possible , it & surrounding floor are  solid, as indicated by rust area.

I'll go with dougdel on this one. There are certain parts of the panel that could be saved (and possibly save you time), but if you do the whole thing you won't have to worry about getting those butt-welds perfect, or sealing the seam of the overlapping panels. When I did mine I drilled out the spot welds for the original floor (or used the angle-grinder), and then just spot-welded the new panels into place. It's a lot less hassle, and all the lines of the trunk are retained.