Austin Vert's Trunk Makeover Project.

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Joined
Jul 27, 2012
Messages
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Location
Brisbane - Australia
My Car
1973 Mustang Convertible
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Hi To All,

Since owning my '73 Vert from mid 2011, i've looked at dozens and dozens of '71-'73 Mustang's trunks on the net. I've found it interesting that only a few owners go to much trouble or expense in doing up the trunk area.

I've also been disappointed at what aftermarket floor/wall coverings are available for our years. On that basis, i set about to design and make myself what i would call a decent quality fitout for the trunk.Sadly, Ford skimpted on the factory trunk area, and offered very little to finish off this area decently.

I did a peacemeal with my trimmer to save money. I did all the carpentry and spraypainting, and the rest was completed by the trimmer. The trimmer's total came to $600.00 Australian, and i would have saved around $1,500.00 in labor by doing all the rest myself. This can be a DIY job, but be warned, i put a lot of hours into setting it all up to the finished product.

The original steel floor and walls were sanded and refinished in dark grey acrylic lacquer, and spotted with light grey for effect.(Tip. Don't use two pak for this as the paint drift will badly contaminate and ruin your whole interior)

OK. Firstly, i wanted a flat floor and walls.The good news is that the existing metal floor design has highs and lows that are equidistant to itself. I designed a floating floor made of pine cleats and metal right angle brackets. The brackets are Sikaflexed to the floor and the pine is screwed to the brackets.

Using a spirit level, adjust the pine cleats up and down to get a true level floor each way. Basically, i made a pine cleat skeleton for the walls with both upright sides coming up from the pine floor framing and attaching to the underside of the top quarter panels.(right angle bracket and Sika) The whole idea of my design is all knockdown of parts. The frame easily knock's down, and all the panelling as well, for getting to and servicing any section of the trunk area.Simply unscrew and remove any part or section for easy access. No glue is used in the construction for that reason.

The wall panelling is 12mm thick plywood all round, and the floor is a real solid 18mm thick ply.This baby ain't goin' nowhere and will take a ton of weight. I divided the floor panelling into three sections for easy removal, and sprayed them in the dark and light spot grey lacquer for a nice finished look.I had a vertical ply wall and floor constructed along the back floor section to house my sub woofer and amplifier behind that wall. The wall was carpeted too.

The trimmer did the rest. He trimmed a removable floor carpet one piece with glued underlay backing and vinyl edging around the perimeter,and made a wheel cover for the full sized tire to finish off the look. I bought a Mustang emblem, and attached it to the wheel cover.I sprayed the internal trunk hinges and rod matt black, and used SEM brand Landau black to spray the grey coloured backing of the roof well liner that is on show.The jack tools get stored in the pro bag.I chose to keep and use the full sized spare wheel for safety reasons.

Lastly, i still have the original paint under the trunk lid and channel.I want to replace the trunk rubber, and respray the trunk channel and under the trunk lid in the future. So that cosmetically does not really finish my project off for now in the true sense.

Anyway, i'm happy with the finished result, and it's come up not too bad.

You do loose a certain degree of room with my design, but you still can put certain items in the trunk and make good use of the space you end up with. With the spare removed, there is more of a good space left to make use of. See my pics.

Thank you folks,

Greg:)

 
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I like it! I've been thinking of doing something like that to mine. Gives it that "finished" touch! Great job!

 
Well, I think it looks great, but here in the southeastern united states, the wood would be a problem.

Since my trunk has the fold down for the rear seat, making my trunk look better would be an interesting idea esp since I want to relocate the battery back there.

The raised floor and encased lights do look good, hopefully I won't start another project just yet (though I am now thinking about some honeycomb composite/aluminum panels I ran across several years ago . . .

 
Well, I think it looks great, but here in the southeastern united states, the wood would be a problem.

Since my trunk has the fold down for the rear seat, making my trunk look better would be an interesting idea esp since I want to relocate the battery back there.

The raised floor and encased lights do look good, hopefully I won't start another project just yet (though I am now thinking about some honeycomb composite/aluminum panels I ran across several years ago . . .
Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you like what i've done.Regards timber;I live in a tropical climate here in Oz, and timbers are prone to play up here.

I chose a top quality pine for the skeleton framework, and a top quality plyboard (not marine ply) for the panelling. Using timber for this project was the most practical/ cost effective way to go. I'm hoping the timber will not play up in any regard, and be all right into the future.Choosing alternative materials would have been harder to source and more expensive for sure.Why would timber be problem where you live for example?

Dimension wise, my design can be customised to suit your personal requirments in regards the finished product.

Thanks again Jeff,

Greg.:)

 
Greg, think Darwin:) While not tropical, Tennessee can be extremely humid for long periods of time. It's worse than Brisbane I can tell you that for sure.

Anyway I don't see why one couldn't use some form of plastic like plexiglass or ABS if one were worried about moisture.

Well done Greg, it really does look excellent. I have small dents in my drivers rear quarter from not being careful with chairs and such in the back.

 
Greg, think Darwin:) While not tropical, Tennessee can be extremely humid for long periods of time. It's worse than Brisbane I can tell you that for sure.

Anyway I don't see why one couldn't use some form of plastic like plexiglass or ABS if one were worried about moisture.

Well done Greg, it really does look excellent. I have small dents in my drivers rear quarter from not being careful with chairs and such in the back.
Thanks again Greg, and i'm pleased you like what i've done. As you say, a really humid climate could cause probs with the timber. I didn't consider the materials you have suggested, but they would be worth looking into as an alternative.

Regards qtr dents, yes that happens of course, which led me to design the walls the way i did. I was toying with the idea of incorporating purpose designed cavity box storage into the walls on both sides as well. You would have doors that would open left to right or dropdown design, and would have the same carpet finish to blend in, giving extra storage space. I left that plan alone for now as it represented too much work and time for the project.

Cheers.

Greg.:)

 
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