Help me with my taillight please!

[RDM]

Hey Guys!

It's been a while and I'm in need of some help from the people who may have restored their taillight panel before, this is my first time ever doing something with any car so here we go.

I'm done with my trunk floor and am now ready for my taillightpanel. I put it in and saw some things I didn't quite understand, must be missing something. In the middel of the taillight panel the metal rises and I can easily weld it to the back rail, when going to the sides the metal drops down half an inch… and creates a gap..



Is that correct? Or am I forgetting something?

Help would be awesome!

Rowan

 

[OLE PONY]

The body shop replaced my tail light panel. Probably not much help, but here are a few pics:

 

[imusa76]

I used Mikes pictures above when I did mine last year.

the center brace gets welded between the floor pan and the tail light panel like Mikes pictures show.

here is a link to my thread last year with lots of pictures.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-tail-light-panel-center-support

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-work-on-tail-light-panel-last-update

also here are some pictures I have from mine

 

[cudak888]

He's referring to the area where the panel drops down on each side to clear the framerail extension that butts with the bumper mounting area. When looking at one of these panels, it is logical to assume that the panel's lowest points should be flush with the trunk floor, and the center notably higher, allowing for the extensions to be mounted with their tabs level with the panel.

Instead, the low areas appear to sit 1/2" lower than the trunk floor. OLE PONY's panel appears to sit a bit low (almost in an identical spot to RDM's) and imusa76's seems to be flush at the ends, but I can't tell that well from the photos. I've seen many more low panels than these, and that includes the two Mach 1's I'm working on.

It is not an option to move the taillight panel upwards, as it'll cause interference with the fit of the end caps.

Some say that the springs shove the floor and framerails upwards when the panel is removed, but if that much unibody force was managed by the taillight panel, I would expect to find stress bends in them.

Repop panels are slightly larger in every dimension, but not enough to make a 1/2" difference. Maybe 1/4", but not 1/2" - I'm working with an NOS panel on one of those Mach 1's, and it's giving me about the same problems one would have with a repop.

-Kurt

 

[RDM]

Thanks guys, now I know I'm not missing something major I can think of a solution.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, all metalwork should be finished in 2 weeks.

Cheers!

Rowan

 

[imusa76]

mine was about 1/4" lower, and with the seam sealer it mad it look flush.