Metal pieces welded to trunk floor

[andy72]

Now that I've finished the interior and under the hood in my project 72 Mach, it's time to clean up the trunk.

I've got a little rust to deal with and these two metal pieces welded to the trunk floor need to go.

Anybody know what these two pieces are for/why Ford put them in?

They are not welded to the back panel.  Were they alignment spacers when installing the back panel?

They don't appear to add rigidity in any way since they aren't welded to the back.

Thanks...

 

[Hemikiller]

Bumper braces to tie the bumper to the trunk floor and frame rail below.

 

[Vinnie]

I did not see my bumper attached to them. 73 but same braces. Nothing seems attached to them. I always thought they were simple reinforcements...

 

[Fabrice]

I always thought they were simple reinforcements...

They are. At least they're supposed to. In practice, they probably do not do much, may be provide an extra little resistance for the floor to get ripped off and go up in a rear central impact. I think a transversal square tube, linking both rails end would be more efficient and would also be handy to hide/protect the rear lights electric wires.

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

If someone had changed the tail light panel they might have not welded them back in proper.

 

[andy72]

Ok, makes sense. Apparently they are related to impact reinforcement behind the bumper.

Maybe they got lazy on the assembly line and quit welding them to the bumper brackets.

Thanks guys