Who does this?

[jt.db]

So the time has come and I ordered the replacement sheet metal for the trunk floor (and a gas tank). just waiting on the weatherstrip for the trunk to start. 

Can someone explain to me why someone would do this instead of welding it shut? it looks like it goes all the way down the wheelhouse into the floor pans. I havent pulled the carpet up yet but under the back seat i saw a big dent, and guess what! the sheet metal wasnt even spotwelded on except for the corner pieces at most. this is ridiculous. its riddled with rust because they didnt paint it either.

 

[jt.db]

does anybody have tips for replacing the trunk floor- Properly? i dont even see a way to get it in there easily

 

[Ed Raver]

I have personally replaced the trunk floor in my 71 Vert. It is difficult and time consuming. I had to replace the rear taillight panel so I was able to get the new floor inside that way.. I do not think I could have gotten it in any other way. Time, patience, and a good welder are your friends here. Good Luck.  Ed Raver

 

[turtle5353]

That just looks like factory Seam sealer. They applied it heavy and messy in spots. Most people usually replace the taillight panel at same time as trunk. Makes access a lot easier. But if yours is in good shape it can be done with tail light panel in place. It’s tight but the trunk pan will fit through the opening.

 

[OLE PONY]

Sounds like Earl Scheib body work!  

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

It does look like that is the original body seam sealer. You do need to replace after you weld in the panels. Today they actually put seam sealer between the layers of metal and did some in 70's. It is a weld through sealer that also expands when in the bake oven.

There are really no short cuts to replacing any of the metal. Takes lots of time to drill the spot welds and prep the surface. Then the repo parts do not fit so you hammer to fit and paint to match.

Here is picture of an original car you can see all the seam sealer. They squirted it on then hit is with a brush. To do the same you need a really stiff brush and cut the bristles off short. 3-M and others make the sealer. Most of the better shops have switched to the two part sealer that sets up quicker. The sealer on our cars was put on before any paint was on also so when the sealer cracks you get rust under it. Especially the Torque boxes in front. I scraped the cracked sealer off the yellow car and put POR on and then sealer. If you get a car dip stripped it removes all the sealer, paint and rust but also needs a phosphate rinse to stop rust. You should also treat any bare metal you have with phosphate and use a weld through primer if you can.

David

 

[jt.db]

Okay, Glad to know its not some ******* that did it. it just seems weird that they didn't weld it in. I do need a new tail light panel as there is damage around there.

























What should I do with the holes in the back panel right there? the new trunk floor doesn't reach that. Ill hunt down a new tail light panel for sure though.

 

[turtle5353]

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-new-project-for-this-winter-71-mach-1

Check out first few pages of this thread. It will show tearing out the trunk and tail light panel and what to expect when putting it all back together. Let me know if you have any questions after that.

 

[Hemikiller]

Looks like your quarter fillers are in good shape, so you don't have to go this far.

 

[jt.db]

Looks like your quarter fillers are in good shape, so you don't have to go this far.

Thank you for sharing that photo! I just noticed it could be possible to unbolt the whole back end. Im probably going to do that. where would i get the panels that the trunk meets with? the ones that go straight down off the trunk. theyre rusted out as well

 

[turtle5353]

Looks like your quarter fillers are in good shape, so you don't have to go this far.

Thank you for sharing that photo! I just noticed it could be possible to unbolt the whole back end. Im probably going to do that. where would i get the panels that the trunk meets with? the ones that go straight down off the trunk. theyre rusted out as well

Contact Don at OMS. He can get you anything you need!

 

[jt.db]

update : I just got the tail light panel in today, and brackets. Just waiting on the hardware for the tail lights (mine free spin), gaskets for said tail lights.

I still need to order the back glass weather strip, since i have a leak there which i think goes to the trunk.

Then i need to fix the other leak. found it when hosing the car down.

( yes i wipe it down dry, i don't want any more rust! )

I also took the rear valence off today!

 

[jt.db]

also, how would you safely remove this part without damaging it?

 

[turtle5353]

You will need to drill out all the spots welds holding it to the sheet metal you want to remove and separate the two pieces.

 

[Mister 4x4]

The taillight panel needs to come out, and unfortunately it's not just a bolt-in affair.  The quarter fillers (under the bolt-on quarter end caps) can stay put if they're in good shape (as HemiKiller mentioned), but you'll need to drill out the spot welds (as Kevin mentioned) at the lower quarters around to the upper part of the taillight panel on each side, and along the bottom where it affixes to the rear cross member.

It's a pretty standard thing and process, I had to replace mine along with the quarter fillers, rear cross member, and eventually the quarters themselves (but I was too chicken to do it all at once).

Here's mine with the new trunk pan installed.



Here's kind of what the new taillight panel will look like installed. 

The holes on the bottom of the taillight panel are for the top edge of the rear valance to bolt on.  I used them as welding holes and later realized I'd closed them up... but wound up using self-tapping sheet metal screws for the taillight panel anyway, so it's all good.  Mine's not concourse anything, and nobody's ever going to see them anyway so who cares.

Hope that helps.

 

[jt.db]

The taillight panel needs to come out, and unfortunately it's not just a bolt-in affair.  The quarter fillers (under the bolt-on quarter end caps) can stay put if they're in good shape (as HemiKiller mentioned), but you'll need to drill out the spot welds (as Kevin mentioned) at the lower quarters around to the upper part of the taillight panel on each side, and along the bottom where it affixes to the rear cross member.

It's a pretty standard thing and process, I had to replace mine along with the quarter fillers, rear cross member, and eventually the quarters themselves (but I was too chicken to do it all at once).

Here's mine with the new trunk pan installed.

Here's kind of what the new taillight panel will look like installed. 

The holes on the bottom of the taillight panel are for the top edge of the rear valance to bolt on.  I used them as welding holes and later realized I'd closed them up... but wound up using self-tapping sheet metal screws for the taillight panel anyway, so it's all good.  Mine's not concourse anything, and nobody's ever going to see them anyway so who cares.

Hope that helps.

Perfect! Hopefully I can start soooon. I am way too chicken to do the quarters myself so im gonna avoid taking those off at all costs.

 

[Mister 4x4]

Right after I finished up the taillight panel and trunk pan, I did the quarters.  I did it in order like that because I wanted to make sure the taillight panel, drop-offs, trunk pan and everything else lined up before ripping out the quarters - that way I'd have something already aligned along the way.

I put everything back on when the taillight panel was done to make sure it all lined up.



After that, I tackled the quarter skins one side at a time.  Seemed like the way to go for me at the time, and they hadn't started reproducing the full quarter replacements yet.

 

[jt.db]

UPDATE: I've taken the time off to slowly go over the whole car. I havent had weekends off so im an after school 6 to 8 worker on the car. 

Whole things cut open.

 

[Fabrice]

The taillight panel needs to come out, and unfortunately it's not just a bolt-in affair.  The quarter fillers (under the bolt-on quarter end caps) can stay put if they're in good shape (as HemiKiller mentioned), but you'll need to drill out the spot welds (as Kevin mentioned) at the lower quarters around to the upper part of the taillight panel on each side, and along the bottom where it affixes to the rear cross member.

It's a pretty standard thing and process, I had to replace mine along with the quarter fillers, rear cross member, and eventually the quarters themselves (but I was too chicken to do it all at once).

Here's mine with the new trunk pan installed.

Here's kind of what the new taillight panel will look like installed. 

The holes on the bottom of the taillight panel are for the top edge of the rear valance to bolt on.  I used them as welding holes and later realized I'd closed them up... but wound up using self-tapping sheet metal screws for the taillight panel anyway, so it's all good.  Mine's not concourse anything, and nobody's ever going to see them anyway so who cares.

Hope that helps.

Perfect! Hopefully I can start soooon. I am way too chicken to do the quarters myself so im gonna avoid taking those off at all costs.

I'll find out when busy, but like be prepped ahead so..

May be one of you could very roughly draw on this pict where the spot welds are expected to be? (mine are behind a pile of rust&dirt atm) 

The top ones are obvious, the ones on lower side and beneath are not.

Also what size spot weld bit size should I buy if you guys have one that did/does ok (in one go) for these?

EDIT: I see I forgot the magic word: "please" ! (and only if you have time of course)