CRG Discussion Forum
Camaro Research Group Discussion => Restoration => Topic started by: x66 714 on March 10, 2018, 10:36:33 PM
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I've discussed here before the brand of trunk floor to replace my trunk floor with but I'm curios if the trunk floor of a coupe can be installed with the quarters & tail light panel still attached? I don't want to take anymore of the car apart than I need to. Maybe from underside? This is Arizona. We don't normally have these problems. Thank you, Joe
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Yes. It will fit thru the trunk opening.
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Where are you in AZ? My son is stationed at Luke.
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I'm in Tucson.
Thanks for the info on the trunk pan. Trunk opening looked too small...Joe
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If you get that trunk floor in through the opening, I'd love to know how... I had to replace the entire trunk pan when I did the body work on my car 2 years ago.... no way it was getting in...we tried every which way. Maybe just the bottom on the trunk, but not the entire pan.
Since we had some reason to, we also had to take off the quarters... boy was I nervous when I walked into the shop and saw the entire car gone from the base of rear glass....just a pair of frame rails....
Even the guys at Camaro Specialties told me that most people cut the floor pan in half to get it in....I wanted it in one piece....the quarters and tail panel had to come off...
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If you get that trunk floor in through the opening, I'd love to know how... I had to replace the entire trunk pan when I did the body work on my car 2 years ago.... no way it was getting in...we tried every which way. Maybe just the bottom on the trunk, but not the entire pan.
Since we had some reason to, we also had to take off the quarters... boy was I nervous when I walked into the shop and saw the entire car gone from the base of rear glass....just a pair of frame rails....
Even the guys at Camaro Specialties told me that most people cut the floor pan in half to get it in....I wanted it in one piece....the quarters and tail panel had to come off...
Thanks for your info. I would cut it half before I cut good original panels off. Maybe you're right. I trunk bottom would go through the lid opening....Joe
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Joe,
I did a trunk floor in a 69 coupe about a year ago. As long as you aren't putting in a pan the entire width that goes all the way over to the trunk drop offs (and on an Arizona car I can't imagine why you would since they generally hold water and rust in the center lowest section) then it does in fact fit through the trunk opening.
The one I did was an AZ car as well with a leaky back window, hence the reason the trunk floor had pin holes. All that water just sits in the middle and rust doesn't affect the sides, so the owner elected I carefully trim the pan center to replace the rust, which was actually all that was needed for the repair.
If doing a car from the rust belt, then things would likely get more extensive.
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Vinyl top deluxe interior car so about 3/4 of the trunk floor. Rubber trunk mat didn't help matters either. The body guy said no problem. He's originally from the PA area. Thanks, Joe
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I just did mine in my 69 Z. Man, that had to have been the hardest thing that I have ever done on a car! I didn't want to take a quarter off and go from the side, so I decided to go from the back (remove rear panel). It "appeared" as if it would slide in with minimal effort. Yeah right. I had to slice the right wheel well as the trunk pan itself is about 3/4 of an inch wider at the front. Oh, and had to remove the trunk hinges along with their brackets. Then came the "massaging" (beating) it down into place. Once it was all said and done and welded into place, I found that my AMD trunk pan was 3/4 of an inch too "short" at the tail panel. Had to slice the rear lip of the trunk pan and butt weld a 3/4 inch 18 ga piece of metal in to lengthen the trunk pan. Upon reasearching it appears that this is a common problem. Just something to note. If I were to do it all over again, I would chose the bottom up route (remove the frame rails). I think that this would be the easiest solution. I shied away from it initially because I was concerned about losing the factory weld appearance underneath the car. By going through the rear tail panel, a lot of the welding locations can simply be ground smooth and hidden under spatter paint. A complete trunk pan would never fit through the trunk lid opening, period. This project is not for the inexperienced.
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Thanks for the review...Joe
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*Follow Up*
I just finished the floor. It was a very difficult task. I had a friend visiting & he wanted to tackle it. He's a metal finisher by trade. He didn't want to section or use repop sheet metal so I went to Phx to get a half of a car. Spot weld after spot was removed from 2 cars. We replaced the entire trunk floor from back seat to tail light panel & wheel well to wheel well. Also had to weld up r/s b/u light holes. Do drops & lower quarters on both sides. The tail panel & the trunk hinge brackets also needed to be removed & reinstalled. Time involved was 100+ hours with both of us working on it....Joe
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*Follow Up*
I just finished the floor. It was a very difficult task. I had a friend visiting & he wanted to tackle it. He's a metal finisher by trade. He didn't want to section or use repop sheet metal so I went to Phx to get a half of a car. Spot weld after spot was removed from 2 cars. We replaced the entire trunk floor from back seat to tail light panel & wheel well to wheel well. Also had to weld up r/s b/u light holes. Do drops & lower quarters on both sides. The tail panel & the trunk hinge brackets also needed to be removed & reinstalled. Time involved was 100+ hours with both of us working on it....Joe
You be one lucky guy to have a friend both willing and experienced in metal working to take on this type of project. congratulations Joe!
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Thank you. I hated to do it but it had to happen...Joe
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PICS???
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PICS???
Sheri changed the programs so as soon as I can figure that out to resize the picture I'll post some....Joe
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Trunk floor removed...Joe
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RH lower 1/4 panel before & after....Joe
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LH 1/4 panel before & after. Took multiple panels to save this side. Welds a now complete on both sides..Joe
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Used trunk floor now installed. Need to knock down the welds to give it the spot weld look..Joe
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Wished I had a friend with that talent. Work looks top notch. Might want to be nice to him Xmas.
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Wow. Great work on the trunk.
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Well worth the effort I would say. And with the trunk removed you could really finish the inside of the quarters. Nice work.
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Those pics speak for themselves, wow. Clean cuts, and great prep work, followed by a great install. Something to be proud of for sure. Thanks for posting
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Great work indeed. You're fortunate to have access to solid parts cars.
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Thanks for the kind words everybody.....Joe