Trunk Drops
Posted: 22 May 2017 17:05
I knew this 'slightly larger' project could grow in scope but even I was a little surprised at how much time this took.
A quick recap: I decided to replace the rear valence a couple of weeks ago. Once that was out of the way I decided to fix the PO's riveted trunk pan, which then included replacing the PO's trunk drops.
Futofab's new trunk drops, like the rear valence were nice quality pieces. With this 3 day long weekend pretty much open for me to work exclusively on the car, I punched in close to 20 hours trying to get this project wrapped up. The bad new is that it's not done, the good news is that I've gone as deep as I need to go and am finally seeing the end - hopefully this coming weekend. Also, the good news is that I shouldn't have to go back there in my lifetime.
Pulling back the PO's patched-up trunk drops there was a LOT of rust from the trapped OEM metal which was never treated or removed. It took lots of time to properly clean out and establish where/if there was good metal for the new trunk drops to fasten to. The driver's side was almost exclusively fiberglass. I also had to rebuild both of the lower inner wheel arches so that the new trunk drops had solid metal to fasten to. This chewed up a lot of time with multiple test fitments then grinding/hammering and re-testing. It didn't help that my lower quarter panels were not identical. The passenger side was a good cm deeper which necessitated the modification of the new trunk drop lower flange.
Eventually both lower wheel arches were rebuilt and overlap nicely with the new trunk drops.
Everything was seam sealed then coated with POR15.
While I was at it I addressed a couple of spots where metal had to be cut out and replaced.
Slowly I'm getting better with my welding which means I save more time.
Once this coat of POR15 is dry, I can fasten the trunk drops, cut & weld up pieces of floor pan, installed the rear valence, cut & fit the bumper brackets for a tighter fit, then done!
A quick recap: I decided to replace the rear valence a couple of weeks ago. Once that was out of the way I decided to fix the PO's riveted trunk pan, which then included replacing the PO's trunk drops.
Futofab's new trunk drops, like the rear valence were nice quality pieces. With this 3 day long weekend pretty much open for me to work exclusively on the car, I punched in close to 20 hours trying to get this project wrapped up. The bad new is that it's not done, the good news is that I've gone as deep as I need to go and am finally seeing the end - hopefully this coming weekend. Also, the good news is that I shouldn't have to go back there in my lifetime.
Pulling back the PO's patched-up trunk drops there was a LOT of rust from the trapped OEM metal which was never treated or removed. It took lots of time to properly clean out and establish where/if there was good metal for the new trunk drops to fasten to. The driver's side was almost exclusively fiberglass. I also had to rebuild both of the lower inner wheel arches so that the new trunk drops had solid metal to fasten to. This chewed up a lot of time with multiple test fitments then grinding/hammering and re-testing. It didn't help that my lower quarter panels were not identical. The passenger side was a good cm deeper which necessitated the modification of the new trunk drop lower flange.
Eventually both lower wheel arches were rebuilt and overlap nicely with the new trunk drops.
Everything was seam sealed then coated with POR15.
While I was at it I addressed a couple of spots where metal had to be cut out and replaced.
Slowly I'm getting better with my welding which means I save more time.
Once this coat of POR15 is dry, I can fasten the trunk drops, cut & weld up pieces of floor pan, installed the rear valence, cut & fit the bumper brackets for a tighter fit, then done!