Rusted trunk.

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sl7732

73 Swinger
Joined
Jun 18, 2007
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Kennesaw, GA
Looking for some feedback and suggestions.

My 73 Dart has a badly rusted trunk pan and extenstions, the obvious solution is to replace everything with new sheet metal but that comes with a premium price so I am thinking that another way to go would be to cut everything out and replace with square steel frame and individual panels. The main question would be, are there any known issues regarding gas tank support or other items that would require an original type trunk pan?
I have seen trunk floors like this before, usually incorperated with tubs of some kind, but wanted to get some opinions from members here before deciding which way to go.
I am not looking to maintain a factory restoration path so I'm not too worried about non standard fabrication.
The car will probably end up as my daughters learner car (she does not know this yet, he he) so getting a bit beat up will probably be in its future.
Thanks for any input..

Steve..
 
Hey Steve, I dont have any pics of it at the moment, but I basically cut out my spare tire well, welded 2 - 3/4" angle iron supports 90 degrees to the frame rails. Then Flat stock, Sheet metal over that, pop- riveted and seam sealed it. Mounted 16 gal fuel cell over that. Worked well for me. Hope this helps.
 
more work than fixing it correctly

Looking for some feedback and suggestions.

My 73 Dart has a badly rusted trunk pan and extenstions, the obvious solution is to replace everything with new sheet metal but that comes with a premium price so I am thinking that another way to go would be to cut everything out and replace with square steel frame and individual panels. The main question would be, are there any known issues regarding gas tank support or other items that would require an original type trunk pan?
I have seen trunk floors like this before, usually incorperated with tubs of some kind, but wanted to get some opinions from members here before deciding which way to go.
I am not looking to maintain a factory restoration path so I'm not too worried about non standard fabrication.
The car will probably end up as my daughters learner car (she does not know this yet, he he) so getting a bit beat up will probably be in its future.
Thanks for any input..

Steve..
 
This is what i did with mine,gonna run a fuel cell now.
280264652.jpg


280264652.jpg


280264652.jpg
 
Thanks for the pics, looks nice and clean.
Any idea if the trunk pan is structual? Before cutting anything out I would like to make sure nothing gets twisted/deformed so should I support anything to prevent any alignment issues?

Steve..
 
on a unibody all sheetmetal is structural :) but I wouldn't worry too much about the trunk floor.. plenty of these car running around with no trunk floors to speak of. :lol:
 
You said this would become your daughters car. She's gonna need a spare and it needs to be bolted down for safety reasons. I think I'd get a spare tire well from a junkyard. It wouldn't absolutely need to be car correct, just large enough in diameter. The trunk floor extensions are just sheet metal bent 90 degrees. An old washing machine can provide that. Am I toooo creative ? LOL
 
Creativity is the key to most low budget build up's.
I'm not sure a wheel well is needed, I think there will be plenty of room for a spare or 2, jack etc and of course, all anchered for safety. But I will keep it in mind.
Thanks for your thoughts on the subject.
 
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