New Spare Tire and Trunk Repair

[7DUSTER3]

We finally caught a break from the rain this week and were able to use some power tools on the duster. My trunk was rusted out pretty much everywhere so we finally decided to fix it. We bought a spare tire patch from a member a while back and this is where we are at so far:

This is why we decided to replace the whole thing

After we got all of the spot welds off we got rid of the spare pieces frame rails.

We used the existing holes as a guide so the gas tank straps would align.

The spare piece has a little bit of surface rust that we will take care of later. We still need to drill a few holes and spot weld the new piece in. More is to come when we get another free Sunday.

 

[Tony Fields]

Looks like a lot of work but it will be worth it when its done.

keep us posted please

 

[7DUSTER3]

yea while were were planning this and had the hole cut out of the trunk we made plans to mini tub it since we were already cutting stuff up. that will be a new thread though.

 

[clhyer]

Been there! It looks good what you've done so far.
BTW, is that your car in your avatar?
C

 

[7DUSTER3]

Yea when we got quoted at 2k to fix it at a local shop that does a lot of work on muscle cars we decided to do it ourselves.

As far as my avatar, its a photo shopped image of my car in front of my house. That's what i want it to look like when its all finished.

 

[4spdcuda66]

Much cheaper and more satisfying to do it yourself. That photoshop image of your car looks great, looks like you've got a good handle on what you're doing. Keep the pics coming. The tire well in my '66 came from a '68 Valiant.

 

[7DUSTER3]

Thanks 4spdcuda66, it did feel good knowing that we did it on our own. I wish we got more of the trunk out of the doner car so we don't have to cut the trunk up more and weld in other pieces. Was the tire well from the 68 the whole trunk or was it just the part you needed?

 

[4spdcuda66]

Thanks 4spdcuda66, it did feel good knowing that we did it on our own. I wish we got more of the trunk out of the doner car so we don't have to cut the trunk up more and weld in other pieces. Was the tire well from the 68 the whole trunk or was it just the part you needed?

It was just the well and about two inches all the way around the perimiter. The floor itself was solid. The yard hand charged me five bucks for it after he cut it out of the donor car. Check out my 66 Formula S thread for more pics.

 

[7DUSTER3]

Well me and the old man spent our day today almost finishing up the new trunk. We decided to go with new sheet metal on both sides of the well because it had rusted through pretty bad. This is what we have done so far. Next up is to grind a few last minute welds down, sand the whole thing, fill the seems with filler and paint the sucker. Our progress so far ENJOY:

Me with my new helmet welding (not to shabby for the 3rd time ever welding anything) We only had to go back and fill one spot again because i burnt the sheet metal :angryfir: SPRING FLING SHIRT ANYONE!?!?!?

we are almost there, just need to find some spare time this week and ill have a brand new trunk.

 

[7DUSTER3]

Well here it is, This is the finished project! I am looking into a Battery relocation kit for it now. But until then this is her all finished. ENJOY

 

[crackedback]

Nice work Bryce. You and your Dad did a good job fixing it up.

 

[mopardude318]

good job!!! looks great!

 

[Slappy]

Nice job guys. Looks real good.

 

[tfie93]

agreed. nice work guys

 

[340sFastback]

Looks great. Nice write up with excellent pictures too.

I welded a pan in my trunk as my first welding job. It just cost too much to pay someone to do a job like that.

 

[7DUSTER3]

Thanks guys,
Alot of work,but well worth it. Its always good when we finish a project on the car together. We make a pretty good team.

Bob\Bryce

 

[dusted72]

I love great work I need to do the same thing to mne. Keep up the good work.

 

[a68postcar]

pretty work y'all! keep it up!

 

[Tnplumber]

Always a good thing to work with your Dad, you guys are lucky.

 

[OneOfMany]

Great job. Take a couple of bucks out of that 2000 you saved and have a coupla beers. You both deserve one.

Grant