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how did you like the ausley's trunk floor, is it
very good quality?
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 10:54
PM
Subject: Re: [Chevelle-List] Trunk Floor
Replacement
I replaced the floor in my 71 also with a 3 piece floor from
Ausley's. Although it fit pretty good and it sounds like Mark's was in worse
shape than mine was, I have to agree with every point Mark wrote.
One thing I did was painstakingly cut the old floor away from the existing
floor and gas tank braces because they were still in good shape and so It
would be easier to fit the new floor to them. Even though that simplified the
project to a certain extent, the trunk floor project as a whole helped remind
me why I don't do body work for a living anymore.
Bill Vander Werf
Mark Weber wrote:
I replaced the floor in my
71. It was a p.i.t.a. But since I think I have more time than
brains I went about this method. Here is a
link.http://webpages.charter.net/perfmark/cars/chevelle/before/april_2000_work.htmHow I did
it:1. Remove
old.2. Buy new 3 piece kit
paying attention to price.3. Fully welded all butt/overlap seams. Spot welded
every 2 inches all points where the floor layed over a supporting
brace.4. Fabricate extra pieces
to cover holes on each side next to the wheel well housing, from trunk floor
up and over to the seat back.5. Lots of grinding on imperfect welds. I think my wire
feed welder is a POS.6. Some bondo and sanding to make it look
smooth.7. Seam
sealer.8. Trunk
paint.9. Probably spent 80
hours on it. I could not make a living fixing trunk
floors.How I would do it
again:1. Remove old.2. Buy new kit that extends further up the back wall and
further up and over the rear axle hump. Don't worry if it costs $100
more it will be a better and easier fit, it will look better, and even if
your time is only worth $5 an hour it will still pay for itself. (When
you buy quality - what?)3. Tack all butt/overlap seams and do not worry about 100% of
the joint being welded. Spot welded every 2 inches all spots where the
floor layed over a supporting brace.4. Grinding really bad
welds but don't worry about the rest. If you buy a welder buy a good
one. Borrow a good one from a buddy and try it first. (When you buy
quality you only cry once.)5. Dont bondo. Go around the new panel seams with seam
sealer and leave it.6. Trunk paint.7. I estimate this would only take 40 hours to do a trunk. and
would look very good to 95% of the population. It is not unusual to
see seam sealer on joints on cars and I think it would slip by most
people. Of course this would not look as perfect and you would still
know etc... I would do it this way if I were just making a neat car
really nice.The biggest problem you might
have is the fact that all the original metal you weld may be 1/2 rusted
away. You take nice new weldable thicker trunk panels and try to weld
them to this thin worn out stuff and you might burn through every
inch. Maybe my car was to rusty for this to be
easy. When it is done it is nice to have a trunk floor that stuff does not
fall through :) Good luck,Mark71
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