Trunk lid rust at folded seam

rustover

rustover

Member
Every trunk lid that I have found has some rust around the folded seam. They are making these lids in repop now, but the one I have isnt too bad. There is some rust at the seam, but the seam is not bulging or deformed. So I'm trying to decide if I should try the repop or fix this one. I was planning on sandblasting the seam and see what I have. These three pics are the worst areas, other areas are fine. The topside is in nice shape and it fits the car very well. The foam inside between the skin and frame has come loose in a few places, not sure if I can put that back or not. Anyway do you guys think it would be a waste of time to try to save this one? Thanks, Russ




 
In the Mopar world that's called "rust free".

I agree with El Toro, re-pops rarely fit as well as originals and yours doesn't appear all that bad.
 
On my Coronet I blasted it, rebuilt a part of it (to fix a crappy patch applied years ago) then mixed up some SPI epoxy let it set overnight then poured it in to the lid with it upside down. Then took it and rocked it around to get it to flow to every corner of the lid. Sanded down the blobs that formed where the epoxy ran out a few days later and shot it as normal. We will see how it stands up.
 
JimKueneman said:
On my Coronet I blasted it, rebuilt a part of it (to fix a crappy patch applied years ago) then mixed up some SPI epoxy let it set overnight then poured it in to the lid with it upside down. Then took it and rocked it around to get it to flow to every corner of the lid. Sanded down the blobs that formed where the epoxy ran out a few days later and shot it as normal. We will see how it stands up.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jim, I will give this a try.
 
I'm sorry but I think you are spinning your wheels if you don't get rid of the rust that is in between these panels. It is not a big deal to remove the bottom 4 inches of the skin, blast the inner surface of the lid and then replace the rusted metal and finally the outer skin.

A quality repair is going to pay off in the long run. Neither SPI nor any other product poured in there is going to prevent rust from swelling that panel down the road. Rust must be eliminated not hidden.

I wish I could be more optimistic.

John
 
Some of it depends on how the vehicle is treated. Sleeping rust in a vehicle can take a long time to re-awaken if it is garage-kept. Removing a section of deck lid skin is a lot of extra work. prying the seam open a bit, blasting it and epoxying it is probably what we would do, after a conversation with the owner, of course. Also some cavity wax inside once the painting is done will help deprive any remaining corrosion of oxygen. Careful documentation of the location of the spot and the procedures used can help drive future decision making. Generally we find that restored vehicles fare pretty well since they are cared for so much differently than when they were younger.
 
Thanks guys. I always like to hear the different ways to do it. I would really like to separate both pieces especially to replace the failing foam, but I'm kinda afraid I would destroy it. Those pics are the worst of it. I still may give it a go, its already broke. Im going to think about it some more.
 
Here's a tool I made that may help to unfold the flanges:



Probably one of the biggest challenges in taking things apart for repairs is doing so without inflicting more damage. I had seen a recent post on pliers used to remove door skins, and thought they would come in handy here on the bottom of the tailgate.
This is why you never throw away Vice grips that have the worn off teeth that have just lost their bite. The lower jaw is modified; first couple teeth welded in and ground with cut off wheel to receive the edge of the door skin...

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Then a suitable "blade" is found....

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Some welding and grinding, and we have a new body tool.....

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Starting at the corner, a diagonal slice is made in the inner panel so it will remove easier...

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....and the tool is used to gently pry up on the flange of the tailgate skin.....

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Spot welds were removed with a burr grinder, in an attempt to keep the damage (and hole diameter) to the skin flange at a minimum. Continuing:

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In this case, due to extensive rust the inner panel was being duplicated so the unfolding was a minimal effort in order to help maintain shape of the skin to use as a template for the new inner. In your case you would continue to open the flange further to remove the skin and keep the inner intact. Spot weld removers may prove beneficial as well.
 
Made the tool tonight (Thanks again for the pics Robert), I've got an a really rusted trunk lid that I'm not planning on using, that I thought I would practice on but first I have to remove all the old seam sealer and rust scale. I did raise the folded edge on one spot of my good trunk lid to see how the tool works.

I wonder how difficult it would be to separate the frame and skin, blast/epoxy, then reassemble? I thought I would try this on the old one and go from there. Has anybody done this to a 70-81 fbody before? or should I just stick to trying to pry the seam open, blasting and epoxy? Thanks , Russ







I went a little much here. Everything is still ok. I think the trick is small increments at a time working my way down the seam and repeating several times.
 
Decided to practice on this junk one. I managed to get it separated. The skin still looks good, but one thing that I noticed is a small raised edge where the skin was folded up on the top side. I'm hoping once I fold the edge back down that the metal will pull back down and roll around the frame. I let you guys know how it works out.





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I think the trick is small increments at a time working my way down the seam and repeating several times
Click to expand...

That's the nice part about using vise grips, set the first "bite" and work around the entire panel. Reset to a deeper bite, and repeat. This should help keep from getting any "waves" in the flange.
 
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