Looks like I'll be busy for a little while longer. My original plan was to only replace the lowest part of the trunk floor the full width. Only way to get full width that I could find was to buy complete pan with braces. The more I look at it and knowing the work, wire and gas involved I have decided to replace the whole thing, braces and all. I did see where it was recommended to get a 69 chevelle pan because the upper rear section is a closer dimension /angle to the Buick, this is a 71-72 AMD from the parts place. The ribs are correct but the spare tire loop is not (maybe a flint versus gmad thing?)and no bracket for the jack . That may be correct but the ribbing looked completely different and I don't need the upper tail section. My plan is to leave the rear brace in and split the pan at the upper lip of the rear brace and butt weld new and old there. Then I'll only have to finish/grind weld on the inside as the outside of the seam will be covered by the brace/rear body mount lip. Also by installing the whole pan I will only have a gagillion ( tech term) spot welds to do around the perimeter and not a butt weld all around the have to finish inside and out.
Got the old trunk and braces out. No surprises found except for a couple inch long section of the driver inner wheel house has some pitting where it was against the trunk floor lip. I'm glad I decided to replace the whole pan now ,I wouldn't have seen that if I had only replaced the bottom as I originally planned. I'll cut that out and replace with brand new metal and post pic. Here I'm straightening and preping the trunk divider and rear edge of rear seat pan.
Got the patch made and the first round of welds done and those ground down .I went further than it looked like I needed to but I wanted to be sure I got it all.
This section on the passenger side had some darkness that was questionable so I cut it out and replaced it also.
The original trunk spatter was stringy. To me it looks like it was dark grey and white or black and white. Those 2 spatters are/were made but everything I've been able to find says these cars (71) only had black and aqua?. I'm going to cover this spot for future reference just in case ,before spraying with the black and aqua I got from the parts place.
Finally looks and feels like I'm getting some where. Lining up the jack and spare brackets. I use 3m weld thru primer but I take a pocket screwdriver through hole and remove the primer so I'm welding directly on bare metal.
Well that was a lot of work but so worth it. Full trunk pan install is done. I have to get the tank mounted and I'll be ready to put the frame back under it. First I have to catch up on customer work.
The fit of the Parts Place/AMD 71-72 Chevelle pan is great. I cut it about 1 inch below the middle rear bend except below the latch where I stepped it down another inch so I would clear the latch bracket. The area above the middle bend is very different so if you need more you certainly will have to do something different. I butt welded it across the rear and spot/plug welded everywhere else . There were 2 issues though. First is the way it's boxed/packaged sucks with no bracing or framework around floor to protect it, only thin bubble wrap a the card board box it came in (2 layer 1 over the other ) which had came apart and most likely dropped and/or ran into with a fork lift. It was warped at the passenger rear most at the top and rear brace that I wasn't using so I only had to slightly straighten the sheet metal to lay back down on the passenger side so it would lay down on my brace. Second issue is 1 rib is slightly off or mis-aligned from 1 of my ribs . It's the 2 rib to the right of the latch in the picture which is the 1 above the tank brace on drive side. Probably can't see it in the pic and unless you are really looking it wouldn't be noticed. Overall I'm happy with the floor for fit and overall look compared to the factory floor and would use it again.
And the bottom. The pan/floor assembly came primed which I sanded before install. Then after installing I cleaned and primed with epoxy primer then sprayed with the same 1k black I sprayed the firewall and the rest of the floors. On the inside same process except for the final coat of splatter on top of the black.
I also applied the seam sealer down the sides in 2 steps. First I cut the very end of tube for a small bead so I could force it down into the joint, then I cut the tip back short and squished it to make it oval shaped applied second layer heavy like original after the epoxy primer. If you're applying the seam sealer heavy also you will need 2 tubes just for the trunk. I used #08505 3m fast and firm seam sealer.
This is the top rear section of the 71/71 chevelle trunk with crossmember that is different and what I removed and didn't need or use. The rest is the same as my 71 GS
Well so far of all the colors I've matched for various makes/projects over the years this (Cortez gold #53) has taken the most time and remixes. Goes from the first mix on the right to now the 7th. Finally getting there.
89 octane, nylon pad and rags cleaned the undercoat off the tank. Then I sprayed it with cold galvanized and aluminum paint. Some years ago I removed the tank to replace the sender (with stainless unit) and found the build sheet taped to it. when I put the tank in this time I'm going to make a copy of it and put the copy on top of the tank in a plastic sleeve.
Getting closer to joining the body and frame. ..only about a dozen little things left before they're ready.
The different 3/8-16 u-nuts,j-nuts,speed nuts used. The 1 on the right is for the tank straps (2 required)put on by fisher the 1 in the middle is 1 of 6 , 2 on each side on bottom of cowl for the lower fender and 1 on the front on the firewall /body mount bracket for the inner fender brackets to bolt to. I assume the 6 on the front were put on by the finish plant (gmad Fremont in this case) and don't know if that's why they're different or it was spec'd that way. I'll be using the style on the left for all locations and adding a hex nut as a backer for the tank straps for a little insurance. Shouldn't be necessary but. ....lot of weight will be hanging from them with a full tank.
Of course my printer was out of ink when I installed the tank, so I wasn't able to make a copy of the build sheet to put on the top of the tank like I found it. I got some ink and made several copies and will leave them throughout the car. It is the sheet for my car and shows everything,engine, trans,rear,springs, options,selling dealer and more. A couple of the last options on the bottom right corner are hard to read and might be missing some information as that corner is missing a piece.
Nathan Looking good with the project. Really like seeing progress and someone doing things them self. How transparent is the Cortez Gold paint?
Thanks. I don't get do work on my stuff very often. I do this for a living for others and have had this GS over 15 years now and have wanted /needed to do some of this since purchase and my Skylark since 85 that has donated a lot of new parts to the GS . The gold isn't very transparent, I sprayed it out over different color primers with no noticeable difference. Only difference was when it was thin after first coat but after multiple coats it all looks the same. The original paint appears to be the same way as there are spots that appear to have a greenish hue where the paint is thin but not in other areas where the paint is full depth and untouched like on the sides of the firewall.
