Trunk Lid

[Vettn71]

Started sanding on my 84 coupe. Started on the truck lid. Wish I hadn't. Must have been some surface rust on it and the PO took a grinder to it, them covered it over with Bondo. Of course, I didn't know this so I started to see all these grind marks in the lid. Not sure what to do. The Bondo is no applied evenly, but since he painted it flat black, looked okay. It's the only part of the car painted flat black, so maybe I'll be okay on the rest of it.

Should i I try to source another truck lid? What years fit, 79-93 or what? I see late model has a fiberglass truck lid. Does anyone have any experience with those? Arrrrgh! Don't know why I'm surprised. I must be retarded

jim

[teddy1500]

Where are you located? I have one if your near South Carolina.

[Vettn71]

I'm in the DFW area.

Jim

[Basin Motorsports]

Depending how bad the original one is, you should take it down to metal and start over on finishing. I have never been happy with anything less. Surface rust is easy to come off with a stripping tool (not a grinder disk). You can then use a thin coat of filler to level the surface. If it's beyond what you want to work on, source a new one (either new to you or new replacement).

I did some surface rust repair last year on a different coupe.

[Vettn71]

Someone already took a grinder to it to remove surface rust. Now I've got grinder marks covered by Bondo over the entire surface. Parts of it has cracks.

Thanks for the response
Jim

[Gemini1999]

Depending how bad the original one is, you should take it down to metal and start over on finishing. I have never been happy with anything less. Surface rust is easy to come off with a stripping tool (not a grinder disk). You can then use a thin coat of filler to level the surface. If it's beyond what you want to work on, source a new one (either new to you or new replacement).

I did some surface rust repair last year on a different coupe.

That was really informative...thank you!

[Davedacarpainter]

Someone already took a grinder to it to remove surface rust. Now I've got grinder marks covered by Bondo over the entire surface. Parts of it has cracks.

Thanks for the response
Jim

If it has cracks in the bondo, you'll want to strip it off.

You should be able to tell from the jamb side how bad any damage you have is. I had my deck lid media blasted to get it down to metal. It had five previous paint jobs! I then pulled and shrunk the dents in it and had to remud it to make it smooth.

There are aftermarket deck lids out there, i can't tell you about any fitment issues with them though.

Bondo isn't a bad thing btw. When it's applied too thick though, it can cause issues when considering durability. Bondo hardens like a rock with minimal flexibility, unlike the metal underneath. So, if it's real thick, it'll crack eventually. Especially with our mustangs that sometimes are under a bit more twist than your average driver.

A grinder being used isn't a bad thing either. The bodyman may have used that to provide the scoring needed for the bondo to adhere properly (mechanically) to the surface.

Deck lids are notoriously the bastard panel on any vehicle. There are bound to be dents of some sorts on them. On my mustang, you can see the suitcase handle marks from when someone had slammed the lid down on top of the suitcase.

Look at the underside, you should get a clue on how bad it is there.

[Jerry peachuer]

I purchased a deckild through TROjAN for a 79 cope fit food as far as gaps but did like crap where the hinge hooks up but it's out of sight

Step drill is all that was used and it was under or near 100.00

Also try SHERMAN auto parts here in Michigan you can order through oreillys that's where I got my fenders for my 85 75.00 dollars pc look great fitment was need for lower bumper cover to lower fender extension (no holes for that and no holes for belt moulding)

[Jerry peachuer]

Phone sucks sorry for misspelling
Coupe decklid fit good for cheap one and it was near 100.00

I used a step drill bit to elongate the mounting holes

Where it needed to be was super far off maybe 1inch

Also don't fear the filler it's very common and products came along way

Not saying it's a good thing but 2014-2015 cars have it on them also after a fender bender

Keep your spirits up

My 85 is sponsored by dolphin glaze (glazing puddy) lol has a lot on it

Front to back top to bottom it will most likely pass through a metal detector without a beep
Stealth like lol
The only metal on the car is welding wire

[Vettn71]

I appreciate the suggestions and recommendations. I may try to sand blast the trunk lid. It may remove some of the grinder marks. I agree using a grinder to remove surface rust is not necessarily a bad thing, but when it's in the hands of Magilla Gorilla it can cause a lot of damage.

A friend end of mine had his 66 Mustang painted while he was stationed in Turkey. Looked beautiful until it aged some. Cracks appeared from the Bondo (or whatever they used) all over the surface. My trunk lid is in a similar state. I'm concerned about the depth of the grinder marks I've found so far. It may be I can just use some filler to smooth things over. If worse comes to worse, I have found a couple vert trunk lids I can work with. I've heard some rough reviews on the aftermarket trunk lids, mostly about the quality of the steel used to make them. I'd like to go with a used one, if it comes to that

Thanks again

Jim

[Vettn71]

I've been working on the trunk lid some. I've block sanded it and it looks like it might be okay with some work. I need to thin out the Bondo that's on it some more, though. I'll post some pictures when I get it looking better.

Thanks for the help and encouragem

Jim

[Jerry peachuer]

Any progress is good progress sounds like

When your done getting it where you want it any bare metal spots hit with etching primer (spray can) will work

Then 2 coats of high build 2 part primer sand that down after and use glazing putty on the Spots that require little more or scratches and then coat it again call it good

You can get the high build primer in black too even consider primer sealer the whole car it will have a uniform sheen to it even with a cheap primer gun it can look really good

[Vettn71]

My tribulations continue. See my thread on adjusting the trunk lid. I also have some oil-canning of the roof. The PO stored cans of paint on it, denting it in towards the rear edge where I can't get in to bend it out. A couple of the dents are in between the oval holes in the reinforcing bar. I've worked some of them out, which has helped

Jim