Well, I hate the Fiero trunk. It's ugly, misshapen, and non-functional. I'm going to cut it up, and re-form it to what I percieve to be a 'good-looking' trunk.

I've already removed the carpet, and have no intention of replacing it. My plan is to remove the lower section of the trunk (the narrow part) and make the new 'floor' level with the mid-section 'floors' on either side. I will probably be leaving the metal bare on the trunk walls, or at most putting some aluminum on the firewall side to cover up the unsightly holes. The trunk floor, however, is a different matter. I was thinking about using diamondplate, as it is durable and looks good.

At some point in the near future, there will be a MSD box in there, as well as a 10lb bottle. Should be just enough room. The light is going to be gone, the blower motor is already gone. As far as the motor goes, should I just pull the wires out of the side of the trunk and cap 'em? Not really much need for them now.

I guess my main question is, has anyone done this before? And if so, would you have any tips for me? I plan to cut the whole bottom out, then use part of the cut-out section to make the 'new' floor, then of course make it look pretty. I'm concerned about the 'glue' type stuff all over the trunk - Can I sand it smooth then paint it?

My main goal, (appearance wise) is a very 'spartan' look. I like the classic 'no comforts' look. Bare metal is just... hot.

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Steve

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I hope you can get a ton of pictures. I've been trying to plan out a trunk expansion myself to go with the quad 4 engine and custom body that will make up a project Fiero in a few years. The one time I was under my Fiero, I noticed a bit of room between the trunk and the rear, and you already know about the high sides.

I do think it would be wise to coat it in a sealer, bedliner, something like that though. Aluminum won't be too bad bare, but iron will rust away your hard work. At least make sure all the cuts into the existing frame are coated, and better than you think is neccisary as well.

Kooljess or one of the Austraila guys has a pic I found up in chat a while back of a yellow GT --that they installed a monstor type stereo system in the trunk , I`ll see if I can locate it and post a link, or maybe someone knows the one I`m talking about, at a glance it looks like the trunk is history, not sure whats back there other than stereo items/parts/components. Might be good to look at for ideas, as far as that glue , I think the bulk of it can be sanded, I just wouldn`t go to far into the seamed areas (rust time). Diamond plate would look hot as hell back there. The only tips I can give you is , make sure you have your exhaust stuff covered ---in short don`t paint yourself into a corner to where you need to fab a custom exhaust system each time your muffler goes bad--look before you cut...Pics would be great too...

The exhaust system is about 4 feet away from the trunk. So no worries there. Got a special side-exit type thing in the works.

...Bedliner.

Yes.

That is exactly what i needed to hear - If the interior and exterior of the 'new' trunk were covered in that crazy stuff, it would make it look nice and 'raw' ...while still being protected. Some diamondplate thrown in the bottom, maybe some accents on the sides... Hmm!

Pictures, eh? I can manage that. I love taking pics of progress... Hope I can get the time to get it done soon. That trunk has been bugging me so much!

if you're not cutting it out for exhaust room, and you just want a "spartan look", why not maybe make a false bottom in the trunk as it is now? that way you could put the msd box and whatever else under the tray out of sight, and have whats left still for at least a little bit of storage.

That putty has the consistency of dried-up bubble gum. Sanding it would probably be an exercise in futility. I had good results using a wire brush attachment on my drill. Wear a mask, though. You'll end up flinging gooey stringy putty all over the place.

funk i have a friend that works at a fab shop . aluminum plate with epoxy ...... ill show you what i mean when you get here

I've done a couple of these for V-8 swaps. wile it is possible to use a piece of the material you cut out to cover the opening, it may not be the best choice. when I did my first one I found that the piece would just bairly cover the sides of the opening, and it's a rather crude looking piece with the many holes and creases in it anyway. The first one was to be covered with carpet anyway, so that was ok, but for the second one (shown above) I used a piece of .049 aluminum and pop riveted it down. I used a small air angle grinder with sandpaper (rolox) to smooth out the seam sealer with no problems. I've since painted the trunk area and it looks really nice even without carpet.
If you plan to have a muffler system down below, for a v-8 swap or whatever, I highly recomend that you leave the rear wall of the original trunk intact, as this will provide a good heat schield for the rear facia. on my cars the mufflers are only a couple inches away, so that became a necessity.

hope that helps,

Russ

Awesome! Thanks, that does help. I'm getting all psyched up to get this rolling... Now, all I need to do is make more room in the garage lol!

.I have done a couple of these as well. I found that it helps to cut the lower portion of the box about 1-2" below the flat surface of the remainder of the trunk (e.g. leave about 1-2" of the lower portion in place). Due to the shape of the rear portion of the trunk it will make it a little easier to close it off with flat aluminum once that rear portion is bent up into place. Same with the front part and the two sides.

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FierOmar

I'll be sure to do that - thank you! It makes sense, but I wouldn't have thought of doing it until after I started to cut, lol!

Nice Job Russ, got me thinking this over now--you did the same thing a while back with the pics you have of your side 1/4 panel fans......

Me and a good friend (he had already done this on his GT years ago) removed the luggage room in my 86 Fiero this summer while we did a swap from the duke to a 2,8 V6 with aut.
Makes it easy to hoist the engine out of the engine bay and a lot of space for the exhaust and next year maybe a turbo.
Had to take the V6 after the rebuild and swap. The block had a crack and started to leak water. Another good friend had the right tools and welded the block.

Here's some pictures of the engine bay:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2433829

[This message has been edited by clumsy2k (edited 10-29-2006).]

clumsy: I love it! That looks awesome!!!

Maybe I'l do that.

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Hey wait a minute Pete. Isn't that an Edmonton car?

Arn