Well, reccently I pulled out my trunk carpeting and my wheel well liners only to discover that I can see through the wheel well and into the trunk. I have holes on both sides where the "tubs" meet the trunk "shelves" on either side. My options for repair are somewhat limited. As far as I know (and PLEASE correct me if Im wrong) nobody makes trunk patch panels, which leaves me to wonder, can I just cut all of that out and do away with the trunk all together and still have enough structural strength for the rear fascia? I know the lambo kit car guys do this for thier longitudnal swaps, but it isnt clear to me if thier kits have some sort of structural reinforcement the stock fiero body won't have. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. Im really loathe to have to fabricate my own sheet metal replacements with the tools I have at hand.

Bump

I cut out the loose rust, treated it with rust converter & fiberglassed it. The holes that I had were no larger than a half dollar.

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87 coupe resoration project.

I am interested also in how to make this repair. Post pictures when you can.

aconesa

Find a front damaged Fiero with a good trunk, cut it out and replace the rusted out one. Check the rails on your rusted trunk car.

quote Originally posted by nmw75: I cut out the loose rust, treated it with rust converter & fiberglassed it. The holes that I had were no larger than a half dollar.

agreed...
Fiberglass is easy to mold and seals as it is laid in. I had to cut my trunk for my 3800 swap. I used FG to fill it in. plus, it won't rust.

I have found badly rusted trunks on a few of the Fieros I did 3800SC swaps on and just removed the rust and welded in new steel. With the engine and tranny out along with the carpet and wheel wells it is fairly easy to get in their and repair the rust. Dan

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Signature compliments of F-I-E-R-O
2003 3800SC series II powered
www.photosled.com/showgallery.php/cat/631
www.photosled.com/showgallery/cat/1583

if the rails aren't too bad, clean it all up and paint it with a rust stop primer. for the holes get a quart of fiberglass resin and some cloth and 3 or 4 cheap chip brushes, 1-2" size, available at all the big home centers. on the trunk panel, clean to bare metal on the inside with course sandpaper, you need some bite for the resin.
do the inside first. lay a piece of cloth in and trim it roughly to size to give you about a 2-3" overlap. no need to cut slits for the bends and corners. make 2 of each piece.
mix a batch (I use cat food cans, the ~ 5 oz size, half full is about 3 oz, count the drops of hardner per the resin container)
after the resin is ready, paint the edges of the metal liberally with resin. lay the cloth out on a piece of wax paper, and soak it well with resin, then lay it in place. work out the bubbles with the brush, soak the second piece an lay it on, repeating the workout of the bubbles.
coat the whole thing with resin. repeat for the other side of the trunk.
Should be dry in 30 minutes or less. now repeat the procedure on the outside of the tunk pan.

when dry, lightly sand to get any splinters off and paint. if you are really paranoid and think it won;t stick to the metal, you can drill a few holes around the outter edges where there is still metal and pun in some short sheetmetal screws or pop rivets, but you really shouldn;t need that.

[This message has been edited by tjm4fun (edited 11-05-2007).]

you could build a new trunk out of sheetmetal or diamond plate like I did. look at this thread for pics of my trunk...

http://www.nitrousforum.com...showthread.php?t=924

its really not that difficult if you have a decent welder. if you want more info on it, please feel free to pm me or email me.

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1986 Silver 5 speed Fiero 3.4 DOHC
Bored .30, Fully balanced and blueprinted
13.93@101mph as it is on the street. FOR SALE - MAKE OFFER!
... ... !
355cid 400hp/tq N/A SBC, 4 bolt main
Nitrous Oxide: 1st stage - 125shot direct port. 2nd stage - 75shot plate.
87 GT, Cryo Treated 5-speed Getrag, Gr8grip LSD, Spec Stage 3 clutch.

One thing to remember if you can't weld but are able to bend, cut or otherwise shape sheet metal. There are ureathane panel adhesives available that create a nearly indestrutible bond. Many OEM panels are assembled with this stuff. A good alternative to welding, but I wouldn't trust it say on frame rails, just on non stressed sheet metal.

I am originally from L.I.N.Y. I have an '84 pretty much stripped, but an absolute rust-free space frame! It is my parts car and I am sending it to the crusher, but I will GLADLY give it to ANYONE who wants it! I hate to crush a perfect spaceframe, but I have no place to store it. I do ask one thing though, if you come from NY please bring some Sabrett hot dogs! I am only going to be able to keep the storage people at bay for a few more months.

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carpe diem

The rails are still intact as the holes are only about an inch wide and 3-4 inches long. Thanks for the advice given everyone. Frankenfiero, I wish I had the space, I'd jump all over that. I'm even in NY and could bring the hotdogs. My only reservation with fiberglassing is my garage isnt heated and its starting to get chilly outside.

[This message has been edited by Avery Montembeault (edited 11-06-2007).]

This is how I go about repairing bad steel panels.

Before




and during the repair will get after photo when finished

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Signature compliments of F-I-E-R-O
2003 3800SC series II powered
www.photosled.com/showgallery.php/cat/631
www.photosled.com/showgallery/cat/1583

OH dear F-n goodness.....Looks like my trunk area- but not quite as bad. So what did the rest of the upper frame rails look like? My trunk sides are cut out. I plan on cutting some aluminum to fit, pop riveting the pieces together and to the car, and using silicone to seal the individual pieces so water doesn't leak.

Mike

On this car the upper frame rails were almost non existant so I used some 2"X2" square stock and welded in new ones before putting the body back on. Just have a bit more work to do then this fiero is ready fo its engine transplant. Dan