1966 Ford Mustang - Project '66 - 1965-1966 Mustang Rear Framerail and Trunk Floor Replacement

22 Next, Gaydos finishes the welding work by completely welding the outside joint where the new and old framerails meet.

23 Our new framerail is perfectly aligned and ready to accept our new trunk floor and dropoff. But first, we need to install the trunk reinforcement and the left-side framerail, which wasnit as bad.

24 Here the trunk reinforcement, which we quickly received from Goodmark Industries, has been welded into place and the shackles hooked back up to get the car more tied together. The top of the framerail is ground clean to begin the installation of the trunk floor.

25 The new trunk dropoff and floor section is given a check for fit by Gaydos. Everything lines up nicely and the framerail and other body areas that touch are scribed into the panel for drilling.

26 Unlike MIG welding, spot welding is when two metal points push against each side of a panel and pass current through them until the metal melts together. MIG welding must use a hole or edge to allow the two panels to be touched by the wire being fed from the welder. Thus the panel to be installed must have holes drilled or punched into them, as you see in many of our body articles that use a MIG welder.

27 With the trunk floor properly clamped and aligned, Gaydos proceeds to weld the floor to the top of the framerail. More 3M Weld-Thru coating is used between the panels.

28 The trunk floor is then welded back to the existing inner wheelhouse. Gaydos reapplies the locking pliers after every few welds to close up the gap between the two panels.

29 The welds are then ground for a clean look and to check for any problems.

30 ding the inner trunk-floor lip into place, a dummy gas tank top is used to line up the mounting holes found on the edge of the trunk floors.

31 With the trunk floors clamped into place, the dummy gas tank top is removed and the last few welds are made to secure the inner edges of the trunk floors.

32 In some cases, the replacement sheetmetal might not have all the original holes stamped into them. If this is the case with your trunk dropoffs, be sure to transfer the original holes over to the new panel before installing your quarter-panel. Otherwise, it becomes extremely difficult to get the holes cut.