How To: Project '66 Trunk Detailing

12 Routing the harness to the front of the car was easy since our interior and trim items weren't installed yet (this how-to was photographed before last month's interior installation). The harness was routed to the dash, then later plugged into the proper plugs on the column.

13 Back in the trunk, the harness is carefully positioned under the metal harness tabs found along the top of the left quarter-panel and along the taillight panel. Make sure the harness is routed properly and plugged into the taillights before bending the metal tabs back to retain the harness. You'll notice the pigtails hanging down for the backup lights, which haven't been installed yet.

14 Before installing the rear bumper, it's often easier to place the tie-down decal in its location on the rear valance since your line of sight is unobstructed. Don't forget the proper license tag-retaining hardware.

15 Another easy step to do now is installing the license-tag light to the rear bumper before placing the rear bumper on the car. This way, you've got plenty of room to fit the light assembly.

16 The rear-bumper mounting brackets (shown here already installed on our bumper) are mounted to the body with these foam pads sandwiched between the body and the brackets. These pads are usually long gone due to accident repair or dry rot, and many first-time restorers don't know that they should be installed. Do yourself a favor and use some trim glue to hold them in place during installation or you'll end up needing seven hands to finish the job.

17 The rear bumper is attached to the rear of the car with new hardware and the proper washers. These washers distribute the clamping load and prevent stress cracks in the taillight panel, so be sure to use them (or something similar if you're building a driver). The smaller bolt shown is for the bumper guards, which were already installed.

18 We've learned our lesson in the past by not checking our lights before installation. Take the light you're installing, completely assemble it with a bulb, then test it on a 12-volt source to make sure the wiring and internal contacts work before going through the labor of installing everything. The proper backup light bulb is no longer made for these lamps, but a "1142" bulb will fit and offer plenty of illumination.

19 The backup lamp assemblies, after testing, can be installed into the rear valance. Don't forget the rubber gasket that seats around the chrome housing of the lamps. The wiring is routed through the trunk drop-off, then plugged into the rear body harness.

20-a To have that correct, from-the-assembly-line look (and trust us, the judges will look), you need to ditch the retaining nuts that come with the repop lamps (photo A) and use the correct washer-head nut shown to the upper left of it.

20-b But that's not all; the bell spacer shown in photo B is also required, due to the angle of the rear valance. Not only will your installation look correct, but also the lights will seat better and stay tight.

21 When the backup lamps have been snugged in place by hand, take a small, flat object, such as a pocket screwdriver, and carefully seat the seal lip around the chrome lamp housings. These seals will often shift during installation, so make sure they're seated properly before final tightening of the lamp hardware.

22 While we installed the fuel filler mounting hardware earlier, we left the fuel filler cap for later. After installing the retaining wire bale, you can carefully seat the filler cap and check to ensure that it doesn't come in contact with the taillight panel. If it does, you can always install more cork gaskets behind the filler-neck lip.

23 Here's where hindsight became 20/20 for us. We figured we would leave the trunk-lid weatherstrip for last since it was a rather easy item to deal with. Unfortunately, during the application of our 3M black weatherstrip adhesive, a drop of the adhesive escaped our tube and landed on our new trunk mat. Although we acted quickly, it was too late; the mat had a chemical "etch" where the adhesive had dripped. Heed our warning and install this gasket before any new detail items get put in the trunk.

24 Oftentimes at shows we notice that some owners overlook the most obvious things, such as this jacking instruction decal found on the trunklid. Many times it's the wrong one for the car, or it's simply not installed at all. This sticker is going to be noticed by any judge (the good judges will catch the little things), so do yourself a favor and get the correct one.

25 Though black-and-white pages don't do our Anniversary Gold and gleaming chrome any justice, take it from us, the finished results are inspiring--enough so, my neighbor bought a '68 hardtop to work on after seeing this project come to life in my garage! Now get out there, grab your CJ catalog, and get ready for the show season. I'll be seeing you out there (if this 289 is any good!).