With your attention for detail, my bet is on you welding it in.
You havent backed down from a challenge on the car yet.
BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
With your attention for detail, my bet is on you welding it in.
You havent backed down from a challenge on the car yet.
Great work as always, Donovan, you’re most certainly going to have to leave the trunk open at the road course, drive and drag or just a simple cruise in to show off the work done on that tail panel!
Put my vote in for bolt on, I have no doubt it’ll be seamless to all but the most curious eyes and like you said, easy to paint everything and just install it with a handful of bolts. 👍
Put my vote in for bolt on, I have no doubt it’ll be seamless to all but the most curious eyes and like you said, easy to paint everything and just install it with a handful of bolts. 👍
Would a gasket work to fill the slight gap & would it cause a sitting water issue for the bolt on route?
While that may be true, I’m not necessarily up for making more work for myself than necessary either. (Which I seem to be good at too)
Lol
If I do go the welding route it’ll entail a LOT of perimeter welding which won’t be easy on sheetmetal. All factors to consider at this point.
Vote registered Mike, thank you. The downside of the better this project turns out is that as you said, it’ll likely go unnoticed until it’s pointed out to everyone but the most discerning and observant. That double edged sword again.
That’s a great option, and one that’s not entirely off the table. I don’t think it’ll cause an issue depending on the gasket material used. (I wouldn’t use something like foam for example, for obvious reasons). Another huge upside to using a gasket in between is that it’ll help take up the gap left by the heads of the nutserts too. I have already been contemplating ways to dimple the nutsert locations so that the heads don’t make a larger gap.
Great food for thought.
I respect the absolutely amazing tenacity and dedication, sir. It's inspirational and the whole process is informative as well as fun to follow.
I think welding the panel on would be the smoothest and most seamless of course, though potentially causing paint issues or other future obstacles makes me lean more towards a bolt-on style. Yours would attach the same as factory but noticably fit and look much better, whereas the welded version would probably only be described as "smoothed" or even "Frenched" by the uninformed. Either way will look great, but one gives the impression of being made of handblown glass and the other a special edition from GM.
I think welding the panel on would be the smoothest and most seamless of course, though potentially causing paint issues or other future obstacles makes me lean more towards a bolt-on style. Yours would attach the same as factory but noticably fit and look much better, whereas the welded version would probably only be described as "smoothed" or even "Frenched" by the uninformed. Either way will look great, but one gives the impression of being made of handblown glass and the other a special edition from GM.
Perseverance and tenacity are definitely two assets on this project, but fortunately they are also two of my stronger suits. Many would argue stubborn even. Regardless, when I set my mind to something there’s no stopping me, I’m like a pitbull with a bone.
I get discouraged occasionally same as anyone else as you all saw with the tail panel, but I never stop working towards that end goal until it meets my vision. I’m glad you find the posts inspirational and informative as well as enjoyable. That’s my goal when I write them. As long as you and others feel the same way I’ll keep posting them.
As far as the bolt-on vs weld on debate, I honestly keep flip flopping back and forth between the two. One day I’m convinced that I’m going bolt-on and the next I’m absolutely going to weld it on. Honestly, it’s probably a moot point, either one will look better than original. I just have to make up my mind and go for it.
Thanks for replying Jonny, I appreciate the feedback.
In other news, I struck a deal with a customer of mine today to have him let me use his oversized sandblasting cabinet. I’ve inquired around about the size of the local sandblasting cabinets available for rent by the hour, and it seems everyone only has standard 2’ or 3’ wide cabinets. This piece is close to 4’ long, so that’s completely out of the question. It just won’t fit in a standard cabinet. This fabricated panel is so intricate and convoluted on the backside that hand sanding or scuffing is not feasible. There’s many areas that are inaccessible by hand now, but sand or media blasting would prep and profile the surface for epoxy perfectly.
So, after fixing up my customer’s refrigerated dryer today, I caught a glimpse of his double wide blasting cabinet. He’s in the aviation industry so it would make sense that he’d have a larger than normal cabinet for blasting propellers and tail rotors etc. He and his guys have no problem letting me use the cabinet, I just have to give him a day’s notice.
Problem solved. I’ll probably book a day off work possibly next week and blast it in the morning and shoot the backside in epoxy that afternoon.
Win-win.
Now to get it finished up before then…
JMO, bolt on will allow for better paint coverage than a welded panel. Peace of mind related to backside/underside. A thin gasket to prevent chafing. And (heaven forbid) easier to repair in case of the unthinkable happening.
YMMV
Top notch, as always!
YMMV
Top notch, as always!
Bolt-on vs. weld. Unless you're welding on the taillamps too, I vote for bolt-on, with whatever sealing method you choose to keep water out of the trunk. The factory spec, other than just being cheap, was to make sure any water that got into the trunk lid gaps flowed out through the highly-engineered and specially-sloped channels (gutters) and out the back, through the gaps of the taillight housings and filler panel, then to the ground to prevent any sitting water. This works for grocery-getters that have to park in open apartment parking spaces 24-7, but for this car, either can work since I'm guessing it will rarely get wet. I could see it either way.
But, again, access and repairability should the unthinkable occurs, as Ribbedroof mentioned, that's another question to always consider. Will the panel be accessible underneath for proper painting after welding it in? To me, even with the clecos holding it on, the fit looks so good at this point, that a bolt-on wouldn't look out of place. As far as any gasket, that's a total option, but don't discount "closed-cell foam" material, especially silicone foam or EPDM foam that's thin, easily compressible, and virtually weather-proof. Think brake booster to firewall gasket. Thin, compressible down to almost paper thin, and will be impervious to water intrusion. And if done right, not even visible. It really just depends on how you wish it to look once completed. Note, the 4 stanchions on the taillight housings where it bolts to the panel has a round foam compressible gaskets with the rest of the area open for drainage. You could even just put gaskets at the fastener areas to seal crap out of the trunk holes, but then road dirt may tend to fill in the empty areas and might be harder to clean. Just thinking out loud. Plenty of options, but get the panel finished off to where you want it first, then worry about attachment opportunity. God knows, you don't want open-cell foam anything if possible. Only open-cell foam areas that come to mind are the heater hose bib seals and A/C and heater plenum duct seals. And those usually dry out and crumble away, and never water-proof.
Whichever way you decide, if anyone can pull this off, I'm sure you can.
But, again, access and repairability should the unthinkable occurs, as Ribbedroof mentioned, that's another question to always consider. Will the panel be accessible underneath for proper painting after welding it in? To me, even with the clecos holding it on, the fit looks so good at this point, that a bolt-on wouldn't look out of place. As far as any gasket, that's a total option, but don't discount "closed-cell foam" material, especially silicone foam or EPDM foam that's thin, easily compressible, and virtually weather-proof. Think brake booster to firewall gasket. Thin, compressible down to almost paper thin, and will be impervious to water intrusion. And if done right, not even visible. It really just depends on how you wish it to look once completed. Note, the 4 stanchions on the taillight housings where it bolts to the panel has a round foam compressible gaskets with the rest of the area open for drainage. You could even just put gaskets at the fastener areas to seal crap out of the trunk holes, but then road dirt may tend to fill in the empty areas and might be harder to clean. Just thinking out loud. Plenty of options, but get the panel finished off to where you want it first, then worry about attachment opportunity. God knows, you don't want open-cell foam anything if possible. Only open-cell foam areas that come to mind are the heater hose bib seals and A/C and heater plenum duct seals. And those usually dry out and crumble away, and never water-proof.
Whichever way you decide, if anyone can pull this off, I'm sure you can.
