t/a resto ?'s

Posted By: kingkt

t/a resto ?'s - 08/10/09 08:54 PM

im gearing up to rstore a ta. its the real deal, all numbers car. the body,pans,rails are excellant, even the original quarters are near perfect. however the trunk pan, although complte and solid, does have some soft spots and pitting.
do i replace the pan? keeping in mind that its a all original metal car as it sits. any suggestions on repairing the original?

i took several pictures of the originality of this original paint car, so iof anyone would like to see specifics of originality send your email and ill forward a copy.

Attached picture 5408835-tashelll0181.jpg

Attached picture 5408835-tashelll0181.jpg

Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/10/09 10:37 PM

I doubt that you'll be able to find a parts car with a good trunk floor to cut patches out of.

AMD makes the best reproduction trunk floor.

I'd suggest thoroughly stripping your original floor & trunk extensions of all paint & seam sealer for a good look. Take pics first so that you can reapply the seam sealer correctly later.

If you end up needing the whole trunk floor then install the AMD trunk floor.

If you think most of the original metal is good and you only have a couple soft spots, then cut patches out of the AMD trunk floor to replace your soft spots. Carefully cut out your soft spots back to good metal and trim the patches to fit perfectly, and Butt weld them into place using a piece of copper to back up the weld while welding. (weld doesn't stick to copper) If you do it right, no one will know it's been patched.

Tav

Posted By: Kirby

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 03:00 PM

Quote:

I doubt that you'll be able to find a parts car with a good trunk floor to cut patches out of.

AMD makes the best reproduction trunk floor.

I'd suggest thoroughly stripping your original floor & trunk extensions of all paint & seam sealer for a good look. Take pics first so that you can reapply the seam sealer correctly later.

If you end up needing the whole trunk floor then install the AMD trunk floor.

If you think most of the original metal is good and you only have a couple soft spots, then cut patches out of the AMD trunk floor to replace your soft spots. Carefully cut out your soft spots back to good metal and trim the patches to fit perfectly, and Butt weld them into place using a piece of copper to back up the weld while welding. (weld doesn't stick to copper) If you do it right, no one will know it's been patched.

Tav

I don't think you can put in a one piece trunk pan without pulling a quarter can you? Patching would be ideal if you have good metal to weld to-

Posted By: 70killerbee

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 03:29 PM

I don't think you can put in a one piece trunk pan without pulling a quarter can you? Patching would be ideal if you have good metal to weld to-

Or pull the tail panel out I think the latter would be easier than the quarter..

Posted By: moparo

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 03:52 PM

Pull the tail panel out and slide it in from the back of the car

Posted By: jeff968

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 03:54 PM

I had the same issue with my interior floors on my T/A project and decided to patch them as 90% of them were clean. Cool project you have. I'm a 30 year T/A owner and restorer so let me know if you have any questions. I know you've already contacted Barry in AK who runs the registry. I'll be registering my T/A at DMV this week after 6 years of restoration!!! This is what I started with:

http://www.challengertaregistry.com/photos/tas_in_barns/via_internet_burnt_ta.jpg

Posted By: 6pkaar

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 04:23 PM

I've never seen it done, but would spray welding (I think that's what it's called) be an option?

Posted By: domingo

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 04:31 PM

Looks like your trunk floor is pretty rusty.

Blast it and see how bad it is. If it would only need patching some areas and you can save all the factory spot welds that attach it to the rear frame rails, then do it.

If it's too far gone replace it with a NOS trunk floor or and AMD trunk floor. The AMD is real good, just not perfect. For perfection you would need an OEM trunk floor.

I am pretty sure you can slide a complete trunk floor in for installation. You will need to cut the corners of the replacement trunk floor to do so and then reweld em when its in....or you can bend the corners and get it in, then straighten them out again. Im not 100% sure on this, but I think it can be done...If I remember correctly I was toying with it a while ago and figured out it could be done that way to avoid taking out a qurter or tail pan, whick would ruin even further the originality of the car since you would have to drill out the factory spot welds and then reattach it. Repluicating the factory spot welds is real hard. I prefer to find ways around it so I can always leave the factory spotwelds in place...specially when it's a very clean original sheetmetal car. Of course there are times where there is no way around it....just be careful of replicating the spot welds afterwards...you can get real close using a MIG welder using the proper technique. It may take some prep work afterwards to get them to look convincing.

Posted By: KISSAlien

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 04:39 PM

Quote:

I had the same issue with my interior floors on my T/A project and decided to patch them as 90% of them were clean. Cool project you have. I'm a 30 year T/A owner and restorer so let me know if you have any questions. I know you've already contacted Barry in AK who runs the registry. I'll be registering my T/A at DMV this week after 6 years of restoration!!! This is what I started with:

So are you bringing it to the show Sunday?

Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 05:44 PM

Quote:

I don't think you can put in a one piece trunk pan without pulling a quarter can you?

I've heard you can get it in through the trunk opening if you cut off only the front left corner (near the fuel sender wire) and rotate it into place.

Do you guys thing it would go in if you took out the rear seat bracing? That would be easier and less visible than a tail panel.

Tav

Posted By: cataclysm80

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 05:47 PM

Quote:

This is what I started with:

http://www.challengertaregistry.com/photos/tas_in_barns/via_internet_burnt_ta.jpg

Wow! What happened to that? Looks like it caught on Fire! Did you have problems with heat warped panels?

Tav

Posted By: domingo

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 05:50 PM

Quote:

Quote:

I don't think you can put in a one piece trunk pan without pulling a quarter can you?

I've heard you can get it in through the trunk opening if you cut off only the front left corner (near the fuel sender wire) and rotate it into place.

Do you guys thing it would go in if you took out the rear seat bracing? That would be easier and less visible than a tail panel.

Tav

No it wont go in taking out the seat bracing because of the wheel wells.

Looks like that TA was striped and left to rust. doesnt look like it caught fire. What a shame.

Posted By: KISSAlien

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 05:59 PM

It was in a fire.

Posted By: jeff968

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 07:32 PM

Quote:

It was in a fire.

It looks a lot better now!!! Had only 18K miles on it up until that day.

Ken, I'm shooting for the Vernon show on 8/30. You'll be there I trust.
Jeff

Posted By: KISSAlien

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/11/09 07:49 PM

Not sure if I'll be at that or not. I haven't had time to actually enjoy a car show this year and I always get stuck judging. So I might just pass. Especially since I only have the Cordoba now.

Maybe I should just haul the white car out there. ;-)

Posted By: domingo

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/12/09 02:28 AM

Yes, I took second close look at that pic and, yes, I can see it was on a fire....

Man, that must be even more work than restoring a rusty car....

Posted By: jeff968

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/12/09 03:57 AM

Quote:

Yes, I took second close look at that pic and, yes, I can see it was on a fire....

Man, that must be even more work than restoring a rusty car....

Not so bad. Like I said, it was an original 18K mile car so the bottom was in fantastic shape. Read all about it....

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/show...e=0#Post5085998

Posted By: kingkt

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/12/09 10:35 PM

thanx to all for the input. i like your ideas and will try it out. thanx

Posted By: QuickSilver

Re: t/a resto ?'s - 08/12/09 11:18 PM

All that I could add is that if it were mine I would at least purchase an NOS mopar trunk floor and just replace the whole thing in one piece for the best turnout possible. I just recently did this to a 1970 Hemi Cuda and the results were spectacular, of course that is just my opinion. Anyway, the most work I think was removing all of the old trunk floor without damaging any of the other metal especially across the rear tail light panel and all of the spot welds took a lot of extra time but the effect was well worth the effort. Check it out! JC