Best trunk floor replacement source? - 40 coupe

[busmania]

I’m probably going to replace my full trunk floor. Mine is pretty beat. Not crazy rusty but very damaged and dented. Who makes the best? Is the one piece Dennis carpenter the way to go? Shipping sucks but it is what it is.

Also, easier to replace with body off or on frame? It’s currently off the frame. Do I need to do bracing when replacing the trunk floor?

I’ve done lots of metal replacement on other model cars so I’m looking for the option that needs the least amount of slicing and dicing to make it work. I understand aftermarket metal never fits exactly and will have to be tweaked.

Thanks!

[swoopNZ]

United Pacific.

[TomT/Williamsburg]

I am not a restorer - I just build them to drive them. In that way of thinking, hammer out the dents, fix any holes, treat the underside with a good rust cleanup, rustoleum red oxide rusty metal primer, and paint it black both top and bottom. Put some padding down in the trunk and cover it with black carpet from Walmart (about $30) and you are done. If you are restoring yours to be judged, definitely get the best rear floor you can find. If UPAC has it, I would go with them. The few 32 pieces I bought were excellent

[Lanny]

Deleted the info, as it wasn't correct...

[Kube]

You will find that United's pans are not formed quite correctly and require some work to make them fit properly.
If memory serves, Carpenter has the same issue.
Perhaps same pan?
Stay away from EMS at any cost.

[busmania]

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Originally Posted by TomT/Williamsburg

I am not a restorer - I just build them to drive them. In that way of thinking, hammer out the dents, fix any holes, treat the underside with a good rust cleanup, rustoleum red oxide rusty metal primer, and paint it black both top and bottom. Put some padding down in the trunk and cover it with black carpet from Walmart (about $30) and you are done. If you are restoring yours to be judged, definitely get the best rear floor you can find. If UPAC has it, I would go with them. The few 32 pieces I bought were excellent

I am with you but the journey as important as the destination. I’m not looking for a show car or a car to even show anyone. Just a car I’m happy with that I “did right” in my eyes. I enjoy the process as much as the end result so extra time working on something to do it “right” in my eyes is not a problem. Leaving the trunk in its current state will just always bug me and I’ll always wish I’d have done it when the body and frame are apart anyway.

Thanks kube. The ems parts are several pieces. The Dennis carpenter and United look to use the same one piece stamped pan. Was original one stamped piece or several like ems?

In planning my next move I’d be curious to know anyone’s thoughts on if bracing is necessary and if replacing with body off frame is easier or doing it with the frame attached to the rest of the body?

[Kube]

Originally Posted by busmania

I am with you but the journey as important as the destination. I’m not looking for a show car or a car to even show anyone. Just a car I’m happy with that I “did right” in my eyes. I enjoy the process as much as the end result so extra time working on something to do it “right” in my eyes is not a problem. Leaving the trunk in its current state will just always bug me and I’ll always wish I’d have done it when the body and frame are apart anyway.

Thanks kube. The ems parts are several pieces. The Dennis carpenter and United look to use the same one piece stamped pan. Was original one stamped piece or several like ems?

In planning my next move I’d be curious to know anyone’s thoughts on if bracing is necessary and if replacing with body off frame is easier or doing it with the frame attached to the rest of the body?

If you are only replacing the trunk pan, you should not have to do too much bracings.
I would suggest the body be on the frame prior to welding in the replacement pan. I'd also bolt the body down in a number of places.
Once you have the pan tacked in, install the trunk lid and check that it fits properly.
If it does, remove the lid and do a bunch more tacks.
I assume you realize you should weld a coupe of inches in one spot and move far away and weld in another spot. Cool. Start over. Cool. Start over.

Original trunk pans were one piece. Lap welded to the next section. The floor in your coupe was authentically three pieces in total.
In the photo I'd included of the "green" car, you can see the lap nearly adjacent to the diagonal braces.
The other photo is a different car, the original pans having been stripped and in the preparation process. You can easily depict the three pans in that photo.

[busmania]

Great info. I tipped the body over and had a close look last night and see what you’re saying. I keep going back and forth if I should actually replace the trunk or ignore it for now…knowing that I’ll probably redo some things and remove the body again about a year after I finish the project (I’m eyeing lowering the back more via hacked crossmember but won’t know how much to hack it until it’s all back together and settled so I’m anticipating on taking it all apart again shortly after I finish). again…journey…not necessarily destination for me. The journey (doing the work) is the destination (ruin) for me. Just not sure I want to drop the cash on a trunk floor right now.

[busmania]

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[Kube]

The main floor appears pretty darn nice. The trunk pan area doesn't appear terrible but it's apparent it's been "worked on" prior.
I believe you will regret not doing the necessary repairs now.

[busmania]

Originally Posted by Kube

The main floor appears pretty darn nice. The trunk pan area doesn't appear terrible but it's apparent it's been "worked on" prior.
I believe you will regret not doing the necessary repairs now.

Yep…buy once cry once is basically my mantra in life and it will likely be the case here. Just need to accept it! As far as metal work goes it looks pretty straightforward (other than making aftermarket pieces fit…that’s always fun).

It definitely looks like there were some crappy welds done at some point but it’s strange because the outside and floors and everything “appears” to be original. Original paint and body looks to not have been messed with anywhere. I’m wondering if they carried such heavy loads it split the welds at some point and they just welded it back together. Who knows! But the trunk clearly had a lot of weight in it for extended periods given how dented it is.