EMS Trunk floor brace

[512Fairlane]

After waiting 1 1/2 months I finally received the rear trunk floor brace from EMS.  There are only a few pieces that we have to replace on this car so I thought rather than make our own pieces I would buy the replacements so they would look original.  Let's just say I was a little disappointed.  The floor brace that came looks nothing like the original.  It is 3" wide instead of the 2" wide original.  Its 1 3/4" tall instead of 1 1/2" like mine.  The ends look nothing like the original.  The corners are squaraed off instead of rounded like the factory.  Did Ford make different floor braces?  It looks like the two holes that line up with the frame mounts might be close to the right position but I don't see a way to make this thing fit without a lot of modification.  I'll be sending it back.

[gasman826]

Unfortunately, some of the re-pop stuff is more work than starting from scratch and the shape is no where near where you wanted to be.  Most parts are very helpful.  Floor supports/braces were not available when I did mine.  Finding rust free donor cars is a huge time commitment.  I was fortunate enough to buy an acceptable donor car.  I am guessing you are referring to the rear trunk brace that runs all the way across the rear edge of the trunk floor under the tailpan.  Since my car is custom and not a restoration, I was not concerned with appearance matching.  I used 16ga square tubing and cut it in the shape of the floor brace.  Functional but no where near a restored piece!!

[Limey57]

I nearly bought some floor braces for behind the seat on my Ranchero because I wanted them to look "factory" but when I saw a photo I realised they didn't have the correct factory shape so I made my own & saved a load of money.

[512Fairlane]

This is the rear brace that goes across the trunk floor.  Unfortunately I guess these are new enough that they don't show photos on their website or in their catalog.  Their other floor braces in front of the rear axle all look factory which is why I was surprised to see this.  My brace was not rusted all the way across just on the ends so I think we will make pieces to replace the rusted areas.  This part just really doesn't look anything like the factory piece so I'm surprised they are passing it off as a replacement.  I haven't called them yet so I'll see what they were thinking.

[gasman826]

I had to replace just the end on the left side where the leaking muffler and the heat from the muffler feed the rust.  With the body mount, Lizard Skin, bedliner, tailpipes, and laid on the ground, it is pretty tough to see the repair.

[Zapato]

any chance they sent you the wrong part?

Zap-

[512Fairlane]

Called EMS today and they are letting me return the part.  I explained the differences and they really didn't have an explanation.  I guess if a person's brace was completely rusted out and gone you might be able to make this work but it definitely is not a direct replacement.  It would have to be modified to fit around the gas tank brackets, etc.  If it was at least the correct width it would be better.  Not intending to bash EMS because I believe they are a good company just disappointed that I have to make this piece from scratch to have it look right.