Trunk lid problems

[Acrylic man]

Has anybody run into this problem, with their trunk lid?  It looks to me like my window rubber was rotten, and cracked, letting water run in, and down into the trunk hinges, seam. What would be my 1st step, sandblasting the rust away, and bring the metal together, welding? or cutting out the metal and putting new metal.  I believe that's why my trunk doesn't close right in the picture.  Thanks for any feed back.

[Ecode70D]

   If it were me, I would find the upper piece from a donor car  with about 2''-3'' of extra metal past the seams.   Then I would cut out your upper rotted pieces at the seam and weld in the replacement piece.   Keep in mind also that you will have to remove lead from the upper seams because that area always has lead on it. It will require very careful fitting so the deck lid will fit properly.  You can either replace the whole piece from left quarter to right quarter or just that corner.  I don't know how good your body work skills are, but this job is not impossible and don't get dismayed over it.   I'm sure that some of the body guys on our site will chime in on this and maybe one of them lives near you and could give you some guidance.   

[Ford Blue blood]

I don't believe the rust is the only problem.  While it is something that will require immediate attention the bracket the hinge attaches to also is welded to the inner wheel well.  Given the "rub" of the hinge on the inside edge of the bracket it looks like the trunk lid was pushed hard to the upper left.

I would get a complete portion of the rear area between the trunk and the package tray, side to side, including the upper portion of the brace that holds the trunk hinge.  You need to drill out the spot welds to see how that part of the car is assembled.  Getting it down to the basic parts will tell you how to cut and replace what needs replacing on the car and how to get from there to here and have it come out "square".

Is the rusted area just the same on both sides?  What does the gap look like on the drivers side?  Have you tried adjusting the latch to pull the lid down tighter and slightly right?

[Acrylic man]

Blue Blood,  Your right about the rub on that support, It stays even for a while, when you bring down the T lid, then at a certain spot it shifts over to where you see the rubbing, just the passenger side. I'll put some more close shots of the rust, to see if I can just sandblast that area, and grind a little, then do the welding, and put some more metal in spots. the supports below on the wheel weld are good.   
  Ecode,  Let me give you an idea of my skills. I took body shop in HS, in 1966, and never did anything till now. We didn't have any of the skills (tools) of today back then.   I've welded a little, but not with Tig. or Mig.  But I have the concepts down of keeping it cool, spots, stitch.  It would be a challenge that's for sure. This is a retirement gift my wife gave to me, keep me busy.

[Acrylic man]

more pictures

[Ford Blue blood]

That thing has been jacked up pretty bad!  Looks like someone has been in there with a pry bar on both sides.  Not sure what they were trying to do......tape measure is the first tool....cross check every which way you can to make sure the trunk opening is square.  First step, if it is not square it won't matter what you do to the rest it will never be right!  Just don't see the rust being the cause, most likely the result.

[djfordmanjack]

from what I see the rust isn't your major problem I think. it seems as if the factory torch weld is broken, either from the lid popping open thousands of times or maybe from an earlier impact. first you will have to get the strain off that area , you will have to remove the trunk lid springs. take care ! best would be to look up the manual how to remove these. take out the rear seat this will allow you to see what exactly the hinge and lid do, when closed. put on the lid without hinges to see how the fit is to the body. you can fix anything and then set up the hinges/weld it to the upper body panels and align the lid. it is also possible that your hinges are bent. also the lid could be bent by impact or rusted seams. remember that the OEM fit of the panels wasn't 100% but you should at least be able to get it down to 1/4" on the lower trunklid edge. All of this might sound totally crazy if you are not familiar with body work. If so I would try to find a good traditional bodyman to fix this. hope this helps.
Guenter

[Acrylic man]

Guenter,    I'm open to any help, thanks for the advice. That makes since about the lid pop up over and over times, and I do think it could have been hit from the back as well.. It has bondo around where the lock is on the lid, and it looks like the section below the lid where the gas tank comes through, is a little bowed in. It seem like that should be straight across.
I think I will take off the lid, and get that weight off, and see where I'm at. I'll take a closer look at the hinges and springs, look for any bends.
BB,   That's a great idea on taking as many measurements as I can, the 1st thing I do.
Larry

[Acrylic man]

BB,   I forgot to address what you said about, pry bar. Your right It looks like someone did put something underneath that section, and moved it. then the factory welds popping loosed, and the lid just opening to strong over and over. It's kind of a puzzle.
 

[djfordmanjack]

if the car got hit in the back by impact it would have moved the lid forward, that would squeeze the U shaped part of the hinges ( in closed position) which would on the other hand raise the hinge areas the trunklid attaches to. That's probably why they tried to get the trunk header panel up by prying instead of reworking the lid. sounds logical. as we agrred before, try to measure and find any imperfections or bent sheemetal and start there. maybe even starting at the rear closing panel and latch so you get something you can build from. if you want to use the trunklid you have, then I'd get off all the bondo and straighten it out. you can put it on the ground on wooden boards and use wood blocks and your own weight  to get it back in shape, if the outline is totally off from the body opening. making the lid fit to the car first and then aligning the hinges as we spoke before. Since you said you are not a good in welding I would not make any or too many cuts anywhere, you should leave that to a professional bodyman.

[Acrylic man]

Guenter,       On the bondo, I got off, all that was loose, and I picked around for anymore.  It's hard to get a dolly in behind where the latch is, to beat it out, no room to work. I will be looking around for a good body man, and let him do the work on the other lid problems.
I'm in Houston, Does anyone know a good body man around?  Thanks.