Junk in the Trunk

Unfortunately the only junk in the trunk was rust, but not too much at all... This meant replacing three of the trunk floor panels -- two drop-offs, and the rearmost connecting piece between them. We elected to replace the tail light panel too (and that means the two brackets holding it to the floor, and the filler neck pass through to make it easier). The cost of all these panels, including the improved repros and one Ford tooling panel was a few hundred dollars. Some people would patch (or cover) these rusty areas, but we figured it best to replace them...





The rust did not affect the rear frame rails at all, and was primarily localized to the ledge on which the gas tank sits. It was caused by water in the trunk, partially from a rear tail light bezel with a missing gasket. And also using the wrong gasket around the trunk ledge that holds the gas tank (the gasket held water between the ledge and the tank.) This area is one of a few that commonly rust on these cars.

I upgraded to a 22 gallon tank for a 1970 model (which I painted silver with a can of ceramic paint and a can of clear) from the original 16 gallon design. I also used a new sending unit, larger 3/8" stainless fuel line with rubber line, filter, and fuel pump fitting.