Custom Trunk Interior Installation

[Brads70]

Nice job , looks great! 

[303 Mopar]

Shawge,
I drove it yesterday and today and it is very solid. It helps insulate the cabin and you are right, the stereo is awesome. Noticeable amount of kick from before.  I'm loving it!

Cheers!
Mickm

We want video!!!!   

[Shoooter]

wow. great work buddy. it always feels better when you do something yourself and it turns out better than if you hired someone, plus you save some cash!

[Mickm]

Shooter, i like to do all I can myself for that reason.
Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers!
Mickm

[CudaMoparRay]

Nicely done, came out fantastic.

[dave73]

Looks awesome! I've always planned on doing this to mine.

Might of missed it but how did you secure the panels to the inside of the trunk? Example; the panel that is right up against the trunk latch?

[FSHTAIL]

Nicely done.   

What are you doing for a spare?

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[anlauto]

AAA

[Mickm]

Sorry for the late reply guys, been trashing trying to get last minute details finished so I can leave for the Cruzin the Coast show tomorrow.

Dave73Challly - The rear panel is held in place by two countersunk screws that are threaded  into the top of the latch via an insert.  The side panels have two screws that attach at the back into a recessed piece of wood that is glued to the back of the rear panel. They are secured in the front by two wood screws into the hardwood 1" pieces bolted to the trunk supports. The front panel is held in place by two "J" loop strips attached to the rear of the panel and a small  "L" bracket bolted to the hardwood supports.  I'll try and get some pictures as soon as I return to show these.

Chris Pauluk - I don't carry a spare. I  have made many trips over the years without one with no problems to date. I know I'm rolling the dice but I always be certain my air pressure is good and the condition of the tires are good before any trip.

Thanks for all the kind words guys and gals. I have completed the decklid panel now and will post a pic of it when I return.

Now I'm off on my first road trip since the build.....wish me luck

Cheers!
Mickm

[Burdar]

Thanks for all the kind words guys and gals. I have completed the decklid panel now and will post a pic of it when I return.

Any pics of the deck lid panel?

Also, I have a question regarding the slots for the trunk hinges.  Did you put anything behind those slots so you can't see anything through them?  Like a vinyl flap that covers the slot when the trunk is open but moves out of the way when the trunk is closed.

[Mickm]

Burdar, I apologize for not seeing your post and replying sooner. Not sure how I missed it.

I did not take any photos of the deck lid panel but it's just a .125" piece of abs plastic. I'm not really satisfied with the way it came out. I mean the area around the latch.

I did not put any sort of filler int he hinge slot openings. That may be something I do eventually.

Since I have some miles and experience with the trunk now, I'm thinking about redoing the rear panel. It protrudes into the trunk to far taking up precious trunk room. So, I plan to redo it some day. I'll post progress of it when it happens.

Thanks for the interest.

Cheers!
Mickm

[Mickm]

Hello and Happy Holidays to all.....

For anyone who followed along on the TINFISH'S custom trunk install, I have started phase II. The first effort was ok, but just didn't seem to match the design of the car as it would or could have come from the factory, soooooo....

Since all the original interior is ABS plastic, it only makes sense to see if it is possible to use this medium here.

Today, I stared with the rear panel. Since it was the most complex I thought I would tackle it first. If I couldn't get past this part, the project may be doomed to failure.

The one thing that the Cuda has that is a thorn in my side the the trunk linkage on the passenger side of the latch tower. This dicates the initial sharp. This time, I opted to have a most simple bend at the top and have a separate cover plate for the latch.



This is the back panel in place. I was really surprised as to how simple this was to make.


The passenger side panel was next. I actually used the first part as a jig to bend this panel. It fits pretty good. The overlapping edge you see at the rear will be flush with the center section once I get everything where I want it and move to mounting.

You can see the first floor in place. There will be a bit more room with this approach.

I am hoping to have all panels mount flush without any fasteners visible; but the jury is still out on if I can pull that off.

That's all for today. Time for a nice Captain and Coke and ponder tomorrows work.

Cheers!
Mickm

[shawge]

That looks great!

[73440]

Great work on all you are doing !
My only suggestion is try Captain and ginger ale, I first tried it at the blackjack table in Vegas a few years ago , ordered Captain and coke , drink came back looking light colored , thought it was light of coke but it was ginger ale , do it that way always now .

[Mickm]

It's been a while since I updated this thread. I have completed the plastic trunk interior with the exception of the latch plate.

I made a new truck pad from a single piece of .25" ABS plastic. I made a wooden jig to recess the area for the "Cuda" emblem. and headed the area under the latch to finish the look. I like this much better my self.


This is a shot from the passenger side. I made a temporary cover plate for the latch which I really don't  like. I am in the process of building a vacuum forming machine to make this part properly.


This color in the picture is all jacked up but with the sunlight you can see inside the trunk better.
I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out a way to make both side attach to the rear panel flush and without hardware showing.
Finally, I decided to make a backing strap on each side of the rear panel then glue the side panel to it! The .25" ABS is flexable enough, in this shape to go in and out without a problem and there is only a very tight seam line on each side and all the panels are flush!  Yeah

I'll post the final finished produce once I'm done but that may be a while given personal life issues I have forced to deal with in the immediate future.

Hope you like what you see.

Cheers!
Mickm