Complete Trunk Floor Install

Installing body and patch panels can be an intimidating process for the novice, even with the high-quality reproduction panels available today. As a result, most enthusiasts leave the job to experienced shops who do this kind of work all the time.

We followed along with Time Machines in Hudson, Florida, as they installed a complete trunk floor in a ’70 Superbird. What we discovered is that this is a job that almost anyone with a welder can do, regardless of experience. Since trunk floors are common rust areas, this is a great confidence builder for the novice to attack before moving on to something bigger. While Time Machines is performing a concours resto on this ’Bird, the process is the same for anyone doing a driver in their garage.

We ordered a complete B-Body trunk floor from The Paddock in Largo, Florida, and followed along as Phil Somers and the guys from Time Machines removed the old floor and installed the new.

Aside from a welder, the only tools required are tin snips to trim the new panel to fit, a spot weld cutter and drill, a grinder, and a saber saw to remove the old floor cleanly, though Time Machines employed a plasma cutter. This is also a good time to mention a trick we learned that may aid you when buying your next project car: If you’re checking out a car with no carpet or trunk mat, and it’s sitting in a poorly-lit garage, throw a trouble light under the car and look at the floor—you may be surprised at the amount of small holes that show up, but otherwise weren’t visible before.

Finally, though this seems obvious, make sure that the gas tank and filler neck are removed from the car before you do anything. This is a job that can easily be tackled over the course of a weekend by a beginner, and completed with professional results.

This is the passenger side of the trunk floor. You can see where water sat in the bottom of the strengthening ribs with the resulting rust etching through.	The first step is to take careful measurements of all the brackets and braces in the trunk floor (such as the spare tire and jack brackets), and draw a diagram of where everything is, as these will come out with the old floor.	Here, Phil Somers is scraping out the body caulking and seam sealer from between the trunk floors and the inner quarter panel extensions and wheel housing. A screwdriver will work, but a gasket scraper makes it go a lot quicker.
Time Machines has a full rotisserie, and the Superbird was on it for this story, but you don't need one at home for this. Phil used a plasma cutter to cut out the rotted floor sections, trimming around the braces and leaving them in place. If your braces are rotted, The Paddock can supply you with new ones. Take the floor out in sections, between the braces. A regular saber saw will also work fine in place of the plasma cutter.	Next, cut out all of the factory spot welds that held the floor to the braces and remove what's left of the floor. Spot weld cutters are available from Gearbox Grannies, Eastwood, and a host of other companies.	Here's the top of the braces after all of the floor has been removed and the spot weld plugs have been ground off.