[senginc]

I have a 57 BelAir coupe. The car has had 1 repaint many years ago. Other tha n a small fender pucker from a lit bumper hit, there appears to have never been any body damage.

The out side of my original trunk lid was perfect but the inner structure had quite a bit of rust thru from condensation.
I bought a new Golden Star trunk lid.

The gaps on the edges are much tighter (barely 1/8" on left and right) than other trifives that I have seen (doesn't matter which trunk lid I use, the Golden Star appears to be an accurate copy).

The real problem is the right rear vertical section tightens to less than 1/16". Again, there appears to have never been any body damage.

I hate to grind the edge of the new trunk lid and reweld to get the gap right (I fear the heat might put waves in the largely flat vertical section).

I guess my only choice is to cut the body lip (quarter panel) with and abrasive wheel and bump out about 1/16" and reweld and grind a radius.

However, the trunk flexes a fair amount and I fear the paint will get chipped pretty soon with such a tight (1/8") side gap.

Anyone have suggestions and does anyone else have this tight of side gap? (my friends 57 210 is about 3/16" side gap):flag6:

 

[Rick_L]

The trunk opening is usually the poorest fitted area of a 55-57. There are several ways to deal with it.

I'd prefer to modify the opening rather than the trunk lid if the entire area was getting body work and panel fitting. Especially if you know that more than one trunk lid fits the same way.

On my 55, the trunk lid fit the front of the opening (by the rear windshield) very well, as well as the tail pan. It fit the sides very poorly, especially at the bend, with one side tight in a couple of spots, and the other side had a large gap, also one side low and the other side high.

My solution was to make pie cuts, removing material to increase gaps where needed, and to add material to close gaps where needed.

 

[nad427]

Now that you're dialed in and anal about decklids you're going to start noticing that just about every tri5 out there has decklid problems of some sort.

I went through hell with mine, it's a longggg story and I wont bore you with it, but I think you're on the right track with your plan. I can tell you from experience though that this might take way longer than you think. When it comes to them lids everything you change affects everything else.

The problem I see is that if the existing vertical line on your qtr is straight, then you slice, tap it over and weld, it might look kinda goofy to you. Don't take this wrong, but I hope that it's the fault of the line and not the lid.

 

[senginc]

Now that you're dialed in and anal about decklids you're going to start noticing that just about every tri5 out there has decklid problems of some sort.

I went through hell with mine, it's a longggg story and I wont bore you with it, but I think you're on the right track with your plan. I can tell you from experience though that this might take way longer than you think. When it comes to them lids everything you change affects everything else.

The problem I see is that if the existing vertical line on your qtr is straight, then you slice, tap it over and weld, it might look kinda goofy to you. Don't take this wrong, but I hope that it's the fault of the line and not the lid.

Yep, I measured my friends 57 210 post.
The trunk opening on mine halfway up the vertical section is 52 3/8" his is 52 5/8". His gaps are about 1/16" too wide (but at least his won't chip the paint closing the lid.

 

[nad427]

Yep, I measured my friends 57 210 post.
The trunk opening on mine halfway up the vertical section is 52 3/8" his is 52 5/8". His gaps are about 1/16" too wide (but at least his won't chip the paint closing the lid.

Just curious...
Can you see with the naked eye that the line isn't straight?

I took the blue painters tape and stretched it down next to the gap to find one of my lid problems.

 

[davepnw]

The body shop had the same problem with my 56, they ended up modifying the opening and it looks perfect! Dave

 

[Restorit]

I took Rick L's advice last year......it certainly is a time-consuming repair (at least it was for me), but....it does take care of this issue very well. I would recommend it for sure.
Eugene