Removing trunk pan

swisherred

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Ok...so I found a good trunk pan and he's going to let me remove it. He said bring a sawzall and generator to cut it out...but I'm thinking there maybe an easier way since its attached to the frame rails. My question is what would be the best process to remove the pan, extensions and lower quarters without damaging what I need or totally destroying the rear of the car? It's in a junkyard so I'm limited on tools and help. I need the entire pan front to rear. What has to be removed to get it out?

im almost thinking I can remove it with a drill for the most part.
 
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Ok...so I found a good trunk pan and he's going to let me remove it. He said bring a sawzall and generator to cut it out...but I'm thinking there maybe an easier way since its attached to the frame rails. My question is what would be the best process to remove the pan, extensions and lower quarters without damaging what I need or totally destroying the rear of the car? It's in a junkyard so I'm limited on tools and help. I need the entire pan front to rear. What has to be removed to get it out?

im almost thinking I can remove it with a drill for the most part.
You will have a couple hundred spot welds to cut through. Take the advice, use a saws-all with some real good blades. remember get as much as you can, so you do not end up short on what you need.
 
You will have a couple hundred spot welds to cut through. Take the advice, use a saws-all with some real good blades. remember get as much as you can, so you do not end up short on what you need.

I was leary of the sawzall because that means frame rails too...which are attached to the springs that the car is sitting on. I can try to block up the car but being in a junkyard makes that difficult. Mainly I hate to cut up good parts to get other parts out.
 
There is no easy quick way to do the job. Lots of spotwelds to drill out. Some are hard to find and get to. Trying to get it done in a couple of hours in a junkyard will be as frustrating as anything else you've ever done. Getting it somewhere that has everything you need to do the job should be a priority. If you can make Stan's suggestion happen do it.
 
Sawzall is the fastest and easiest way to do it I'm afraid. I have done a few.

trunk floor.jpg
 
I believe the best way is to use a spot weld remover with a drill. I think there are several similar tools (one below). "Basically" you end up drilling small holes around the spot welds...and they are visible, but there's a lot of them. This technique will remove your panels un-damaged.
51C8Dw9BThL._SX679_.jpg


If you go the sawsall route, make sure to get extra metal around the part(s) so you can trim them to fit/weld later.
 
The spot weld cutter is good for keeping the base metal intact. I'm not worried about that here. I can't take the whole car. They sell parts not cars. I'm thinking a drill forthe welds on the frame members and sawzall for the rest. They would cut it out for me with a sawzall...I've seen some of the cars already....looks like that's the way. I will still try not to destroy valuable parts.
 
Keep in mind you will NOT be able to remove the trunk floor in one piece from the car without removing or cutting away the upper part of one of the quarter panels off, as the trunk pan is quite a bit wider than the deck lid opening.

If you do need to cut it into two pieces, have them cut between the two rows of spot welds up one frame rail, as it's a U channel. Then it's much easier to stitch it back together when you tack both parts to your car's frame rail, and you only have to dress one side after, as the bottom of the weld is hidden inside the frame rail.
 
I did the same, but I took the pan from right over the axle - another row of spot welds. If you're taking the inner extensions as I did, then you have all those welds down by the bottom and wheel opening lips to get too. Tedious.
 
I'm planning on taking it from the axle back including the lower quarters. I'm going to get the wheel well lips too. Probably best to just take most of the rear half of the car. Later I will get the rest glass and lower corners of the opening too. I think mine are a bit rusted as I have a leak there.
 
Cut the roof at the B pillar and up to the windshield, you will want some standing room. Use the spot weld cutter to remove the small section of the foot well of the rear seat, or just cut through it, there’s not much support under there. Then all that’s left are two rockers at the door lock pillar. Tow or rickshaw the entire rear out on the rear wheels, it’s actually pretty light at that point, assuming the glass and trunk lid have been removed. This was after about 4 hours of cutting. I used both a 12 inch sawzall blade and an air chisel, but I think it can be done with just the blade.

upload_2019-1-6_7-52-58.png
 
The spot weld cutter is good for keeping the base metal intact. I'm not worried about that here. I can't take the whole car. They sell parts not cars. I'm thinking a drill forthe welds on the frame members and sawzall for the rest. They would cut it out for me with a sawzall...I've seen some of the cars already....looks like that's the way. I will still try not to destroy valuable parts.
If the yard is willing to cut it out with a saw for you, let them. Take it home and take what you need for yours off. you never know but once you get your floor out you may need more parts and then you will have them. Once opened up your frame rails may not look so good.
 
If the yard is willing to cut it out with a saw for you, let them. Take it home and take what you need for yours off. you never know but once you get your floor out you may need more parts and then you will have them. Once opened up your frame rails may not look so good.
Oh my frame rails are fine. I can clearly see them, lol....the trunk is that bad. Surprisingly the rails are nice and solid though. They want me to cut the floor out...or charge another 200 to have them do it. This way I get what I want how I want. It will just be a learning curve.
 
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