Bootalicious

After a couple of weekends of hard work, I've got a fully intact and structurally sound trunk floor.

Having cleaned up the gas filler neck area, I turned my attention to the left side.  I ended up cutting out a large area of rusty metal.

This would have been relatively straightforward to repair, except for one thing:

Braze.

The PO had brazed a patch along the entire left side.  You can't weld to brazed metal.  So I had to cut and grind all of that crap out before I could fit repair panels.  Please, DON'T use braze to fix a car.  It means you have more work to do when it inevitably fails.

But I did get it cleaned up, and the result:

I made those reinforcement strips by hand - I'm rather proud of that work.  I ended up cutting out more metal by the rear valance panel, because I found even more rust hiding under painted caulk.  The result isn't the prettiest, but it is sound and strong and there are no more holes except where they belong.

On to the next problem - the bulkhead panel between the cockpit and the boot.  There appears to be a hole in the fender well, which resulted in water splashing onto and rusting the panel.  So both get to be fixed.  This wasn't too bad, actually - aside from working overhead in a confined area, that is.

First, I cut out the rot.  Thankfully, there's no braze here.

Then, I repaired the gaping hole in the fender well by cutting it out, fabricating a patch and welding it in place.  Again, not the prettiest - but solid.  This will get undercoated to match what's there now.

Then I made a pattern for the patch panel.  I folded the edges over where it contacts the fender well and will seal that with a little caulk (yes, I'll use caulk, but stuff made for this purpose).

Finally, I welded it into place after a dozen rounds or so of test fitting.

This doesn't look half bad, if you ask me.

The result: One repaired boot!

I wish I could breathe a sigh of relief - but I found even more to repair...

I knew there was something here, but I didn't expect it was this bad.  This was buried under up to 1/2" of filler.  The sad thing is that it won't be that difficult to repair properly - but I've complained about that before.  So, that's the next episode - stay tuned!