[DJenkins]

Progress on the "trunk" for the el Camino. This is a pretty fun project!
I'd been thinking about a solution for the hinges on this thing, original plan was just a basic piano hinge arrangement, but I didn't think that would be all that cool and might have some issues and I kept trying to think of other approaches.

While I was thinking, I opened the trunk of my daily driver, a 2014 Infinity Q60S and started studying the hinges. They are a really cool articulating setup. Not only do they articulate up and out as the trunk opens, they have compact hydraulic cylinders on each hinge to hold the trunk lid up. A really nice, compact and neat package. Wow! I want to use these.

I did a quick search of the local "pick and pull" wrecking yard, but alas, no Infinities in stock.
But, I did more research and the same part number hinge is used on lot on Nissan cars (of course.)
Found a 2012 Maxima at the local place and went down there and scored not only the hinges, but the electronic solenoid latch and striker assembly. Now I have all the parts I need.

***How do you open the latched trunk on a car in a wrecking yard? Remove the back seat and crawl in through the wet and moldy trunk and pull the glow in the dark emergency escape cord. Lovely . . . I'm 60 years old and not fond of this kind of thing anymore. But hey, I did it and got everything I need for less than $50.

Then onto the fun stuff, I fabbed up some braces and mounted the new, very cool, articulating hinges.
Here is how it looks so far:

 

[DJenkins]

Progress on the trunk.
Made a frame out of 1 inch square tubing to stiffen it up. Welded that on and then got the latch and striker mechanisms mounted. The measurements worked out and the thing actually latches and releases. Really pleased with how it is working out.

 

[EL S ONE]

Nice!! 😮

 

[gerryserrano]

Looking great. Nice job..

 

[123pugsy]

Right on. Looking forward to the video, ha.....

 

[EL S ONE]

Is the compartment going to be watertight? 😮

 

[78 Elk]

Very interesting, it looks awesome. Nice work.

 

[DJenkins]

Is the compartment going to be watertight? 😮

No. The lid will be trimmed but not sealed. I will leave the drain holes in the bottom open.
The inside of the compartment and the bed will ultimately be coated with bedliner.

 

[EL S ONE]

Roger. 😮

 

[DJenkins]

Making progress. Got the dents in the bed and wheel wells filled in and smooth and then welded in the front section and seal sealed the whole bed.
Shot another coat of SPI epoxy primer and then shot Raptor bedliner over the whole thing.
I think it came out great. Just what I wanted. Only took 5 weeks, for the bed...
Now to let it dry, then install the trunk lid and hinges and this part of the project is DONE.

You can see, the bed was really beat up, it took a lot or work to get it smooth.

I needed to make this platform to kneel on when shooting the Raptor in the front, the Shutz gun is tall and does not tolerate being tipped much (material will drip out of the weep hole) so had to build this for optimum gun angle.

I went totally OCD on getting the Raptor texture just how I wanted it. Shot 48 permutations on a grid to test different tip, pressure and distance settings. Got it dialed in.

Really happy with the texture. Just what I wanted. It was worth spending the time to experiment.

 

[78 Elk]

It looks great. Nice job on it.

 

[EL S ONE]

Good Job! Looks factory if was possible to have it done at the factory. 😮

 

[DJenkins]

The custom trunk project is finished. Now I can move on to getting the body ready for paint.

Here is a short video showing how it works

 

[RAIDER SS]

Thank you for posting your work, Dean. You are doing a great job with your project. And it doesn't matter how long it takes - this at-home project work is not a race! I always believe in the saying "do you want it right or do you want it right now"

 

[EL S ONE]

Great job!! 😮

 

[Hat Trick]

Looks great Dean. I might recommend to install covers on the battery terminals when you put stuff in there. The insurance company made me do it to my boat because in 1966 they did not put battery boxes in boats.
Tom

 

[DJenkins]

Looks great Dean. I might recommend to install covers on the battery terminals when you put stuff in there. The insurance company made me do it to my boat because in 1966 they did not put battery boxes in boats.
Tom

Funny you should say that. When I was installing the cable for the manual release I inadvertently touched both terminals with it. Hot, fast!
So, yeah I think some covers are a good idea.

 

[DJenkins]

Moved on to fixing the last rust on the car, the passenger door. Pulled the skin off and had this to deal with on the door frame:

"Plated" it with new sheet metal that I fabricated, welded in on, then cut the bad stuff out from the inside.

Here it is all fixed and painted in SPI epoxy:

Put the new door skin on, hung the door, and then did a test fit of all the front end sheet metal.

Minor work still needed for alignment, but it all fit better than expected. Everything in black is new, reproduction sheet metal (quarter skins, door skins, fenders, SS hood, hood hinges, core support.) Sometimes this stuff fits, sometimes it doesn't . . . I must be living right because this came out pretty good.
It'll be apart and back together several times before paint, but for the moment it looks like a car again

 

[78 Elk]

Very nice, you are doing a great job on it.

 

[DJenkins]

Been a minute since I've updated this thread. Been working on panel alignment and gaps.
Reproduction sheet metal, just have to expect that work will be needed.
And the reproduction parts on mine are;
-Quarter panel skins
-Door skins
-Fenders
-Inner fenders
-Core support
-SS Hood

Kind of a miracle that is comes together at all!

Trying hard to get them really good and it is time consuming, tedious work. But, it will pay off in the end, hopefully.

Here is what I was dealing with on the door/fender:

Lot's of shaping, welding, grinding, and then shaping, welding and grinding . . .
Getting pretty close.

Moved on to the hood. Fit was "pretty good." Turns out the reproduction fenders were a fraction longer than stock and left a big gap to the front header panel.
Picture doesn't really show it, but the gap was over 1/4"

Solution? Lengthen the hood! I welded 1/8" rod on the front edge of the hood and somehow managed to not warp it all over the place. Key is to go slow, stitch small sections, and take lots of breaks while the metal cools.

Ground the welds down pretty smooth and then filled the pinholes/pits with All-Metal filler.
Gap is now right under 3/16" which is the GM spec.
Getting close to prime and block this thing.