Daytona clone trunk lid

[6PakBee]

Time for another stupid question.  I was reviewing everything I have regarding modifying a stock '69 deck lid for a clone.  All of them state that the glass edge of the deck is bent at a 90 degree angle but not folded 180 degrees like stock.  Why not?   

[hemigeno]

I don't have a real good answer for you,
other than that's the way Creative Industries made the originals.


 

[DAY CLONA]

Time for another stupid question.  I was reviewing everything I have regarding modifying a stock '69 deck lid for a clone.  All of them state that the glass edge of the deck is bent at a 90 degree angle but not folded 180 degrees like stock.  Why not?   

R.

When I mod trunk lids for customers, I give them 2 choices, 90 degree edge like Creative Industries released, or a more finished folded hem like almost all major manufacturers finish their panels, but I tweak the folded edge to match a plug buck, once folded it's harder to increase or decrease the convex curve because of the "sandwich" of material, and no 2 plug installs are identical, so a customer requesting a full hem gets what I give him, hopefully it fits his plug? I can only offer a conjecture that perhaps the 90 degree edge was easier to "tweak" the contour of the outer deck lid skin to match the plug's edge during install?......an example would be the ASC sunroof installs in assorted Mopars, I've created and retrofitted a few ASC Mopar sunroofs over the decades, one trick they used in tweaking the solid sliding roof panel to fit the vehicles roof contours was the 90 degree sheetmetal braces along the panel's underside, the installers would introduce small twists along the lengths or corners with pliers to make the panel flatten/convex/concave to the installers desires to fit the roof's profile.... it's hard to tell with original Daytona's if this kind of technique was employed to the trunks leading edge?, as most example are so crude or beat over the years to see any traces.....MikeG

[6PakBee]

Thanks for the insight.  I haven't tried a test fit yet but I have one of Gene Gregory's steel closure strips for the trunk edge.  Maybe folding the edge will interfere with the strip, I don't know.  But if it looks like it'll work, I think I'm going to try folding it.  Thanks again.

[DAY CLONA]

Thanks for the insight.  I haven't tried a test fit yet but I have one of Gene Gregory's steel closure strips for the trunk edge.  Maybe folding the edge will interfere with the strip, I don't know.  But if it looks like it'll work, I think I'm going to try folding it.  Thanks again.

R,


There's no issue using the Gregory closeout strip if you want to fold over the front edge...I see if I can post a pic of a customers lid with the Gregory close out panel with a hemmed edge, but the site has made posting pics even more ridiculous



Picture input.....success! this (AMD) repro lid with a Gregory closeout panel has the leading edge hemmed, and the panel has been seam sealed as well as per the customers request..

MikeG 

[DAY CLONA]

.....see if I can get some more info/pics for you guys....


Here' an original lid  (stock 68-70 Charger) with a Gregory close out panel, 90 degree front edge as Creative formed and the nasty spot welds added to the leading edge that penetrated the top skin and the close out panel

[DAY CLONA]

Here's the cuts you'll need to make.... don't forget to drill out the water drain holes in the Gregory close out panel after install

[DAY CLONA]

Lid with the 90 degree front edge and spot welds performed as Creative finished them....

[DAY CLONA]

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[DAY CLONA]

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[DAY CLONA]

Just a note, don't rely on ANY close out panel for trimming and folding the front edge, I've had used/NOS and repro closeout panels over the decades for customer conversions, and the front edge can vary in the curve cut, you need to have a plug that your using to match up what the curvature will be, generally the FINISHED sides of the trunk edge are 21 1/2 inches on avg along the sides, original trunk lids will vary +/- a 1/16-1/8 of an inch.... generally I recommend the trunk lid cut down and installed first, and fitting the plug afterwards, it makes aligning ang gapping the entire affair much easier...

Also when performing surgery on the trunk lid to fit the closeout panel, it's easy to cut thru the top skin, I always use a stainless steel plate that I slide along the surgical opening between the outer and bottom skins to avoid blowing thru the outer skin with a cut off wheel and or dremel cut off wheel, using a stainless will allow you to see when you've cut thru the bottom skin successfully because if no sparks are present during your cut where your dwelling your into the stainless, time to move along....

MikeG

[6PakBee]

Wow!!!  It's been a while since I visited and just wow!  Thanks for the info and pictures, I save everything in a file so when I officially start, I don't have to bother you all again.  Makes my project so much easier.