Tragic trunklid trials & tribulations...

Dr.Jass

Dr.Jass

Pastor of Muppets
What's a guy got to do to get a decent f__kin' trunklid for a Challenger?!

I've now received my third mangled reproduction trunklid. The first two came from Summit Racing, and were both Goodmark parts. The better of the two garnered me an estimate of $550 to repair the shipping damage; that was without the extra bent corner and one that was downright folded. So, I called my friend at Year One, willing to pay a little extra for some personalized service and a straight decklid. Theirs is also a "Goodmark" piece, meaning they get it from the same Taiwanese place as Goodmark. He went down to the warehouse personally, inspected the lid, and made sure it was good. He resealed the box and wrote my initials all over the damned thing. Year One, to their credit, does not ship the sheetmetal in just the box in which it left Taiwan. They package it inside another, larger Year One box with paper all around it to ensure it will get there OK.

It did not get here OK.

As I unpacked it, I was stoked because it looked straight as an arrow... then I saw the lower corner. Folded. F__k... me... running. The external box was not damaged whatsoever, and the other parts in the box were fine. I can see the areas inside the "Taiwan" box where the lid was hitting, even though it has extra cardboard around the ends & corners. This is getting to be really frustrating. I have three junk decklids sitting here, one of which will likely have to go back in the original packaging (they're in for a surprise if they think I'm paying to ship it). I no longer have the one that was on the car, since I sold it along with the reproduction T/A spoiler last week.* That's not a huge deal since it was drilled for the spoiler as well as damaged a little on one corner. I really do not want spoilers on this car. Then again, it was a rust-free original Mopar panel.

I'm sort of at my wit's end here. I just can't bring myself to drop $500 on an AMD piece... but I may just have to do it. :doh:

*Interesting story all on its own...
 
Dr.Jass said:
I just can't bring myself to drop $500 on an AMD piece... but I may just have to do it. :doh:
Click to expand...

Consider yourself lucky, at least your parts are re-popped. 68 Coronets, being a 1 year trunklid is NOT re-popped. And a rust-free example will bring $1200 to $1500. :( Luckily I already have 2 of them. :dance:
 
How much were the Goodmark lids?

Everything I've seen from AMD has been pretty decent. DCF's Charger fender needed a little work but the hood looked fantastic.
Spring for the AMD decklid and don't look back. $.02.
 
Well, the two from Summit were $206 each, but they refunded me and--this is why I like Summit Racing--they gave me an additional $100 refund. Not store credit, mind you, but actual cash on my card. The one from Year One was $186.xx after a 25% discount code, but of course I got somewhat dinged by their usual somewhat-exorbitant shipping (but there were other parts in the box, all small). Year One doesn't sell the AMD decklid because it's too expensive, meaning they can't sell it at anywhere near their normal profit margin. It's $450+shipping from Summit--their normal "Free Shipping over $100" doesn't apply--but it does come directly from AMD via drop-ship. One less place to handle it is a plus at this point. Anywhere else, it's around $500+shipping.

The pity is, this thing was straight last Wednesday. Kevin's schooled in auto body repair and he personally inspected it prior to it being shipped. I don't know if one of the warehouse guys dropped it or what. From what I can tell, the Goodmark piece wouldn't be that bad if I could get one here without it getting mangled en route.

While you're here, Restoman (since I can't reach you on FB): Should I use 3M panel bond? Do you prefer something else? If 3M, should I go with 08115, or 08116 for the longer working time? And... should I bond the roof rails too, or weld them (or both)?
 
Weld the roof rails first. They're mainly covered up, so no mad need to grind the shit out of the welds.
3m is good, use something with a longer work time. You're not a bodyshop (yet), so if it has to sit for a full day while it through-cures, it's no big whoop.

With panel bonding, follow the tech sheets. Clean is the word of the day...

Let me know through here when you're ready to do this. I'll call you ahead of time and we can discuss in depth.
 
OK. The 08116 is the same stuff as the 15, but with a longer work time according to the 3M site. Both have a 24-hour cure time, though. I have a friend that's giving me a brand-new 3M applicator gun for free, so that's a big savings and part of what has me leaning toward that brand.

However, one more question if I may: Clamps. I've got none. Should I pick up a particular kind so I have them at the ready? A bunch of those Chinese C-clamp style Vise-Grip wannabes like I use for brake caliper pistons? :D When the time comes for the call, I want to have everything I need on hand.
 
the erwin c clamp vice grips WITHOUT the dodgy swivvle feet are the ones i use for most everything when it comes to fab work....if i need padding i use thin wood strips..like teh 1/4 inch stakes
 
Shoulda left it the fuck alone instead of selling the original stuff. You're haunted now.
 
69.5CUDA said:
the erwin c clamp vice grips WITHOUT the dodgy swivvle feet are the ones i use for most everything when it comes to fab work....if i need padding i use thin wood strips..like teh 1/4 inch stakes
Click to expand...
^^^^ This works just fine. ^^^^

Truthfully, anything that will fit will be good enough. You don't want to exert too much pressure, just enough to keep things where they're supposed to be.
Self tapping sheet metal screws will work where clamps won't. The hole left behind can be filled with some adhesive once the screw is removed.

It's vitally important to remember NOT to over-clamp. There needs to be a certain thickness of adhesive in there in order for it to bond properly.
 
v8440 said:
Shoulda left it the fuck alone instead of selling the original stuff. You're haunted now.
Click to expand...
Jeez, don't take it so personally, man. The original stuff was modified in a way I didn't want, so it went to someone that did: a guy who bought his '72 Rallye new, and one of the few mods he made back then was a T/A spoiler. A later owner bonded it onto the trunklid and painted it all body color. His original lid got vandalized after he got the car back and he wants to put his Challenger back to "Day Two" condition.

I don't want a rear spoiler. Period. Repairing the holes in the original panel was going to cost more than the Goodmark reproduction.

Year One is sending me yet another decklid. If this one doesn't make it, I'll suck it up and buy the Goodmark piece.
 
Well, the other aspect of it is that I received the first two smacked lids prior to the guy who bought the one on the car tracking me down.
 
yeah i used em for brake calipers for a LONG time before i jumped into fab work..best clamps PERIOD..there is a reason i have 16 of them and still never seem to have enuf of em
 
So, Trunklid #4 arrived... and to nobody's surprise, it's bent. However, this time the bend is very minor at the rear corner of the driver's side, and I'll be able to work it out enough that the moulding will hide it. I'm just going to deal with it. They win. Amazingly, the rest of this panel shows just how damaged the others were. There was a defect in the other three that I didn't even realize was an actual defect until I got this one, involving the area around the center ridge of the panel a little bit forward of center. I didn't like it on the other ones, but it was so minor I'd guessed "that's just how they are". They aren't.

I sold Trunklid #2--the least damaged one--to a fella for $150. He's supposed to pick it up this coming Friday. :dance: Trunklid #3 is on its way back to Year One, and Trunklid #1 languishes in a corner of my living room. :(
 
My thoughts exactly. The protection in the box in which it makes the journey from Taiwan is marginal at best. It's kind of miraculous that any of them make it here unbent prior to typical shipping-company abuse. However, looking at this panel I would not be surprised to find that the AMD piece comes off the same stamping dies, with the big difference being in packaging. Then again, I haven't tried to mount it yet, either. :doh:
 
when shipping companys have become capable of killing maxline cases and transmissions...and im not just talking broken but flat out destroyed...nothing will ever ship safe again
 
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