How To

How to Replace a Car Trunk

By eHow Cars Editor
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Factors like salt and snow can cause corrosion underneath the trunk area. If your car runs well, but the trunk has rusted, you may still be able to keep it. If you know how to use a welder and a plasma cutter, you can replace a car's trunk.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions

Things You'll Need:

  • Black marker
  • Plasma cutter
  • Screw driver
  • Hammer
  • MIG welder
  • Seam sealer
  • Trunk spatter paint
  1. Step 1

    Lay the new pieces of trunk over the existing trunk and make an outline with a black marker. This helps you decide how much of the old trunk you need to cut out. Clean the trunk by removing old tar, undercoating, rust and anything that may interfere with an electrical current when you're using the plasma cutter.

  2. Step 2

    Cut along the line you drew with a plasma cutter. Wear black safety glasses to protect your eyes from the plasma cutter's light. You can also use a pneumatically driven cut-off wheel to cut off the trunk.

  3. Step 3

    Pry up the old trunk with a screwdriver and a hammer. Cut around the mounts on the floor and take out the trunk in small sections. Once you remove the trunk, grind all the cut edges. Remove all contaminants so the new weld works well on the original material.

  4. Step 4

    Weld the new trunk using an MIG welder. Feed the wire out of the hand tool and tack the new piece in a few places to hold it in place and make sure it fits properly.

  5. Step 5

    Weld the trunk once you're satisfied with the fit. Grind the welds so you have a smooth seam. Next, remove any pieces of metal or other debris and mask the area around the trunk to prevent overspray.

  6. Step 6

    Apply a high quality seam sealer along the welds to keep water from entering the trunk, like 3M Product Seam Sealer (follow directions on the container). Brush out the sealer to smooth it out; this will make the trunk look like one whole piece once you paint it.

Tips & Warnings
  • Spray weld through primer along the cut edges before welding the new trunk. The primer helps the metal last longer and prevents rust.
  • You may need to cut the new trunk to make it fit properly.
  • An MIG welder is wire fed and affordable to obtain. Find one at any tool supply store, like WeldingDepot.com.

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