75-77 hatchback trunk floor

[74-NOVA-GUY]

Hello, ladies and gents, I am trying to figure out if a 73-74 hatchback trunk floor is the same 75-77 hatchback trunk floor :confused: ? I will post some pictures of my trunk compartment soon if that helps anyone. If you any info I would appercite it.

[Custom Jim]

I have a couple 73 and 74 Nova's and also a 77 and a few years ago I applied POR-15 to the hatch floor of the 77 and it looks like it is the same as the 73 and 74 models. I did not look real close and there could be some minor differences like reinforcement ribbing and such but from a casual observation I would say they are the same.
Most of the rot I've seen with the 73-79 models (hatchbacks or coupes) is in the lower flat portion where the space saver tire would be. It becomes a water trap should the trunk or hatch seal leak or the gaskets on the taillights leak. I've also seen rot behind and below the taillight panel and sometimes on the upper portions of the floor.
On the 74 I'm slowly working on I got a donor hatch floor out of another 74 and while I could have done some small patch work to fix the one I decided to make one big patch and replace it from frame rail to frame rail and from above the rear end to right behind the support for the hatchlid floor by the taillights.

Here are some shots I have of the 74 hatchfloors (I'll look tonight and see what I have from my 77 hatchback):

http://hometown.aol.com/krystaldesigns/pageA30.html

http://hometown.aol.com/krystaldesigns/pageA31.html

http://community.webshots.com/album/420993618PcZcTC

Jim

[74-NOVA-GUY]

Hey Jim nice pictures, hers the trunk rust in my nova.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i185/74_nova_guy/HPIM0818.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i185/74_nova_guy/HPIM0821.jpg

I wire brushed the trunk a while back and took off most of the suface rust the in the passenger side groove It was bare metal so I did a quick shot of white pimer cause I basiclly have to replace the whole space saver area and an area above the pimer grooves.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i185/74_nova_guy/HPIM0823.jpg

Now I just need some more cash :( .

[Custom Jim]

I would think a lot of the rust pockets could be filled as long as the metal is not too thin. The spots where there is not metal left would have to have new metal welded in.
On another car I began working on it had some rust pockets/pits in the metal and after cleaning them out I applied a few coats of epoxy primer over it, sanded it down and shot another coat over it and the pits were less visible and after sanding down the second coat and applying the third they are no longer visible.


What I started with:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/328644154/2075521770060464735FULKQD#

After a few coats of primer and sanded down showing some pits left:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/328644154/2952452460060464735BNcsIp#

After sanding down second coat and applying a third to a smooth surface:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/328644154/2193537200060464735wpgHNy#

Don't forget too that the floors out of the Buick, Olds, and Pontiac models will work also from that same era and body style.

Also watch out using the spray can primers. They are easy to use but probably won't hold up long term.

Jim

[Green Dragon]

That doesn;t look rusty to me.

just some surface rust - are there any holes ?

if no holes, or even a couple tiny pinholes - not wortht he effort to replace the entire floor - clean it up good, give a couple coats of POR 15 or similar, then use something like POR 15 putty to skim any pinholes, then cover with a fiberglass filler ( duraglass,etc ).

wish mine was as 'bad' as yours - see pics below for what happens when the mentioned water leak sits for 15 years in the otherwise pristine 29,000 original mile car :-(

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f165/sailoral/aa_005.jpg

thought I had pics of the floor before we cut it out, but can't find them right now, someplace on this machine, maybe, lol.

Good luck and keep us posted.

~ AL

needs to get back to working on the beast, been one of those weeks +....

[Philip]

Here is a photo of my 75 I took a couple of years ago. If it looks close I can take some more detailed photos for you.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/DCP00852.jpg

[Zoom]

Like everyone else says, it's not that bad. Just patching the holes should do that trunk floor just fine. It's alot of work to cut out and replace the entire floor.

I patched a few holes in my trunk while I had my quarter off. There are also some spots near the inner wheel well seam I can't get to, so I'll just fill them with Duraglass.

[Philip]

Here are some better shots of my 75. It looks real close to yours.

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/hatcharea3a.jpg

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/hatcharea2a.jpg

And all buttoned down. I was lucky and found all the tie down hardware, jack, base and handle in the car.
http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j199/64elcamino/hatcharea1a.jpg

[TheEmissary]

In the last pic - 75-77 hatchbacks came with a space saver spare and a CO2 canister - donuts came out in 1977 for GM B-bodies. Donut rims were standard with 78-88 G-bodies and third-gen F-bodies although a 16" version was used with the S10 Blazer.

[Philip]

Don this spare came with a 77 I bought, but it might have been originally from an S-10 Blazer as the the previous owner had one of them also. The tread area is about twice as wide as the B and G body space savers. Whatever this spare came out of it fits well in the hole and I hope to never have to use it.

My 75 had the original space saver wheel with the odd looking valve stem. I can't tell if the second tube on the stem was a gauge or a pressure relief valve.