Squidtone

Hey what a fantastic looking job. It looks really good.

The tail panel is/was spot welded from the factory, and they must have used a nice smooth sealer for the areas that show with body paint. I don't know they used, but it definitely wasn't meant to last for 40 or 50 years for cars with tough lives. In my case, I dug out all the old sealer and ended up using 3M "Drip Chek".
The Drip Chek is a sealer that does not have much "body" and you may have to put many layers on to build up a deep joint. It shrinks alot too. I used it on the seams where the quarter panels meet the rockers and the joint is meant to have a "line" showing, and the joint where the quarters meet the tailpanel that you can see when you open the trunk lid.

For seam sealing inside the trunk, (mostly the joints that don't get painted with body color), I was very happy with the classic 3M tan seam sealer that comes in a caulking tube. It is a bit pricey at 17 dollars a tube, but I found it to be the perfect consistency for spreading. It might be a bit old fashioned as it is talc based I think, but still good stuff.

And also, if you spatter paint your trunk, I'd recommend the Zolatone Black/ Aqua stuff. I ended up using it, and it was fantastic. Zolatone is also a bit pricey, but actually comes out about the same as using 3 or 4 spray bomb cans of spatter paint, and the additional clear coat the spray bombs require.

For applying, I drilled out a 15 dollar Harbor Freight LVHP gun with a 0.080" drill bit. It's very easy to spray. You almost can't mess up.

Good luck on deciding on how to proceed with your bodywork!
Dave

gotyorgoat

Thanks for the info Squid. I still plan to smooth out the seams with epoxy and then filler, but I figured that I would wait until it was painted in case there was some overspray. Too much work went into that trunk floor not to finish 'er off with some splatter paint.

I am hoping that I don't screw it all up by cutting out the tail panel. I would hate to throw out a perfectly good Lemans.

gjones

I redid the trunk area in the '66 Lemans convertible over the course of a couple of months. Someone poured about a quarter inch if fiberglass resin over the ENTIRE trunk pan about 20 years ago or so, then stuck about $200 worth of cloth on top of that.(I remember how much that stuff cost even back then-not cheap). Needless to say, I pulled and ground ALL that stuff up, then cleaned up the rust, installed some very stiff metal-lots of patches, some large, some small, then ground it smooth. Sprayed rust killer, primed, undercoated, painted & clearcoated it. Couldn't be any more happy with the results! It truly is breathtaking when you pop the trunk! Incidentally,as I was taking photos of the progress, a very disturbing image appeared on the left side fenderwell.(in the photo) Not quite sure what to make of it. It is an image of a longhair, sitting in the drivers' seat, with his left arm on the door sill.(you can almost make out his wristwatch, and fingers on the steering wheel) He is looking over his left shoulder. His nose is blown off(you can actually see the part on the nose area curved up, as on a skull). If you zoom in on the image, more disturbing details come to light... You can see the pupils in his eyes crossed, looking at his nose area, and his eyebrows are contorted. The red spot putty on the left,I assume, are the remnants of the nose. Yes, I painted it, but I did not paint the image purposely. About 2 weeks passed after completing the trunk, before I reviewed the pictures. You can just see the dash gauges and the steering wheel, and horn bar. I will try to attach the photo tomorrow, if anyone is interested- (No, I'm not a crackpot- this image is perplexing to me)

gotyorgoat

Someone forgot to wear their respirator.....

just kidding. I would be interested in seeing that!

gjones

Sorry to delay the reply- hope you had a great thanksgiving... I installed some more photos to my profile... if you click on my photos, you'll see two pictures of the trunk... the unfinished trunk photo is the one I'm talking about. If there's a way for you to zoom in on it, you'll see all that I described, and also you can clearly see his tongue hanging down to his chin....... I did NOT photo shop or alter this image in any way, shape or form... it kind of looks like an old photo negative.....

gjones

Didja get a chance to check the pic. out yet?

gotyorgoat

I think that I can make out the face and tounge, but I am not seeing much else other than a nice 66 Lemans.

gjones

were you able to zoom in on it? That's when the details come to light. It's not a good photo on this site, if you can't zoom in on it. On the original image on the camera I shot it on, the details really stand out when you zoom on it. The other good photos of the trunk are on the old computer- still have to transfer them to the new computer. Sorry to hijack your post, just thought it was a cool anomaly. Have a good one.

66 Gas Tires Oil

the way i do trunks is after cutting out the old trunk i install the two body mount brackets then set your whole trunk panels inplace. i then use large sheetmetal screws with the drill bit tips to attach everything together before i weld in at 1" intervals. i remove the sheetmetal screws and weld the holes shut then apply seamsealer inside and underneath.

jim