Friday, February 7, 2014

The Trunk Lid - Part 1 unfortunately

Everyone has hopes and dreams.  And sometime those dreams don't turn out as expected.  In fact, dreams can be a disappointment if not a nightmare.  Such is the life of the Mustang restorer, or any classic car restorer for that matter.

After deciding to abandon my original trunk lid due to copious amounts of rust, I began a search for a different one to replace it.  The prices for original trunk lids on eBay was what I call "stupid money" especially looking at rusted out lids that were as bad as mine or worst for $150 or more like this one here on eBay. .  Original, rust-free trunk lids were far and few between and then going for even more stupid money to the tune of $400.   Some of them were in primer that made me wonder how much bondo was applied to cover up rust.  The last thing I wanted to do was drop big bucks on a lid that was junk.   What's a person to do?  The only reasonable option was to go aftermarket.

Year One to the rescue.  After the first of the year, they had a 25% off on everything sale.  So I checked out the price on a Dynacorn deck lid and could get it for $200 including shipping.  Not bad considering what the regular price was and what used rusty deck lids were going for.  Beside, Dynacorn parts are supposed to be the best of the aftermarket reproduction parts, right?   So I pulled the trigger on one, and waited.  Three and a half weeks later I have a ginormous box sitting by my front door when I got home.  I've hadn't opened it since it's cold and snowy in central Indiana which means my wife's car was in the garage, not to mention my evening meeting schedules.

So last night, before my wife got home, I decided to pull out the box and open it up.  The box was actually packed inside another larger box.  So it was well protected.


The first thing I wanted to do was compare the old with the new...or more accurately, the original with the reproduction.   I got out my body stand and put the original on it.  Then I got out the Dynacorn lid and put it next to it...


At first blush, the repro looks pretty good.  I noticed that the new one felt heavier, tho' I didn't weigh either one.  I've heard Dynacorn uses heavier gauge material than factory.  So that could explain the difference.   After putting them side-by-side, the dream bubbles started to pop.  

The first one burst when comparing them back lip-to-back lip.  Below you can see that the internal support stamping has a knock-out missing and the forming lines and contours of the support structure bevels are larger than factory.  That's not as bad as the corners.  The Dynacorn lid definitely missed on the corner because it doesn't extend out as much as the original...


Can you hear the bubbles starting to burst?  Let's move on to the other end.  Same thing in addition to the punched holes for the hinge mounting points are misaligned...


More bubble pop.   OK.  Let's flip the parts over and compare.   The corners line up but...the flat transition in the reveal lines don't....


There goes a few more bubbles bursting.   What about the other end?  The reveals line up, but not the corners.  Another bubble bites the dust. Hmmmm.... 


This is starting to get discouraging.    So...  What about the parting line that runs down the middle of the deck lid?  It "almost" lines up, but the sharpness of the form leaves something to be desired.  In fact, all the forming lines on the reproduction are softer and not as defined as the original...


Pop goes more bubbles.   The next thing was to place it on the body and see how well it fit.  I positioned it so the center form line of the deck lid matched that of the body below the back window.   Then it was checking the fit.  The driver's side gaps were consistent, but tight--less than a 1/16".   Another bubble bursting.  The reveal lines running down the roof were pretty close to the deck lid...


The passenger side is a different story. The reveal lines are off about an 1/8".  The contour of the lid and body (in the circle below) are off, and the gap in the rear quarter and lid is about 1/8"-3/16" compared to less than 1/16" on the driver's side... 


Moving the lid to the passenger side to equalize the gaps only made the other contours on both sides worse.   Bubbles are bursting all over.   I can't repeat here all the "colorful metaphors" running through my mind.  Yeah, I may be a pastor, but I'm also a human being like everyone else.  We all have our moments and this isn't an especially good one for me and the fastback.

So now I'm questioning my decision to buy the "good" Dynacorn part.  I can't imagine how bad a cheaper Canadian or Chinese part would be.   I'm guessing I'll have 2-3 hours at the minimum with hammers and dollies to fix some of the contour and panel matching issues.  I even thought about cutting out the pieces from this lid and welding them into the original.  But I would be asking for more trouble and probably hours upon hours of  metal work.   Then again, I could repackage this and flip it on eBay to try and recoup what I spent on it and seek out an original for stupid money and hope for the best.  I suppose I could contact Year One and ask for an RMA number and return it, but then I'd be in Dutch for the shipping.

Of course, I shouldn't have had such high expectations on even a so-called "quality" Dynacorn aftermarket part consider my experience on previously purchased parts and their "out of the box" fit.  

So I guess it will be another round of fixing yet one more non-conforming aftermarket part...that is unless you know someone who would like a Dynacorn deck lid for $200 plus shipping.

The saga continues...

10 comments:

  1. Sorry for your deck lid troubles Dennis. I've forgotten how damaged your original lid is besides the rust along the trailing edge. Honestly, if I were this unhappy with the repro and returning it would cost more than another deck like, I'd consider using it to patch the original. Worst case, you need to buy another deck lid which it sounds like you have to do anyway. I think you probably have the skills required to massage the Dynacorn back into shape as well though. Good luck on whatever you decide.

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    1. I'm going to let the dust settle on my deck lid situation. Sven suggested contacting NDP about the supplier for their lids. No matter how you cut it, any part will require a little massaging.

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  2. This is truly unfortunate news Dennis. Sadly, I am NOT one of the Dynacorn advocates in the world of Mustang restorers. With the singular exception of the roof skin I used on my 70 (and it has some significant flaws I will document in future blog entries), I have found much higher quality parts from other suppliers. Before you invest a ton of time and effort into fixing the Dynacorn lid, give a call to NPD here in Michigan and ask them straight up who makes their premium deck lid. I'd bet a gallon of LL100 that it is a Golden Legion part, which in my experience, are far and away superior to the Dynacorn stuff almost any day. I feel you'd be money ahead to go that route and return or sell the Dynacorn lid. You and your car deserve it! Such for my .02!

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    1. Thanks for the tip Sven. I'll give NDP a call and find out what's up with the lid they carry. and I like to LL100 reference. Not many people get it. ;-)

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  3. Dennis, I posted some pics of the deck lid I have at the house on my blog. Take a look and see if you might be able to use all / part of it. If you need pics of other areas, let me know and I'll snap some more.

    rj

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    1. RJ, Thanks for posting the pix. At this point, I'm either going to rework the Dynacorn lid or return it and make a trip to Vail's in Greenfield, IN. I know they have a bunch of original panels in nice condition. I'll just have to ante up to the price if I do that.

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    2. If you value your labor rate, probably the best option. Even at $15/hr, you'll have tons of hours reworking both a new or old piece of junk. Faster and better to go with a good foundation to start with.

      rj

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    3. I got in contact with Gregg Cly, the MCA judge in Texas. He's going to check his sources for an original in good condition. If I can get one from him without sending an arm or a leg, I'll send the one I got back to Year One. If not, then I'll rework the one from Year One.

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  4. Wow Dennis, I don't know what to tell you its very unfortunate. The gaps in Photos 8 and 9 can be "corrected" with body filler, but why would you have to do that? and those corners...(my daughter would say: eww!!) Those people selling those rusty lids on eBay probably got an aftermarket lid. I wonder how they are coping... Good luck on finding a decent original piece. Your project deserved the best.

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    1. I would prefer to stay away from body filler if possible. I can't remember who it was on the Mustang blogosphere who had a problem with a driver's side door and ended up adding metal to the edge and then grinding it to fit the gap. I may end up doing that if I can't find an acceptable original. If worse comes to worse, I'll use the new one. Besides, the gaps from the factory weren't perfect. I have to remember I'm not building a show car but a very nice original...sort of.

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