Where is evryone?

Exact, one piece (skirt and floor)

Thank you JP - I have spent a long time considering this may be the case !

Can you advise if the width of the trunk floor, at the rear brace, is the same as the width at the wheel tubs ?

I am wondering if the trunk drop offs are parallel to each other, or if they get farther apart at the connection to the wheel tub ?

I have mocked up these pieces today - when I make them parallel to each other, the front end of the drop offs are very far away from the quarter panel lower flange (It does not seem correct ?)

Again, the lower quarter flanges were missing on my car, so I have no reference.

They are not parallel. Only the two reinforcements above the tank are parallel. But beware, they are not positioned at the center. They are shifted to the left side.

Thanks for this information JP - Now I can proceed with better confidence that my repairs are correct.

My front end of my trunk drop offs are located at the outer ends of the wheel tubs.

In this position, the quarter panel lower flange (what little remains) seems to lay on the lower flange of the drop off nicely, so I think this is the correct position.

It looks odd from above as the drop offs are not square to the rear brace but taper away, getting wider apart where they connect to the wheel tub.

This means that the side braces (longerons) are also not square to the rear brace, as they run parallel with the drop off (?)

I must take the replacement trunk pans out of storage this weekend, as I wonder if the taper is also visible (I had not noticed this before.

I wonder is I could ask you for a measurement ? : the face-to-face width between the drop offs at the wheel tub connection

I appreciate your help - you are my reference !

sparklyman wrote:

....this is very interesting, my Bonneville did not have these extra side braces on the trunk floor ???

Do you have any photos of this trunk area before you started repairs ?

EDIT

I just found this photo on your other forum. I think this is a photo of another car, where you are showing which parts are OK or rotted on your car ? .... so the trunk side braces were rotted out on your car (Disparu?), is this correct ??



If so, then mine had also completely disappeared, but I did not know it

so your information has been very valuable

This means I have some more braces to make !

Hi again gang.  Sparklyman, the picture here is from my Catalina.  I think you said you have a Bonny which has a slightly longer trunk but I think the supports under the trunk are still very similar.  These supports rusted out almost completely on my car.  It was difficult trying to recreate them when there wasn't much there to show me how to build the replacements.  I did everything out of my garage at home with a cheap sheet metal brake, hammers, and some wood blocks so my pictures may not be the best choice for building your own replacements but they should give you an idea of what you need to do.

If you want to see the before and after pics look here

https://pontiac-59.darkbb.com/t633-hi-and-hello-all

Trust Jean-Marc to give you the right directions on how to rebuild them.  He has access to all the professional tools and a real shop to work in.

Michael

I'm glad to see the forum is still active and helping others! So where have I been? Last year work got crazy busy and took almost all my free time. So what's my excuse this year? I had a heart attack in April 2018 and major heart surgery in July 2018. I'm recovering well but it is a long recovery process. Needless to say I won't be doing any restoration work until next summer at the earliest.

Jean-Marc, the work you've done while I've been away looks fantastic! I wish I had half the skills (and tools!) you have. :-)

Take care all.

Hey - this is great, thanks for your help M.

My trunk was also badly rotted out, not much left, been able to re-create the drop offs and rear brace, now working on the tricky wheeltub braces (Still trying to figure out the Best way to tackle it !)

I have some top hat channel, but I/m going to have to notch,bend and weld to get all the curvature sort of correct as best I can.

Like JP, your input have given me renewed enthusiasm to get back into the project, now our summer is on the wain. Outdoor work to the house will give way again to indoor work on the Pontiac !

Thanks for your input and the link - I wish you a speedy recovery from such a major operation.

...while we're on the subject of trunk braces, can anybody explain why there is this raised end to the wheeltub brace and front of the trunk drop off ?

Struggling to determine it's purpose in the grand scheme of things ....

Michayos wrote:

I'm glad to see the forum is still active and helping others!  So where have I been?  Last year work got crazy busy and took almost all my free time.  So what's my excuse this year?  I had a heart attack in April 2018 and major heart surgery in July 2018.  I'm recovering well but it is a long recovery process.  Needless to say I won't be doing any restoration work until next summer at the earliest.

Jean-Marc, the work you've done while I've been away looks fantastic!  I wish I had half the skills (and tools!) you have.  :-)

Take care all.

Health is more important than anything. Glad to read you again.

sparklyman wrote:

...while we're on the subject of trunk braces, can anybody explain why there is this raised end to the wheeltub brace and front of the trunk drop off ?

Struggling to determine it's purpose in the grand scheme of things ....

Sorry I do not understand your question. How can I help you ?

Hi JM

The outer end of the wheeltub brace kicks up, just beyond where it mounts to the chassis.

The trunk drop off also kicks up for about 4", where it meets the wheel tub.

Michaylos has repaired these areas on his trunk floor, resulting in little cubes at the outer corners of the wheeltubs.

Looking at it more this week, I think it's all to do with the shallow slope of the rear of the wheel arch. As the wheel arch tapers back a long way, I think maybe the designers had to introduce some height into the wheeltub brace and drop off at this point, to provide some depth of structure.

Still not entirely convinced though !

sparklyman wrote:

Hi JM

The outer end of the wheeltub brace kicks up, just beyond where it mounts to the chassis.

The trunk drop off also kicks up for  about 4", where it meets the wheel tub.

Michaylos has repaired these areas on his trunk floor, resulting in little cubes at the outer corners of the wheeltubs.

Looking at it more this week, I think it's all to do with the shallow slope of the rear of the wheel arch. As the wheel arch tapers back a long way, I think maybe the designers had to introduce some height into the wheeltub brace and drop off at this point, to provide some depth of structure.

Still not entirely convinced though !

These cubes have no use. Except we complicates the reconstruction work

And remember , it was "the car of the year " 1959 , by Motor Trend magazine !!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I wish that there was a simple "Like" response for posts made to this website.   I could not agree more that one member thinks that this site is dying.  Some years ago when I stumbled upon this forum I was akin to a guy dying of thirst in a desert only to reach an oasis.  I thought "hallelujah my prayers have been answered (car-wise)!"  Until then, it was so frustrating to not find meaningful info relating to the 59 Pontiac, but lo and behold here is a place devoted to the 59 Pontiac!  I tip my hat to the originator of this website, thank you.  it is up to the rest of us to keep this forum viable.  I am far from being an expert on anything 59 Pontiac related other than being an owner, so guys and gals it is up to us to make contributions to this website.  There is so much to share OR ask!  I have owned my 59 since 1980 and have a lot to learn about it so please share what you know (or don't know)!  Please, please keep posting questions and/or pictures of your projects!  That's my rant for tonight.

Yes, absolutely agree.

Hi JM, Michayos, Bob and everybody else who is following

I will do my best to keep this site ticking over with new content in future - I have many years of it to come !

I am still working on the 59 Bonneville - apologies, as I have not had much time to work on the car or post photos of progress and also changed ISP last Autumn, so lost touch with things.

I have replaced the wheel tub skirts with new metal and also fabricated new wheel tub braces. They are not curved like the original pieces, but I have had to compromise through lack of machinery and skills ! However, they are strong channel sections (16Ga), much heavier than the orginal channels.

Trunk drop off are fabricated also, with the additional support brace that JM made me aware of last year *Thank you JM for your photo set - it is my bible)

The Rear Valance is now underway - it was a difficult piece to form by hand. I made a small card model first, to make sure the calculated (Trig) fold angles were correct (The magic number was 4.8 degrees !!). It does not have the 4x reinforcement flutes of the original piece (I could not work out how to do this without cutting and welding in triangular pieces, like pressed shelf support brackets, so I may reinforce internally with some light channel section across the width....or indeed some modified shelf support brackets !)

It all fits very well on first mock up, so I am very pleased with everything (I have never attempted any metalwork before, so a very steep learning curve for me. As my GF says, it may not be original (JM is the master of originalty for sure !), but it is very close to orignal concept and much stronger - at least we are trying to save this old car.

Once new pieces are fabricated, I treat with POR15 Metal Prep. It gives the steel a light Zinc coating, turning it dark grey, which helps to slow down the formation of surface rust. I have noticed, over the winter, surface rust has appeared in places, so I must now treat all pieces again and probably paint with cold galvanise spray this time.

I wonder if I am posting the photos of this rebuild in the correct place - maybe I should start again under a different topic heading ? (I am not very familiar with this site ...

Good job