4/8: Dropped gas tank, all fuel lines, brake lines, all wiring of 'back-half',
trunk carpet, and rear plate holder -Upon dropping the tank and pulling the trunk carpet I found one small rust hole in the trunk pan. I'm very disappointed. I didn't expect to find anything warranting metal repair. I have a few options. Option 1 would be to just patch it with option two being replacing the entire pan.
I flooded the trunk pan with brake cleaner to loosen up as much of the carpet glue and trunk tar as I could in preparation of what direction I decide to take tomorrow. It's difficult to explain where the hole is but based on all aftermarket replacement pans I've seen for sale...I don't think those pans even 'cover' this section of the trunk where the hole resides. I may have to have this hole patched in addition to biting the bullet and having the whole trunk pan replaced.
I'll pick up a few grinder wheels tomorrow and dig in to it after I remove the dashboard.
I took a ton of photos of the underside to send over to my sand blaster/metal repair/paint guy to give him an idea of what we're working with here but they are all close ups and not really worth posting on here/a forum. Here are a few of the tank, lines, trunk and this damn rust hole.
The trunk pan seems super thin. The bottom of it (looking at it from the bottom) is rust free. Whatever rot developed originally originated from within; not from salt/water/exposure to the elements; old age is what did that pan in.
I foresee the grinder wheel only worsening the hole(s). But, if the grinder does/did...sandblasting sure as well will too.
Overall I can't be too upset. I spent a good 30 mins picking and poking under that car today. No other MAJOR concerns looking forward to the blast.