HOW TO MOUNT A TRUNK ON A TRUNK RACK

[Michael C Wauhop]

One question I have always had when mounting a  trunk on the trunk rack of a 30's car how is it held in place?

[C Carl]

Hi Michael. Here are two 1927 Cadillacs, (mine is the original "beater" growing old gracefully), showing some of the mounting possibilities with hardware of the period. All this mounting hardware is reproduced and available.    -    Carl 

 

 

[PFitz]

Quote

 

I know of one automaker that for factory installed trunks used elevator bolts through the trunk floor. The bolt heads sit flush and a matching piece of trunk lining material was glued over the head of the bolt.

https://www.grainger.com/category/fasteners/bolts/elevator-bolts

 

[Friartuck]

It depends on the trunk rack. I like to use Tee nuts sunken into the wood with machine bolts and flat stock perpendicular to the rack's cross members. I do this to minimize visual exposure when the trunk is opened. Some trunk designs use hardware on the side to secure it to the rack.  I'm rebuilding a Packard domed lid trunk that employed angle steel into the side corners with holes for bolting to the trunk rack. I may not use them, looks sort of tacky. The elevator bolts or flat head screw method through the base can work with maybe a precovered piece of luan plywood as a cover over the bolts. Makes it look nice.

 

http://www.secondchancegarage.com/how-to/trunk-pt-2-1.cfm

 

http://www.secondchancegarage.com/how-to/trunk-pt-3-1.cfm

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2019 by Friartuck (see edit history)

[Gunsmoke]

When I bought my '31 Chev barnfind in 2008 (not driven since 1967), it came with correct trunk rack but no trunk. 2 years later I found 2 trunks that fit rack perfectly, in-period aftermarket trunks made to match size of rack (Chev did not have a factory Potter trunk until 1932). This trunk has 3/8" recess in underside of floor, perfect for a piece of PT plywood, and then I use 4- round head 1/4" machine screws/washers and lock nuts to secure to rack. Rack also has footman loops and I plan to make leather straps at some point more for show than anything else. This trunk also has 3 stainless steel strips to separate trunk bottom from rack, minimizing chafing issue. 

[R Walling]

 When I was doing my 31 essex, I bought a nice trunk and when It arrived, my men asked me what I was going to do with it.

 I answered that I was going to put it on the back of the Essex.

 They said no way, that is stupid!

 I said, did you ever hear of the word trunk on your car? Where did you think that  came from? 

[Guest]

Cadillacs and others of the Classic era came with Footman loops attached to the trunk  sides. The attached photo is a 1931 Cadillac. The hold downs shown are original ones, but I have made some in the past that were very presentable - they just didn't have the blister on the outboard side of the boxed piece. The boxed piece can be easily made by heating a 1 inch wide length of steel strap with an acetylene torch and bending it into a box shape. Notice that the inside of this box piece that fits against the trunk is slightly longer and is bent to form a hook that grabs the footman loop that is attached to the trunk. The bolts can be made out of heavy duty battery hold down bolts which are heated and bent to shape. A bonus is that the hold down bolts already have a hook on the bottom end ( which I heated and flattened a bit) and come with wing nuts. Good quality hold down bolts are thicker than some, and have better quality wing nuts. Of course you will have to have them chromed or powder coated, but the cost of the materials is negligible. Footman loops are available from Restoration Supply and other places.

Edited February 24, 2019 by Guest (see edit history)

[John_Mereness]

What are you trying to mount the trunk on (there is a lot of specialized knowledge here that know exactly what should be on your car) ?

 

And, a lot of trunks mount via leather straps (not sure I have seen such mentioned here yet)

[ejboyd5]

On 2/24/2019 at 1:50 AM, PFitz said:

I know of one automaker that for factory installed trunks used elevator bolts through the trunk floor. The bolt heads sit flush and a matching piece of trunk lining material was glued over the head of the bolt.     https://www.grainger.com/category/fasteners/bolts/elevator-bolts

 

Thanks for adding the reference.  I had no idea what an "elevator bolt" was.

[PFitz]

1 hour ago, ejboyd5 said:

Thanks for adding the reference.  I had no idea what an "elevator bolt" was.

Your welcome.  I had never heard of elevator bolts either until I had to duplicate some factory trunks and was shown the original trunk that was still on one of the customer's car.

 

Elevator bolts were also used to mount  some wooden running boards so that they lay flush under the rubber matting. And in some parts of wood body framing where a flush-headed bolt is needed under upholstery or kick panels. 

 

Paul