Trunk Fitment !!!!!!

[Squidog]

First of all a little background. I have a Mk3 that I am trying to get the doors hood and trunk on so that I can get it through CT inspection and registered before getting the car painted. Would also like to dry in gel coat for a while to get the bugs out if any before paint.

Issue...Trying to fit the trunk and all seems well except for the drivers side bottom of the corner that seems to protrude approximately 1/4" above the body through the radius. I have attached a picture below of the issue.

It appears that a major contributor to this is the bulb seal, and if I push down on the lid without the latch in place, I can get a nice flush fit however I have to push pretty hard. I can only get this nice fit if the trunk latch is not in place. If the trunk latch is installed it appears that as I push down on the trunk the latch hits the lip of the body and prohibits any downward motion of the trunk and thus an improper fit at the corner.

I originally thought about moving the latch mechanism up on the trunk (ie: new holes) but before doing so wanted to see if others have done this or have run into similar issues. If you have what were your fixes?

I tried to adjust the quick jack connections and that moved the body slightly, but not enough to fill the gap. It appears that the body has to move up???

Any insight or suggestion are appreciated...

[edwardb]

My Mk3 was similar. For me the solution was to trim the bottom edge of the lid and adjust the latch if necessary so that it's pulled more into the opening. Takes a little extra effort at first to get it to latch with it pulled tight enough. But with a little time the lid will conform to the opening and it latches normally. Doing this may not get it completely there, but it will be significantly better than what you pictured and should get you resting on the bulb seal. Raising the body isn't the answer. What is left can be addressed with a little body filler during prep for paint, as you can see on my Mk3 in the very early stages of paint prep.

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Paint/IMG_1432_reduced.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%20Mark%203%20Roadster%20Build/Paint/IMG_1432_reduced.jpg.html)

[Squidog]

Thanks for the input Ed. Actually I have a gap at the bottom lip to body of approximately 1/8"+. Did you have to remove because you had no clearance at this lip?

[edwardb]

Thanks for the input Ed. Actually I have a gap at the bottom lip to body of approximately 1/8"+. Did you have to remove because you had no clearance at this lip?

If you push the trunk lid down into the opening, that gap will close. Aside from the fact the curve of the lid doesn't match the body (which will get better once it's fitted as I mentioned before) the lid is larger than the opening. I see on the other forum Jeff Miller suggested trimming the front edge before the rear edge. His experience is obviously light years more than mine. So makes sense to start with his advice. But symptom of the same thing I'm describing.