The rear panel is finished and ready to be welded in. This panel will sit at the very back of the trunk area, forming the rear bulkhead of the enclosure. I thought this one would be simple and quick to fabricate. Again I was ... uhh ... less than correct. Getting the exact width took a few tries. I then had to weld in one of my extra oxygen sensor bungs and plugs to provide access to a phillips head screw, the screw retains the trunk lid latch. Once the panel is welded in it would have been impossible to remove the trunk latch without some sort of an access port. I thought about using a rubber grommet, but the heat in this area may have been a problem with a grommet. I formed two hot air vent ducts after that. They slide into the rear backup light openings on the rear valence of the car. They were a bit finicky to get exactly right. The rear backup lights will be moved and the vents covered with mesh screen. Bezels will be fabricated to hold down the screen and provide a finished look to the vents. I did this to provide more ventilation around the muffler. I was concerned that I would get too much heat buildup in that enclosed area without some way to exhaust the hot air from the top of the box.
rear panel 2 by
Kevin Frank, on Flickr
rear panel 1 by
Kevin Frank, on Flickr