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'27 body

Johnny

Member
On the Spirit '27 body with working doors and deck lid, is there a latch handle on the outside of the deck lid? If not, any ideas on what and how to install? Also, I'm wondering how to install a floor in the trunk area. Any thoughts or ideas?

Thanks
 
Okay, fellas, am I doing something wrong? I introduced myself and I thought I was doing everything correctly. I posted my questions, but no one is answering.

Please, let me know if I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks
 
reference to the latch in the trunk.....no there is not a handle on the outside. We mounted a honda cable to the latch they had and placed it under the back side of the car. The floor all depends on how you mount the body and where you place the fuel tank. Tom's Tank is in the trunk but we did make a metal box that fit inbetween the frame rails so he'll have a trunk.
 
Johnny: Here are a few pics that may help you. This isn't a Spirit body, but they are probably very similar. On my '27 I built the frame so as much as possible was below the floor. In the frame shots you can see that thee are two compartments on either side of the driveshaft area. One is for the battery and the other is for tools and such. The gas tank is also below the floor, and the filler sticks up through the floor. The is no handle on the trunk, just a small latch that is operated by a cable that I have under the dash. There are two small trunk poppers that puch the lid up ever so slightly when the lever is pulled. I did put and "emergency" cable pull under the car just in case :). You can see that the result gave me a lot of space for traveling and going to shows. My '27 has about 3 times the space as my dad's. All this may not work for you, but maybe an idea or two can help. Let me know want any other shots--I've got a few hundred photos of my build!
 
Oh.. I guess I forgot to add something about building the trunk floor. As you can see, I used 3/4" plywood cut to fit fairly tight, then glassed it to the body with multiple layers of matte. Since the floor was made first, I bolted the body to the frame, then the trunk plywood just sat on the rear portion of the frame while it was being glassed to the body. I used both heavy weave and strand matte. Once it was bonded good, the floor got several coats of resin to help with strength and water resistance. Once dried good, any mess was ground off, and the body mounting holes were drilled through.
 
Thanks, guys

Ben, I really like the way you did your floor. Pics really help. Did you glass the wood on the bottom, too?

Thanks
 
yes--once the top was glassed and dried for a few days, I pulled the body off and glassed the bottom in a similar fashion, but made sure it was a bit prettier as the bottom was smoothed and painted.
 
That is a Poliform body. It is stretched 5 1/2". I bought it with the trunk already hinged and latched, but cut the doors and swung them myself (a long painfull story!) It was more expensive then the other manufacturers, but it was worth it in my eyes to start with the better quality overall. It is a nice body and the extra room does help...Dad has a Speedway bodied '27 and it is a bit tighter. At the time, Spirit was only making the '23 bodies or I probably would have bought one of theirs.
 

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