I want to make my trunk into a rumble seat- and I need to make a new deck lid too .

Where's the techs on doing this ?

Pretty sure ill make a frame out of square tube and skin it for the deck lid.
Not sure how to do the rumble seat.
Hopefully there's some universal type way to do this.

 

What kind of car are you doing this on?

 

Technically it can be called a chrysler powered 33/34/36/34 fordrolet I guess.
It's a mutt but pretty cool to me.
1/4s are mostly 34 Chevy but the deck lid is custom and I'm not happy with it.
That's going to explain the "universal" term used in the first post.

 

Scare you off ?

 

Not trying to pee in the fire but having had 3 cars with rumble seats I can tell you they are a PIA,,there is no way in the world to keep them from leaking,putting a couple of chairs,a ice chest,a suitcase and some tools all at once is almost impossible without removing the seat,,,and heaving all the heavy things in and out is a bitch!

I changed the last car over to a trunk,,this is just food for thought. HRP

 

I've read that most guys go from rumble seat to trunk because of the very reasons you state.

 

Same here. They are really unusable as have had maybe a half dozen riders with three cars over 40 years. Getting stuff in and out is a bitch and always looking to not scrach the paint. The big thrill is when you do a hard take off and everything gets jamed under the lid and it can't open. Panic stop going down hill and hope for the best. I am converting one now.

 

I will offer a good place to look for inspiration,,get your hands on a Brookville Roadsters catalog,,I can't find it on there website but you can get a good idea about making your own deck lid formers that will catch water coming in and a place for the deck lid to rest when closed.

They also have the brackets for a rumble seat. HRP

 

not sure about your custom body but when converting a rumble to a normal trunk we bought hinges, moved handle and added necessary latch parts. The ford lids I have messed with could go either rumble or normal, just depended how they were hinged You will need to find or fab some lower hinges, move latch and handle and install some bump stops. Sound easy ,don't it.

 

I agree. One of the first things I did on the coupe was convert it back to a trunk so its usable. I also used to want a rumble seat but after seeing how useless they are, I have been converted.

 

Made one a few years back if it's any help

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290873

 

Ok so maybe I don't want a rumble seat now.

 

I've made a few coupe deck lids. I cut 18ga, wheel a compound curve into it, brake all the edges 90 degrees and shrink the edges till I get the correct curvature. A simple x brace inner frame holds the shape well. Looking for pics now.

 

I changed my rumbleseat to a trunk lid for that very reason. Gas tank and chairs. Now I have a small 1985 Coleman cargo trailer for more gas tanks and more room for little sacks Frankie keeps bringing out of those little shops, and luggage space.

 

Carefull

 

I will add this and admit it should be deleted. I had the coupe at a shop and an eighty or ninty year old lady comes up and wants to sit in the rumble seat. She said it would bring back some real good memories. She got in and out and was happy. This was quite a few years ago.

 

well there you have it- go with the rumble and maybe you'll get lucky with the "ladies"

 

Is spooning dangerous?? Really?

 

I like to spoon after I fork so spooning has not been the problem.

 

Correction,,the OLD LADIES! HRP

 

Went form ,make my trunk into a rumble seat to spooning old ladies,not bad guys I like it( I'm going for the trunk also on mine)

 

Maybe just maybe that's because the younger ladies have yet to experience the joys of rumble seat spooning because the seats all get converted to trunks. The only ladies that remember rumble seats are old now. That's just a thought.

Truth of it is that ladies enjoy the same stuff today that they did 100 years ago or will 100 years from now.

 

Truth be told i'm too old myself and not as flexibly as i once was and i don't think young ladies are interested and i have one old lady so the trunk looks better to me now

 

Poor Vicky...Rumble, Trunk...Rumble...
If that's the Kiwi thread where he made the inner panel,
it was first class job from start to finish!
Just don't weld it to the skin until you're satisfied w/the fit.

 

While this is headed down hill I might as well add to it. Few years ago I stopped at a local roadside vegetable stand in my '24 Dodge. The owner, about 80ish asked if my car had a rumble seat. She got a big grin on her face, looked around to see if her husband was close enough to hear. And then said she had lots of experiance in a rumble seat, but that was before him, pointing to her husband.

 

Having ridden in a rumble for more than a few blocks in both As and a couple of V8s I find no romance in rumble seat riding. That said rumble seat engineering seems to be of two schools, Ford and everybody else. Ford rumble lids pivot back and down smoothly and stand the lid edge on a couple of rubber cushioned stop brackets. Others I have seen pivot in a more rapid rise and the lid does not drop as deep as a Ford does leaving the passenge more exposed.
In the film "The Shaggy Dog" there is a 26-27 roadster hotrod with a rumble seat (yes, they didn't have them fom the factory) that has the lid hinged at the rear edge and open like a deck lid or box top. Not much room in that little turtle deck for seats either.