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This weekend has consisted of trimming and trial fitting the lower trunk panel. Looking at the body section of the manual, they say to measure from the body mount bolt by the rear seat back diagonally to the edge of the trunk opening. With slight movement of the passenger fender, I can get a perfect match (I think it was 60 3/4" but don't quote me on that.

Then I remembered I bought the filler panel that bolts under the trunk panel to cover the brackets that hold the bumper. I pulled them out and gave them a trial fit. Not even close! Passenger side is almost there, but the contours seem a little off. Drivers side, the panel sticks way out from the fender.

I'm trying to look in the parts book to confirm the trunk panel I am putting in from a '54 is the same as the '51. I see group number 30.135, but the book talks about upper and lower panels. That does not make sense to me. I'm also trying to confirm the panels that cover the bumper bracket are the same for '51 as '54. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? I think the replacement parts came from a Patrician if that matters.

Here are some pics of what I am talking about. Is there supposed to be a gap or the hole shown on the drivers side supposed to screw into the rear fender? I think both bottoms of my fenders were replaced at some point and I do not have holes there, except rust holes.

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here are some photos of my 51 200. The rear deck is original except for a patch panel to the left side of the lock, under the trunk opening. If these aren't enough detail, let me know and I'll pull the bumper off and shoot some photos of the splash pan. The second photo is showing the lag bolt that goes thru the trunk deck into the splash panel underneath. The photo is rotated 90 degrees.

There is a lag bolt on the extreme left and right of the splash panel that attaches to the fender.

I put a splatter paint on the deck of the trunk, mainly because I like the look. It is not stock.

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It looks like your splash panel needs to be moved forward, under the rear deck. I think it will line up with the fenders then.

A Patrician splash pan will not fit as they are shaped differently around the bottom of the rear quarter to accommodate the senior tail light.

The 51 200 has in fact a one year only splash pan as the bumpers were relatively tight to the body that year (sleek!). For 52 the bumper was moved further away from the body. I believe I have some in the magic basement--will look tomorrow.

Oh thank God Ross! I put my bumper back on and I was like, no way is this going to fit! I'm glad you read this before I started hacking things up more! I looked up the e-mails from the car it came from and it was a '54 Cavalier.

Ross, the trunk panel that I am putting in from the '54. Is that a problem or were they all the same from '51-'54?

David, Thanks so much for the pics. You helped me see how it should look. Attached are some ics I took after throwing my bumper back on the car. My bumper seems to sit even closer to the fender than yours. I think my fenders may be off too. David or Ross (or anyone else) is the panel below the trunk lid and the lower part of the fenders straight up and down or does the bottom bow out a little? If I put my new trunk panel against my fenders, the bottom bows out a little. Could be my fenders are not shaped correctly. I still have about a 3/16" lip that forms when I close my trunk and the lid hits the lip when I close it, even with the hinges loosened and the lid pulled as far back as possible. All of this makes me think the fenders are flared out from the previous accident and need to be straight up and down. Someone, please confirm.

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Ross,

Do you have this trim piece that goes between the doors? I may need the other side as well. I have to look.

EDIT: yep, I need one on each side

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The panel on my '51 looks vertical to me. It has been fully replaced but I'm confident it was originally vertical. Trunk lid fit . . . I had the same problem as you. So frustrating!

Never really found out why. Thought it could have been because my hinges were off a different model/ had been 're-pinned', or the lid was either from a different model or its shape changed when it was grit blasted. I had another spare trunk lid and it fitted better(??!!) so my metal-man reckoned they were produced at different times or Packard had changed the presses slightly between manufacturing runs. Maybe a '52 was very slightly different to a '51 lid . . . Hope this is helpful.

Larry51, Thanks that is very helpful! When I look straight down the fenders with the trunk panel in place, the bottom flares out some. I was worried about moving the trunk panel in too far and having problems welding it to the fender. The bottoms of my fenders were poorly repaired at one time so that could cause my panel to hang out too far still. Now that you confirm they should be vertical, that will definitely help. I think my trunk lid was banged around at the lip too because it is kind of wavy, even though horizontally it is straight with a straight edge. So frustrating is right! I know this is more difficult because of the rust, missing metal, and an obvious accident that occurred sometime in the past. I'll keep playing with it. Hopefully when I get the rear bumper splash panels, that will help with alignment. Worst case, maybe I can work the lip on the trunk a little for the appearance of a better fit.

Found out yesterday that the Patrician is 1" wider than a 200 and 300 in 1951. That could account for some problems if some of your parts are from a 400.

Just a quick update. Last couple of weeks I have not had a lot of time working on the car. When I do, it is putting more patch panels in the trunk. I have to admit, it is getting harder and harder to get motivated to work on it. I'm getting really bored with this area of the car. I really want it done so the gas tank can go back in and maybe I can fire it up but that is a long ways away. At least there is not as much ground showing through the trunk as it used to.

Also bought some parts from Ross. Thanks Ross! Got the correct for '51 junior front and rear bumper splash panels, fender skirts, the shovel shaped piece under the radiator and the missing trim pieces as shown in the above picture. The rear bumper slash panel fits much better than the one I had! The passenger side bottom of the fender still looks screwed up, but not as bad as before. Both of the bottoms of the rear fenders have been replaced at some point and the holes for the panel were never drilled.

The front bumper splash panel explains a mystery lag screw I had sticking out the front fender. That is supposed to attach to the panel. My original one rusted away or was removed and lost at some point. Same for the shovel shaped piece under the radiator. I didn't even realize it was missing until Ross asked if I needed that too!