Lower Rear Panel

This is what the reproduction lower rear panel looks like. I have included the original inside brace so you can see what should be inside.
What you can not see is the fact the top edge is straight across, it is too skinny, the sides are arched enough and none of the holes are right. The top edge being
straight will give you the most grief since that will allow the rumble lid to touch in the lower corners. If you are using a repro lid than you may need to
lower the panel some so the lid will not hit. Please do not forget ALL lower rear panels got a hole for the spare tire mount and if you put side mounts
you should put a button plug in place. Apparently very few people take this extra step as I have noticed a lot of sidemount cars with no holes.
This panel is the same as 28-29 coupe (not roadster) and is not an easy part to find original and useable.

I have taken the original reenforcement strips off of one of my original panels. For some reason Ford thought these
to be important enough to put in so I have done the same.

I have carefully taken out the reenforcement panel that came with the repro. I also have opened up the crimp at the top so
I can insert the really heavy original brace. If you look closely you can see in the upper right corner the difference between
the straight top edge of the repro and the curve (like a frown) of the original. You also see how the reenforcements fit in.

Notice how the repro is about an 1/8" too narrow. I really fought to add about 1/16"of width to my panel to get
a slightly better fit. I gave up. Using the original inner brace does wonders for shaping the rear curve and adding
rigidity.
In retrospect, it may not be hard to make a lower rear panel by hand. The big problem is doing the crimp at the top
as you would have to make a steel form up to get the bend on a curve. The rest is done on a brake and then intoduce
the curves with a shrinker.