2004 Expedition - help me identify this rusted box driver side rear corner

[whtbronco]

In the earlier generation, the evaporative canister is located in that corner. Are their hoses to the fuel tank and forward to engine?

No the evap canister sits above the spare tire.

I don't think there's any hoses or wires coming out of it. We'll all know once I get some time to repair it.

 

[riphip]

I like that tape repair. I would have used the same for temp repair.

 

[whtbronco]

The tape you see doesn't stick real well. The first layer is just normal foil duct tape since it sticks good. I layered it so the seams were all down, but I still didn't like it. My neighbor gave me a 300' roll of the 7" wide foil tape you see and it sticks good enough to the duct tape and with no seams it worked well.

Usually I use a junkyard panel or buy a molded repair panel, this time I can use just a flat sheet. What I can't figure out is should I use just plain cold rolled 20ga steel sheet metal, aluminized or galvanized?

One of my co-workers suggested just using a plastic (HDPE) cutting board and panel bond to secure it. It's not a bad idea due to it's resistance to the barrage of road debris this area takes, but even if I did this I still want to replace the rusted sheet metal.

 

[twodollars]

I'd stay away from galvanized if your planning on welding.

 

[whtbronco]

I'd stay away from galvanized if your planning on welding.

Thanks, I bought some plain cold rolled sheet metal in 18ga.

 

[whtbronco]

I finally got back to this today. I have cut out all the rust, prep'd it to weld on the new sheet metal and got that mostly ready as well. I still have no dang clue what this box is for. It is not sealed which I basically knew before, but confirmed for certain today. It's just strange. I plan to complete this repair tomorrow.

I am confident that dang foam, rock hard foam, trapped enough moisture that it caused the rust. It was the adhesive that held the plastic inside.

There's a part at the top of the box inside that has identification molded into it.

L002G
MOLD #2
5L14-7841017-AD
116526
VEST GF24

Here's more pics.

 

[whtbronco]

Pics showing the inside. The file names are from my perspective looking towards the back of the truck. So Inside Left is actually the passenger side of the small box.

 

[whtbronco]

Couple more pics.

 

[whtbronco]

This is the same composite material the header panel is made from. It is quite strong and rigid. Though it's no match for an air hammer, LOL.

This is not quite the same part number, but only the last 2 characters are backwards and it is very similar to what I have if not the same. This pic appears to be the rear of the back of it. This same side can be seen from the front in the pic named "Rust cut out close up".
I guess it has been identified, all I can say is interesting and that damn foam adhesive that caused the front panel of sheet metal to rust out. This is the description I found:

Ford 5L1Z-7841017-DA Reinforcement - "D" Pillar