‘57 silverhawk trunk lid

[Cksutton1981]

I am a new member and proud owner of a 57 studebaker. Overall my Studebaker is pretty solid except a couple dents and bubbling paint. I plan to get some bodywork done soon. My one concern is the trunk lid. There is one area right on the ribbed area the size of a baseball where the metal is curled out, rusted and exposed the complete thickness of the sheet metal. The Photos I have of it on me don’t do it justice and My hawk is 400 miles away in our summer home garage. How difficult would something like that be to patch? The previous owner already deleted the fins. I considered maybe drilling holes and screwing in a GT hawk lid cover to hide it but I’d rather preserve if possible.

[thunderations]

Welcome to the world of Studebaker.
Might be time to ask about getting another deck lid that is not as rusted. Hawk deck lids seem to be available, but condition varies.
Have a restoration shop look at it and give you a better idea of what it takes to save it or if it's better to find a replacement.