Did an "Ah, Cr@p!", now need help

Bill, I'm no "body man" but I'm hearing that you want to try to fix it for whatever knowledge/experience you may gain so you may apply it to working on a model A. I'm with you! Take whatever experience you can get. As My old cousin said when someone told him his old John Deere was junk,"well if it's junk, I can't hurt it" If your tailgate is now junk, you can't hurt it! The option of buying a replacement is always there if it turns out poorly. However, as Brent said, It's an example of an assembly. It must be disassembled. That means it is spotwelded. That means breaking the weld, straightening the metal, and rewelding. If you're equipped to do this then it shouldn't be that difficult. If not, then replace if! You'll need a angle grinder and a MIG/TIG welder, but you'll need them on the mod A as well.
Terry
 
Terry said:
If you're equipped to do this then it shouldn't be that difficult. If not, then replace if! You'll need a angle grinder and a MIG/TIG welder, but you'll need them on the mod A as well.
Terry
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Ahhh, another excuse to buy tools. You gotta love it!
 
a friend of mine explained it this way. "You have to work the metal in the opposite direction it was damaged". so I guess that means turn the truck around and hit the tree going forward.
 
Hit the high spots with a hammer, fill it with bondo, sand it down, brush paint it and Robert's your mothers brother :eek:
 
spdway1 said:
Call LKQ, I am sure they have a nice white used one someplace.
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I never heard of LKQ until a few weeks ago when I found out they bought out the largest junk yard around. They won't let anyone in the yard and now have very little business. I drove an extra 15 miles to "U-Pull-It", which was packed. Bought all my parts there and at resonable prices.:)
 
Tom Wesenberg said:
I never heard of LKQ until a few weeks ago when I found out they bought out the largest junk yard around. They won't let anyone in the yard and now have very little business. I drove an extra 15 miles to "U-Pull-It", which was packed. Bought all my parts there and at resonable prices.:)
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It does seem like they're going around the country buying up a vast amount of
recycling centers (junkyards).
 
Well, I got a nice used one locally and have the truck all back together. Have all teh pieces and am now going to try and learn something. I'll take pictures. :)

Need to decide what tools to get. (Suggestions? Already have seen the long-handle dolly mentioned above.)

As Brent said, the first thing is to take it all apart to the individual pieces. I think that's beyond me now (and probably forever), so it's going to be a question of trying to pull/push things and then hammer and dolly. Need to see if I can see the places in the 'gate where the metal is badly stretched, and then figure out how to put it back where it belongs. Lots of severe bends, lots of "broad wave" distortion, all the way across to the handle area.

I think I remember someone saying here on the 'barn that a big part about understanding sheet metal repair is to first understand where the metal was stretched from the "correct" orientation. What I don't understand is the process of "shrinking' using a hammer and dolly. (Need to wrap my feeble brain around that and then see if I can make it work.) Again, suggestions and direction and comments are always welcome.
 
Take off the plastic tailgate cap if you have not already. You will see in the undamaged area the body lines, try to fit the long handled dolly in the contour of the body line.
Work from the center were there is less damage to the outer edge ( think: First in/Last out when approaching a dent). As you try to work out the top edge, it will release pressure on the outer skin and inner shell.
While working the top, you can gently hammer the skin and shell down. Getting the top "up" is your main concern, (the skin and shell will want to follow),
Use a straight edge on the top of the gate to monitor your progress.
Don't worry about shrinking just yet.
 
First step ...
 

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Send Me your E-mail address and I'll send you one of my Sheet Metal Repair Books that I wrote. Most panels can be repaired, it's just a matter of time and is it worth it. Check Car-Parts.com for a tailgate in your area. Should be around $250 -$350.00

The Old Tinbasher
 
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