What's the ugliest part of your truck's body? Some say the nose, and some say how it tows, but we say it's your tailgate. OK, so we used a weak parody of a Frank Zappa song to hook this story, but necessity truly is the mother of invention. The first thing to take a beating on any truck ever made is the tailgate. When it comes to customizing a classic truck, the problem is compounded by primitive designs that not only are clumsy; they don't lend themselves to clean looks. Never mind the funky appearance of the chain and hook arraignment Chevrolet and GMC used to latch both the Stepside and Fleetside tailgates, the darn things are notorious for scratching paint, and consequently causing rust.
These were the problems we faced when we decided it was time to pretty up the looks of our '66 Chevy shortbed Fleetside, and increase its functionality. Weighing our options and seeing what was available, it looked like firing off an order to the folks at Mar-K Quality Parts in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was a good way to go. The tailgate we chose is a beefy replacement for the original Chevy gate, and thanks to some built-in upgrades it cures all of the flaws inherent to a stock tailgate. At the top of our list, the Mar-K custom-fabricated tailgate eliminates the hook and chains with a super-clean flipped center-pull handle to open the tailgate. Not only does this save time and cut way down on chewing up the paint and bodywork, the flipped handle is as clean as it gets when it comes to customizing a tailgate.
We're going to miss that KFROG...
We're going to miss that KFROG county-western radio station sticker, but good riddance to those danged old chains and hooks.
After opening these latches...
After opening these latches for the last time, the next step was to measure the tailgate opening from corner-to-corner to establish that the bed is square.
Loyal CCT readers know I'm...
Loyal CCT readers know I'm a fan of Royal Purple's Maxfilm, or Maxifilm as I call it. Whether you use Maxfilm or another penetrating oil product, pre-soaking all of the hardware is a great way to save time.
The tailgate is held on by...
The tailgate is held on by four bolts. To remove it we undid the bottom bolts below the tailgate and then the top two bolts that are accessible with the tailgate open.
With the bolts removed from...
With the bolts removed from the pivot points, the stock tailgate easily dropped out of place.
We discovered a large crescent...
We discovered a large crescent wrench worked best to remove the tailgate latch pins.