Fixing a Busted-Up Tailgate
❱With the shortbed conversion looming on the horizon, but without the time to do said conversion for the next few weeks, I thought I’d spend an afternoon massaging a few wrinkles out of the tailgate, since I’m opting to stick with the original. I figure if I can get the ’gate back into decent shape, it’ll save me a few bucks on aftermarket sheetmetal and allow me to resurrect at least one piece of the vintage tin.
Saving the tailgate however will take a fairly decent skill set when it comes to sheetmetal repair as it has its fair share of dings and dents, not to mention the patch panel that will need to be installed. This will require the ability to weld as well as an understanding of general sheetmetal bumping; that’s a fancy term for hammer and dolly work. With a little bit of practice however, all of these techniques can be picked up and improved upon over time.
And speaking of improvements, when I initially tore into the tailgate, I thought that I could fabricate a cap to replace a damaged section, and hammer and dolly the surrounding area back into shape. Once it was finished, however, I decided that I wasn’t happy with the outcome as it would call for a bit of body filler to get the area nice and straight.
With it being the very top of the tailgate, I knew it would only be a matter of time until something was set on the tailgate when it was down, causing the filler to crack and chip off. I couldn’t be having that. So, I decided to switch gears and paid my buddy Tom at Chevy Truck Salvage in Santa Ana, California, a visit to see if I couldn’t scrounge up a donor tailgate. I figured if I could find a decent ’gate with the section I needed, I could simply cut it out and swap it in to mine.
So, with a $40 tailgate in the back of my truck, I headed back over to the SIM Tech Center and revisited what I had repaired the week prior. Gotta love doing things twice, but hey, like I said earlier, “with a little bit of practice, however, all of these techniques can be picked up and improved upon over time.” And as they say on those TV infomercials, “your results may vary.”
01. Here’s the tailgate...
01. Here’s the tailgate on my ’68, not too shabby, but as you can see, someone backed into a pole with the tailgate down at some point in time. That’s the section we’ll be tackling, and aside from that, the rest of the repairs are simple skim coat fixes.
02. Taking a closer look...
02. Taking a closer look at the damaged section reveals that not only is the top of the cap pushed down...
03. ... but that action...
03. ... but that action caused the front and back to push out as well.
04. Next, I cut the cap...
04. Next, I cut the cap off of the entire section so that the dent on the front and rear panel can be repaired.
05. The rear panel wasn’t...
05. The rear panel wasn’t damaged as badly as the front, so it was bent straight using a pair of pliers and a minimal amount of hammer and dolly work.
06. Meanwhile, the front...
06. Meanwhile, the front took a bit of metal shaping to get the panel flat again. Here, our pal Kev Elliott shrinks the dent back flat using both on- and off-dolly hammering techniques.
07. The hand doesn’t lie...
07. The hand doesn’t lie when it comes to judging whether sheetmetal is flat or not. That is, an experienced hand!
08. To make the top cap,...
08. To make the top cap, I simply cut a section of 18-gauge sheetmetal and formed it using a hammer and a dolly held in a vise. A better alternative would have been to use a sheetmetal brake, but sometimes you gotta make do with what you’ve got!
09. Once the cap panel is...
09. Once the cap panel is fabricated, it can be tacked into place. The angle iron ensures that the front of the tailgate panel is nice and flat while the cap is welded in place.
10. A little more welding,...
10. A little more welding, a bit of grinding, and a coat of primer and the top cap is finished, sort of. Though it looks OK and could be “fixed in post” with a bit of body filler, I was concerned about where the filler would be concentrated, in particular on the corner that will be facing up when the tailgate is down. Anything set on the tailgate when it’s down will likely contact that very spot, eventually knocking a big chunk of filler out in the process. I can’t be having that so I opted to come back to the repair with a different solution.
11. The solution? Use the...
11. The solution? Use the same section of sheetmetal from a junk tailgate to repair the original one!
12. This time, I’m going...
12. This time, I’m going to go big and will be replacing the cap a good 2 inches past the damaged portion on either side, as well as the front area where the dent was that we shrunk.
13. The patch panel dimensions...
13. The patch panel dimensions are first laid out on the best portion of the donor tailgate…
14. …before being cut out...
14. …before being cut out using a die grinder. I also removed the majority of body filler, primer, and paint from the patch panel in anticipation of what’s to come.
15. Next, I placed the patch...
15. Next, I placed the patch panel in place on the tailgate and roughly marked where to make my initial cuts.
16. A die grinder was also...
16. A die grinder was also used to cut out the portion of the good tailgate.
17. The result is a big...
17. The result is a big hole that you hope you can fill!
18. Since I’ll be TIG welding...
18. Since I’ll be TIG welding the new patch panel in place, I want to keep my gaps fairly small, say 1/8-inch at most. Therefore, I trimmed the initial opening small on purpose so that I could work it until the patch panel fit perfectly.
19. Once the opening is...
19. Once the opening is filed to the point where the patch panel fits perfectly, it’s time to start tackin’. I’m using a Lincoln square wave TIG 175 machine with 1/16-inch ER-70S-2 welding rod for this job.
20. To keep the panel flat...
20. To keep the panel flat across the entire length of the repaired area, I used the same technique shown earlier, except this time around, I couldn’t find the same piece of angle iron!
21. Working my way down...
21. Working my way down the face of the panel, I use a pair of deep throat C-clamps to hold the sheetmetal flush while I tack weld.
22. Using these same techniques...
22. Using these same techniques across the bottom and pretty soon this is what the repaired section will look like. I start out alternating from side to side, making a tack weld about every 3 inches. I continue this pattern until the tack welds are roughly �-�-inch apart.
23. Then it’s time to knock...
23. Then it’s time to knock ’em flat. I’ve found that grinding down the weld in incremental stages is easier than trying to knock down a fully welded panel. It builds up less heat, which results in less distortion, and is generally quicker in my opinion.
24. Here’s the panel after...
24. Here’s the panel after the first welding/sanding session is completed.
25. Another pass with the...
25. Another pass with the TIG welder, continuing to alternate location to keep the heat down, and the panel is completely welded in place.
26. A little more work with...
26. A little more work with the sander and here’s the finished product. By extending the panel all the way down past the bump to the brake allowed the big flat section to remain one piece, without the chance of creating a seam.
27. This also makes the...
27. This also makes the repaired section stronger and stiffer since the seam is on a ridge as opposed to a long flat section of sheetmetal.