Tailgate question

[j.rigby15r]

I have a 64 swb. Trying to save my tailgate. It has a bunch dents and stuff throughout. Dose anyone make patch panels for tailgates? Primarily looking for the top part of the tailgate. If not what about using led?

[mongocanfly]

Any pics?....

[nsb29]

Led is a lot of work and if you don’t neutralize the acid 100% it will come back and haunt you. My tailgate was pretty bad and it took a lot of time to get it straight, a lot of dolly and hammer time and a stud gun to get dents out of the top rail, then just use a good body filter. I am very good with lead and enjoy working with it but wouldn’t use it on my truck.

[j.rigby15r]

I’ve got two different tailgates I’m trying to get one good out of.

[nsb29]

It looks doable to me the upper and lower rail actually for me was the easiest the hardest part was getting the letters in Chevrolet straight

[j.rigby15r]

Originally Posted by nsb29

It looks doable to me the upper and lower rail actually for me was the easiest the hardest part was getting the letters in Chevrolet straight

I am struggling getting the top rail and the ridge on the inside of the tailgate lined up.
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[MP&C]

You’ll have your best luck replacing side to side in its entirety. As your welds cool they will shrink, and the vertical welds especially will pull the weld seam and HAZ inward, or into a valley. Without access inside to planish/stretch the weld, you’ll be stuck with that defect.

[j.rigby15r]

Originally Posted by MP&C

You’ll have your best luck replacing side to side in its entirety. As your welds cool they will shrink, and the vertical welds especially will pull the weld seam and HAZ inward, or into a valley. Without access inside to planish/stretch the weld, you’ll be stuck with that defect.

I had thought about cutting the top off and hammering it out and then welding it back on.
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[Scurry67]

I had same issue with my tailgate. Plus it had a pretty nasty bow in the middle. Had a tough time wanting to cough up the dough for a new or repo, so I decided to split it and work it with a dolly and Hammer. The toughest part was getting through all the spot welds.
While I was at it, I cleaned the inside up. It's not perfect, but better than what I started with.

[nsb29]

[QUOTE=j.rigby15r;8551999]I had thought about cutting the top off and hammering it out and then welding it back on.
[size=1][i]Posted via
That would cause you a lot of extra work, you can pull those dents out. maybe Robert will chime in with suggestions he’s the real metal man. I do have a question, why did you cut the section out? your tail gate does not appear to have a rust issue.

[j.rigby15r]

[QUOTE=nsb29;8552321]

Originally Posted by j.rigby15r

I had thought about cutting the top off and hammering it out and then welding it back on.
[size=1][i]Posted via
That would cause you a lot of extra work, you can pull those dents out. maybe Robert will chime in with suggestions he’s the real metal man. I do have a question, why did you cut the section out? your tail gate does not appear to have a rust issue.

The previous owner cut the section out. I’m trying to patch it back together.
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