Amazing to see just what is possible if you have mad skills. Makes me want to attempt some work that I might otherwise just farm out. NO MAD SKILLS HERE....yet but you gotta get started if you wanna learn. right?
Tommy, I'd suggest to do as I did here to get your feet wet......Start with someone else's car! Had the day off today and picked up some fresh sandblasting media so I could finally finish the inside of the gate. One thing I noticed, even though the weld dots were planished as we went, you could see where the metal had shrunk from welding around the lower perimeter of the bead detail. As the inside (bottom) of the bead did not shrink, this caused the metal to deform in the shape of an arc, or concave bow. To help to remedy this situation, and since we had already stretched the welds a bit, I thought I'd try my hand at shrinking the bottom area of the bead detail.. I put the heat tip in the trusty dent puller.... .......And working alongside the lower edges of the bead..... ....was able to get most of the deformation out. Some of the other shrinks outside our repair area were to help flatten out where the "loading side" of the tailgate has been used and abused over the years. Test fitting some of the internal components: Why is it I always miss something.....one more piece to bend up.......
Wow I cant believe the quality of your work on this tailgate....but I gotta ask how many hours do you have in it??
Would you mind terribly if I sent you my Olds wagon tailgate? Mm, I wonder how much it would cost to send a tailgate from California to Maryland and back. Great work. It will be my inspiration when I get to that point. Thanks for sharing.
A heated dent puller???? I've done a bit of metal work here and there, but have never heard of one, tell us more. You are a true craftsman.
It would have been cheaper to find another tailgate. But then, who knows what you get, may have ended up doing the same work... Most have the same rust on the inside tailgate and repops aren't produced. So find the rust now and fix it while its cheap....ie: before paint goes on. But considering the new skin, the inner gate repair, and all the paint prep before reassembly, you're looking right around 1K easy. That's why it's posted, to show guys like yourself how to take the bull by the horns. As suggested above, it does get pricey, but if you're doing it yourself, the labor is a wash, right? The dent puller shown above uses the three pointed "throwing star" shaped consumable for pulling dents. It fuses to the panel, pull the dent, and about a quarter turn will break it free, ready for the next spot. A bit quicker than using the stud gun style puller, but they have their advantages also. So you remove the throwing star, and the heating tip is inserted in its place. It makes the small heat marks shown above, and makes nice, small, controlled shrinks. It's not out of the ordinary to have 1000 or better shrinks in a resto job using this tool. But I believe some of the stud gun welders also may have a heating tip optional accessory. An option to check for before you buy one.....whichever style you choose.
Today's progress, we'll start by showing more shrinks and the results in straightening the bead details..... Checking the angle to form up the second stiffener brace..... In the booth for a good coat of epoxy primer before all the parts get welded together......
Amazing work! You are a fine craftsman. Thanks for spending the time to post all of the pics of your work.
1K to repair a nomad tailgate really sounds fair to me. i have observed a friend that does metal work while he was rebuilding the lower half of a 55' nomad tailgate and i do believe the bill was over $1500! he does use ZERO-RUST in all the "can't get at area's" after he has corrected them. folks have to realize even parts in dry climate need fixing after so many years. this thread rocks!
Thanks for the comments fellas. Now that the 36 GMC has left the building, back to some unfinished business.... A bit more progress on the tailgate, locating all the plug weld holes: Welding in the support braces: welding in the hinge mounting brackets: All primed: I'll let this cure for about a week and mount it back to the body before fitting up the new skin...
Well, between a couple trips overseas for the day job and just life in general, I really have put this off long enough. My Nephew Chris came over today and gave me a hand fitting up the tailgate. The re-pin job on the hinges was finished just before Christmas, so we got those installed and fitted up the bare inner tailgate to see how it fit the hole... ..and then set the new skin in the hole to see how it looked... Prior to putting these two pieces together, the areas inside that will face each other were scuffed. After assembly some fresh epoxy primer will be flowed around the perimeter so this will hopefully last another 55 years. Major tools we'll be using today, a door skin hammer and a small shot bag for a dolly. With both pieces in place, bolted to the car, the lower corners were folded to help hold things in place, then worked the sides. As the sides were folded we checked the gaps as we went... Before folding the top edge, we installed the upper gate to have as a reference... Working the top edge.... The lower edge is folded partially, but was awkward to finish that close to the body, so it will come off and be completed on a door stand. The upper gate gaps aren't quite as nice as the lower, so this will be another area that we fine tune the gaps....
Really missed you not posting on the site, sure have missed the great work that you do. Everything looks good on the rear door. Hope you had a great Christmas and have a Happy New Year.....Jim
Hey Mac, This build just keeps gettin' better! What's the old trade saying? "beat to fit & paint to suit''- doesn't apply to this build, however. I hope the cowl, rockers & floor are in better shape than the roof & arse end were. " Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "
Ha! Yeah, the painter catches all the hell, right? The cowl, rockers, and floor have been done also Thanks for the comments guys..
great tech post bro, nice work indeed! These are so valuable to show others some projects are approachable! Cool! ~sololobo~
Excellent work. Very inspiring, but You made it look so easy. I went to my garage, tried some, and it isn't I am dissapointed now
Thanks for the comments guys... Mocked up the tailpan today so the bottom gap could be set.. The tailpan didn't appear to be seated down snug, so I'm going to weld it in place before finishing the bottom fold on the tailgate skin. As the panel below the tailpan was rather pitted, it needed some cleanup before any epoxy can be applied. Until the next update..
Well, doing some final touches to the tailgate. One thing I didn't care for was how the corners folded when putting on the skin. So I unfolded the corners and thought I'd make a tool that would give me a nice "anvil" for forming a small radius. As the inner was rather close on the bottom corners my tool would need a relief so it would rest against the inside of the skin. Here's what I came up with, drilled a hole in the end of the punch, slightly offset from center, and cleaned away two sides for a nice corner tool... In use, and the result... Also had issue folding the top seam with the "standard" door skin hammer.. So as I had a spare, the hammer was refaced a steeper angle and dressed to a mirror finish.. For a better fit... Comparing the angle between the two.. All the corners were then finished off with a file, for a nice radiused corner.
Your work and ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. Let me know when you get the car finished and take it to a local car show, I'd like to check it out.
Wow Beautiful! I have been putting this off on my comet wagon for to long too... I hope mine is as bitchin in the end