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Labor Day Putting down your wrenches or time for MORE wrenching? 
Plenty of places to share. | | Click on image for the lowdown. 
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| | | Forums66 Topics128,004 Posts1,055,250 Members48,418 | | Most Online14,466 Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
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on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down with Ads! Again, thanks! | | | | Joined: Jun 2000 Posts: 2,773 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jun 2000 Posts: 2,773 | Ran over to Bowtie Bits at lunch and picked up a repop tailgate for my 69. No dents, a few scratches and handling marks. Is the black primer that's on it any good, or does it need to come off? And what should I do for prep before I take it to the paint shop? I'm unable to paint it with a gun at the moment.
Fred 52 3600 69 C-10
| | | | | Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 662 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jan 2001 Posts: 662 | The black primer on the sheetmetal I got was very nice - uniform and bound tightly to the metal. The satin finish just needed a good scuffing.
The gray primer was junk, and I guess it was there just to keep the metal from rusting on the shelf. With minimal effort it would flake off. It should all come off before priming and painting.
Take an awl or similar and scratch an inconspicuous spot. If it flakes, strip it all off. | | | | | Joined: Jul 2002 Posts: 59 Member | | Member Joined: Jul 2002 Posts: 59 | Fred T, I'm not saying this is the case with your repro tailgate, but I've seen some really bad reports on some repros -- things like the metal is so thin that your hands will leave dents when you slam them shut and sitting on them bows them in the middle. Before you put money in paint, etc., you might want to install it and make sure your happy with the quality. 72 Sierra Grande - Maych Forget about "do it right the first time". Do it wrong the first time to learn how, then do it right the second time.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2000 Posts: 2,773 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jun 2000 Posts: 2,773 | Thanks for the replies. This is a heavy tailgate, Jeff (at Bowtie) told me that he quit handling the ones that bow when these came out. I will check the fit before working on it. Hadn't thought about that. Never before had to work with body parts that weren't genuine GM before.
Fred 52 3600 69 C-10
| | | | | | Anonymous Unregistered | | Anonymous Unregistered | Same tailgate from '54-'87 [ on stepsides ] & GM still stocks them. Nothing beats GM quality NOS parts. | | |
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