I've been stewing over this tailgate for years and I'd like to straighten it up and remove the dents. Many people tell me to leave it alone and like the 'patina', but I'm not so sure. It doesn't have to be perfect, just better.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to approach this project. Let me know your thoughts, thanks!
Mine was and still is bad I had a big dent on the top that I could not beat or heat it out so I ended up welding a piece of metal overtop like a second skin .I wish I would have drilled the spot welds out and bent it back to get access to the back ,I seen someone do that on a video and it worked out good .First you would have to straighten the tailgate so it is flat and before drilling the spot welds out your dents may come out by welding some washers so you can use a slide puller to get them out .
Show us pictures of the rest of the truck so we can make better suggestions.
If the rest of the truck is beat up, leave it alone. If the rest of the truck is really nice, by all means bring the tailgate up to the standard of the rest of the truck.
The beat up nature of Ol' Roy in general means the tailgate is staying the way it is. Notice the square angle iron welded to the bottom to repair rust damage (presumably). On the plus side I paid $10 for that beat up 1950 license plate instead of $100+ for a nice one that I would have had to get if the truck were all frou frou.
1950 Chevrolet 3100 (Ol' Roy)
1939 Packard Standard Eight Coupe (The Phantom) | 1956 Cadillac Coupe de Ville (The Bismarck) | 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 coupe |1966 Ford Mustang (Little Red) | 1969 Pontiac GTO (The Dishpit) I 1979 Ford F-100 | 1976 Ford F-150 (Big Red) | 1995 Ford F-150 (Newt)
