Wampus Cat

[TxCajun]

Tailgate Dents

The tailgate has seen a rough life and has a number of large dents. The ones in the double wall areas at the top and bottom are particularly hard to repair due to the 16 ga thickness.

In the first picture, the bondo in the upper part of the panel is hiding a gash about 1/2 to 5/8 inch deep. After cleaning off the bondo, I tack welded on a "pull plate" and then pulled on this area with a slide hammer and hook attachment that I had previously made. After initial pulls, I also tack welded on a nail that I could then pull on with a pair of vise grips and the slide hammer. (I forgot to take a "before" picture; this just shows "after" pulling.)

Using this process, we were able to reduce this gash to about 1/16 inch deep at the top and 1/8 inch deep at the bottom. I'll probably work this area a little more, and then move on to the other dozen tailgate dents since the process seems to be working.
.

[TxCajun]

Tailgate Dents (cont'd)

Generous layers of Bondo covered some pretty deep gouges, dents, and rust holes along the lower, double-walled area of the tailgate.

That 16 gauge metal is proving to be very tough to metal work especially with no access from the backside, so I just cut out and replaced the damaged areas.
.