Rusted out 1st gen. tailgate.

[mechagouki]

My new 89 runner has generally very good sheet metal, but the angled part of the tailgate just below the glass is perforated with rust in several places. Now the obvious, though not cheapest option is to source a rust free gate and swap it in, I've also seen a company that sells new fibreglass skins that you bond onto the tailgate frame after removing the rusted metal. The thing is, the gate below the angled section looks great, no rust behind the license plate, and of course it's the same nice metallic ice-blue as the rest of the body, has anyone successfully repaired a tailgate with this problem, or is it not worth trying?

 

[rustbucket]

Option A: source new rust free tailgate at junk yard or here. ( that's what I did, scored a rust free gate with window for 50 bucks at my local yard)

Option B: remove gate from truck ,gut it the cut out bad metal and weld in new metal. Paint. Done

Option C: fiberglass shell....never worry about rust again....(my vote)

 

[Nervo19]

Another option is to gut the tailgate, remove all rust and repair the rusted through areas from behind with fiberglass mat (not cloth) and epoxy. Then do final filling with something like metal bondo. This will be cheap and you can get all them materials at Walmart or an auto parts store. Be sure to wear vinyl or nitrile gloves.

 

[mechagouki]

Thanks for the responses, I think i'm going to try to repair it, partly because I can't find a rust free gate for sale anywhere, partly because I'm cheap, but mainly because the gate is generally in very good shape.

 

[slacker]

have a look here hatch skin install

super easy to install .. Canadian as well !!


.

 

[mechagouki]

Well, the gate is fixed, I had a guy recommended to me and he did a great job, cut out all the rust and welded in shiny new steel, totally kept the shape of the original panel, and repaired all the smaller holes inside the panel with fibreglass. the windshield had cracks all down one side from rust in the frame - he pulled the old glass, repaired all the rust and put in a new piece (with a nice blue sunstrip) and replaced all the chrome without damaging it. It maybe wasn't the cheapest option, but when I consider the price of a new gate and the hassle of doing the swap and repainting a whole gate I think it was a pretty good deal. Will post up some pix when I get the chance.

 

[Nervo19]

What did he charge you?

 

[KidVermicious]

What did he charge you?

This. Details, man, details!

 

[mechagouki]

:lmao:

It's not all about the bottom line you know!

OK, so he charged me $600 tax in. In my head I break this down as follows:

New glass: you can get it done cheap or you can get it done well (if you know somewhere to get it done cheap and well, congrats), cheap is $150, the highest quote I got was speedyglass at $440, neither of these included cutting out and repairing the rust - so I'm going to say $300 for the windshield work is a good deal.

Tail gate; I replaced the gate on my old 2nd gen by myself, out in the open (I have no shop or garage) with no help. I paid $250 and tax for a Hilux Surf gate that I had to haul from one side of Toronto to the other, I then had to strip the old gate, figure out the differences between the NA and JAP wiring and put the whole thing back together, no small feat for someone with almost no auto-repair experience - I'll estimate it took me 10 hours all told, and I'll be cheap and only pay myself $15 an hour for that time. For the other $300 I got my original gate stripped, all the rust cut out, new metal welded in on the outer skin withoutchanging the original shape of the panel and fibreglass repairs to all the small to medium holes inside the gate that had formed around the plugs that hold the rain seal in place, all work completed in 24hrs from dropping off the truck.

I know I could've done it cheaper myself, but could I have done it as well or as fast? I have a little rust on the fenders which I will try and fix myself, but considering you can buy pattern fenders for about $75 I don't think that will be a tough job. I'm happy with what I paid, and based on what people are paying for solid 1st gens up here these days I can consider it an investment I think.

 

[KidVermicious]

That's not shabby. Did that include paint?

 

[mechagouki]

It included 2-part primer, I wanted to do the paint myself, it's an easy colour to match, that pale metallic blue that you still see on late model Toyotas and Lexus.

 

[Hyde802]

Got pictures of the repaired spots before and after?

 

[mechagouki]

I forgot to take before pix, sorry, I know a comparison would have been useful. Basically the tail gate was rusted completely through in many places along the edge of the rubber seal that sits up against the glass, and also in several places inside where rust had started and spread from the holes that the weather strip clips plug into. around the windshield there was the usual rust along the top and at the lower corners, the rust at the top was bad enough to let water in when it rained, and the rusting down the left side of the frame had caused several 3" long horizontal cracks all down that side of the glass, it`s basically pretty typical for any 1st or 2nd gen truck up here that hasn`t been garaged for most of its life - I will take pictures of the repairs today and get them up.