So on fridays i get off work early, usually around 2ish so i stopped by the store and picked up a 12 pack of my favorite adult beverage and headed home and got to work on the tailgate. I made really good progress tonight.

Material: None (already ahd everything)
Time: 7 hours

I continued on by removing the large metal top frame of tailgate. It is held on by 8 screws from the back side and two pop rivets that hold the metal bracket to the main frame. The metal over piece then connects to these metal brackets underneath on each end. I took the screws out and then took a cut off wheel to the 4 rivets (accessed by the sides of the tailgate. Took a screwdriver and a 5lb hammer and drove it underneath in about 6 spots and hte whole thing came off. Much easier than i thought it would be.
The middle "FORD" plate is held on with 8 screws from underneath. Had to drill out 4 of them as they snapped from being so rusted. Need to go to lowes and jsut get 8 new stainless screws to match as this piece will go back on when reassembly and paint is done

I took angle grinder out and started sanding with wire wheel to cut the layers of paint off and then finish with a DA with 40 grit paper. I couldnt believe it but there was only 2 small rust spots hidden behind that big metal frame that was sandwhiched on.. YATZEE!!!

Sasnded everything down with 220 grit after complete bare metal and then sprayed the whole thing with 3M etching pepoxy primer. This is of course not final primer but the color shows really well all the small dents and holes that need to be filled. Its tough to see the highs and lows when its all bright shiny metal. Sanded the first coat of primer down with 600 grit paper with a nlight touch and then reapplied a second coat.

In the pictures you will see me pointing to all the small micro holes that i will fill. I am also backfilling all the holes from the big metal top piece. It attaches with screws from the back as i mentioned earlier in this post. It also has some holes that run along each side. Those will all get body filler. Im also going to plug the holes on the top and bottom of tailgate. There are 4 holes each on the top and 4 holes on the bottom. The only holes left will be the 8 small holes for re-affixing the "ford" emblem which i have painted matte black (still have a sand and another coat to go on it but it looks great already)

Hope to finish body filler tomorrow and get sanding done by sunday and shoot final layer of primer (white).

The back side is in damn good shape, it just needs a light sanding to get rid of paint and then primer and respray, will do that sometime this weekend or upcoming week as well. I will also be painting the long top "arrow" piece matte black as well. Once the whole tailgate is painted the calypso orange with the matte black ford and that arrow painted it should tie in nicely with the rest of the orange and matte black accents on the truck.

Have already arranged to paint it at my friends shop next weekend after hours so hopefully by next Sunday ill have a tailgate.. WOOT!!

 

John, you don't mess around. Lookin' good!!!

 

Looks good bud! It looks like that one rust spot did end up being the worst of the whole thing

 

yea, there are a bunch of small pin holes here and there but thats not a big deal. Im not going to get to OCD with the tailgate, after all i will probably end up beating it to death with stuff over the next couple years as well..lol
Two biggish dents to contend with. one on the front and one on the back. I completely finished the back this morning and just took a torch to the dent on the back side and straightened it up, good as new. The other dent is on the front other side edge. Going to do the front tomorrow as i want to spend some time with it, since its what everyone sees..lol

 

Got up early this morning and decided to show the back of tail gate some love as i hadnt done anything to it. It was in pretty good shape.

Time: 6 hours
Material: (already had everything)


1. Sanded it down using 40 grit on a DA and grinder
2. Threw down 1st coat of epoxy primer
3. Used some bondo to fill in about 25 small micro holes and one dent.
4. sanded that down with 220 grit
5. put on second coat of primer

The back side came out pretty good. Theres one low spot in the middle that i need to touch up. May not even mess with it at this point, it will be facing inward and i will be devoting most of my time to the outward facing side. I will start on that in the morning. Its time for a summer pool party and i could use a soak and a beer...lol

 

Looks like I got some work ahead of me, got to pop the difference cover off and see what let go, really hoping it wasn't the ring and pinion. Also got to change the water pump, then see if the fan quit or if I got a wiring issue.

 

Yeah that sucks, Larry. Seen the video you have. Doesn't sound good.

 

Yea it sucked, I'm almost positive I was going out. If I would of, I'd of been the first one out all year.

 

Verdict is in on why I only had 2wd...








It's a bad sign when you pop the cover off and the first thing you see is water pour out, and the first thing you hear is metal hitting the drain pan.

 

I snagged a Clay Bar kit yesterday, and just finished going over Shari's 08 Escape. I was sweating like a pig, but it really wasn't too bad to do, and I went over the car completely in just about 2 hours.
What a huge improvement, before the entire surface felt like wet sandpaper. Smooth as a new paint job now. When she works from home Tuesday, I'll get a good coat of wax, and sealer on it. Then on to my 2011 F150.

 

I need to do that to the wife's car too, I've never used a clay bar though.

 

It really wasn't bad to do bud. Wash the car really good first. All of my car cleaning, washing stuff is Meguiars, cost a little more, but you usually get what you pay for. And get the clay bar kit, it comes with a good micro fiber towel, two clay bars (None of these clay bars are big) and a bottle of stuff to keep the bar lubed, so it glides on the surface.
I couldn't believe the difference it made on Shari's 08 Escape. Before I did the car, the whole thing felt like sandpaper. Now it's super smooth, and I need to get a good coat of wax or sealer on it. That may happen tomorrow morning.
Do NOT, drop the clay bar on the ground! If you do, throw it away, it will pick up everything it touches.
Then cool off like I did on the front porch with a few/several cold ones.

 

that sucks about the damage in the diff..
the secret to claying is wetness.. make sure to keep a water sprayer with you and constantly keep surface wet. You dont want to clay on a dry surface. Fold the the clay constantly on it self. Its an amazing before and after differance. Do the strokes all in one direction for the vehicle.. All up and down, side to side. Do not do circular patterns. You will need to put a wax on it as soon as your done.
Like bob said, if you drop that clay. do NOT use it, it will scratch the crap out of your vehicle.. its an easy job, just time consuming.

 

I washed a panel at a time, then used the clay bar right afterwards. I should have gotten a good coat of wax on yesterday too, but my back was finished for the day. Shari works from home tomorrow, so weather permitting, it will get waxed while I start my second mug of coffee.

 

This was the EX about 5yrs ago after the claybar., two rounds of polishing, and two coats of wax. I even did the glass. Truck was better than new. It needs to be done again...bad.