Hi guys,

I know the right thing to do would be to buy another one, but I have a serious lack of funds right now. Is there a way to cut down the tailgate I have to make it fit? I think its from a larger truck. Its way too tall, but in almost perfect condition.

Are they just taller (on the top) or is the text moved up as well? That would make it almost impossible to section it twice.






I thought I had a trade worked out, but the guys f-100 tailgate was too far gone for me to try to fix. Time is not a problem, nor is the steel fab equipment.


Dad just wants me to make a smooth one, but I want the truck to appear stock on the outside.

Suggestions would be appreciated,
Brian


Sorry about the pics, but they are the only ones I have at the moment.

 

If time isn`t a problem then I would try to make a swap for the proper one. It will be alot of work to cut this one down. As a guess I would think that it is probably a from different year as the boxes should be the same between the 1/2 tons and 3/4 tons in the same years.

 

The 8' express box was bigger than the std box, I don't know what your gate is from tho for sure. Looks like from the pix it needs to be shortened from the bottom to better center the lettering. If that's what you want to do, go for it only a purist would know the difference!

 

I am far from a purist. I just don't want a smooth gate. That would be easy to make. I was thinking to chop the top, but you are correct about moving the letters down. I need to look though the galleries and see where they are on a stock one.


The few people that have seen the gate in person, cannot identify what it is from for sure. Its the same width and made the same, just taller. I am not familiar with an express box. New one on me. Then again...most of this stuff is.

thanks AX.

 

Brian -

The lettering on my stock 56 gate was dead in the center of the gate height. Your letters are much higher. So, if you were to section it, it would be between the letters and the hinge. From the pictures, I'm guessing you need aboput 2 inches out of it, yes?

As I recall, it is a constant section thru the gate from about 3 inches above the hinge to almost the top. So, the sectioning would be rather straightforward. I would cut it using a fence on a band saw, so that the two cuts were exactly parallel, then tack it back together (being very careful with the heat).

Measure, measure, measure...then cut.

 

Its somewhere around 2"-3" too tall. I have not done exact measurments yet.

Are you talking about a vertical band saw? I don't have access to one of those.

I will have to look at it carefully and see what I can figure out. As far as the welding...I know.....heat can destroy it.

Perhaps I can adapt some sort of inside latch and cable while I am doing this and eliminate the chains/latches too. Will just have to see. Budget once again comes into play. It will probably stay stock.

 

Brian -

I hear ya on the budget thing. And yes, I'm talking about a vertical band saw and using a fence (or gate) along one gate edge to keep the cuts true.

I don't have a band saw either, but I could get access to a few of them. And i would do exactly that on this job. The band saw really is the right tool here. Quick, too.

The cutting can be done using only hand tools (which is usually my method). I would lay out the cut lines on the gate face in permanent marker. The I would cut it using my trusty 4 1/2" angle grinder and cutoff wheel, leaving a little excess, and dress the cut edge to the marked line using the grinder and flapper wheel.

The problem with this method is that you need the cut on both sides of the box sections at the gate edges to be a perfect match also. That's a little tougher by hand than by using the band saw. The cut thru the center of the gate is not a problem.

You can do it!!!

(We can talk about welding tips later, if you need to. I'm getting pretty good at that now.)

 

Brian, I can probably take some pictures and get some measurements of the 53-?? tailgate I have. Just let me know.

hotrod48

 

Just thinking out loud here.......The shop where dad works (steel fab shop) does not have a vertical band saw. They have a huge flat one for cutting beams, but the tailgate won't fit in it.

They use a "circle saw" (no idea whats its called), with a metal cutting blade for plates and gratings sometimes. That might work even rigged up with a guide off to the side for the cuts (to keep it straight). I am sure it would cut straighter than I can with a grinder/cutoff tool.

Again...just thinking out load.

Hotrod just posted while I was typing. If you would be so kind, I would appreciate it. The width is fine. Its the height and where the letters are that need to be close so it doesn't look horrible.

 

I have'nt heard of this gate before either,are you sure you want to cut it? Other wise go for it, I once cut a set of .060 over pistons down to .020 because they were all I had...and a teacher told me all I had to do was figure out a way to do it. That 52 merc sounded good too.Try a sawsall ? Heat will cause warping, be careful.Like previously said, cut it, leave some extra steel,then clean it up and tack or rivit a piece of backing steel inside letting it stick out a little.Then fit the other side toit with the backing steel inside,rivit or tack weld to hold it all together and finish welding a little at a time or stitch weld.Oo-r-r leave a little extra steel,about 1/4,use a flanging tool to make an overlapping joint.Then rivit or tack weld and carry on... Know any welders,sheetmetal guys or autobody people for more in depth help?

 

You could use the chop saw (the circular one) for cutting the ends true and use a cutoff wheel to cut the the sheet metal across the center. Dress the edges by draw filing with a wide flat file. Stand the panel up with the cut edge up, place the file horizontal at a shallow angle to the length of the cut, hold the file with a hand at each end and make long strokes down the length of the cut. Another easier way to get a good fit on the sheet metal is to cut the ends to size and the center a little oversize on both sides. clamp the two pieces together with the center sheet metal overlapping and a scrap spacer ~ 1/16" between the end pieces. Use a fine metal cutting blade on a saber saw to cut down the overlapped pieces. That way even if your cut isn't perfectly straight it won't matter, the same inacuracies will be in both pieces so they will still line up. You really don't want an absolutely tight butt on the sheetmetal anyhow, you want ~ 1/32" (about thickness of two business cards) gap to reduce warpage. Still one more thought: is the panel such that you could cut it away from the frame right along the bottom edge, move the sectioned lower part of the frame up and weld the panel back to it along the edge? That would be a lot easier to finish than a seam down the center of a flat panel. That's the way doors are often cut when sectioning a body.

If you could send me a dimensioned cross section drawing of the tailgate I might be able to give you other ideas on the easiest way to proceed.

 

Brian, I have some pics and measurements for you. If you need anymore, let me know.

This one shows the overall height (19 inches): https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...102441&width=0

This one shows the distance from the top of "FORD" to the top of the tailgate (8 inches): https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...102443&width=0

This one shows the distance from the bottom of "FORD" to the bottom of the tailgate (8.5 inches): https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...102442&width=0

Note: For some reason the measurements in the pics doesn't match what I measured. I can go take some more that show what I measured or you can take my word for it.

hotrod48

 

seetwisted's thought on a backer strip is good, but I'd use a strip of 1/16-1/8" thick copper strip pop riveted to the back of both sides, The weld won't stick to the copper and the heat transfer properties will help reduce chance of burnthru. After you finish welding, drill out the rivets and weld up the holes.
If your tailgate is contoured like the one in the pix, I'd definitely wrap the bottom of the sheet metal over the bottom of the frame and weld it underneath!

 

Another option that may work, if you are short on funds would be to remount
the tailgate hinges lower. You would be drilling additional holes in your bedside stake mounting posts though. Looks from the outside would not be too objectionable. The tailgate also would not be level with the bed anymore when in the horizontal position. This idea also depends on how much too tall your piece is and if there is enough area below the gate to do this. Good luck.

 

I just hope that if there is anyone needing a taller tailgate they will see this post before you get around to cutting your tailgate - things like that have happened to me - lol.