Tailgate window motor replacement

My '86 Country Squire seems to be going through a spat of little nit-noy issues lately. First it was the amp on the factory Premium Sound system. Now, it's the tailgate window. There is power going to the motor, as you can here the death throes of the motor as it tries to engage either direction, with either the key switch or the dash switch - same result.

I bought a new motor Sunday and went to replace it yesterday. Once the panels are removed, I find it is absolutely impossible to access any of the three bolts that hold the motor to the bracket! I've tried a box wrench, a ratcheting box, and an open-end, to no avail. My guess is that I'll have to drill the three access holes at the base of the tailgate, in order to access the bolts.

Have any of you replaced the tailgate motor on a '79 - '91 Panther platform wagon??? Did you go about it the way I described, or did you do it differently? I've looked online to find the factory procedure, or an excerpt from an FSM, but to no avail.:confused:

 

S#!t, I can't remember if the bolts are on the inside of the regulator (heads toward the cargo floor) or outside (heads toward the outer shell). The doors have dimples stamped into the shells that you drill and ream out to get a 5/16" or 8mm 1/4" drive socket on an extension in to each of the bolts. Look on the inside of the T/G shell to see if there are dimples to be drilled out to give you access.

 

Hmmmmmm.

Searching... Now if you were trying to replace a window motor in a Ford Focus, there's all kinds of videos on that............

 

I also keep forgetting about YouTube.

 

Nope, no dimples. It feels like the fasteners are towards the front of the car, meaning if I drill the three holes, I should be able to access the bolts, then fill the holes with plastic plugs, once I'm done.

 

F%&k filling the holes. I never did it on my or any customer's car, no one's gonna see 'em.

 

Yeah, but it is MY car.

 

*shakes head*

 

Duct Tape! Lots of old cars have tape over door holes.

 

And besides, to get the holes big enough to get the 1/4" drive socket through the hole, they need to be reamed out beyond 1/2" diameter, which means using the drill bit to do it, and that creates an irregular hole.

 

Old car doors and tailgates have irregular holes, ovals, and squares. Many covered with some sort of rubberized tape. Back in the good ole days they left irregular holes to make repairs and add parts.
Duct tape fights irregularity!
I used to add roofing tar paper to the inner door before the door panel was replaced. Some only used a black plastic liner.
Or you could waste money and buy Dynamat type sound deadener.

 

Nothing that plastic hole plugs won't take care of! You mean, you guys would actually leave the holes exposed? Those are BIG holes to have crap go into if you are loading cargo with the tailgate down. Not me, thanks.

 

Not if you use the rite bit.............

 

OH. I'm only familiar with tailgates having a panel over them like the doors do.
You need to show us a picture!

 

Don't have a pic handy, but the cover panel extends only to the point about four inches above the tailgate bottom. The bottom four inches is painted steel and is part of the body of the tailgate itself.

The weather on Saturday is supposed to be crap, so that is when I'm gonna dive in on both the tailgate and the radio amp jobs.