Well I finally was able to get the Crown Vic over to the shop to fix the sagging tailgate. Walt's Water Works (they do auto leak repairs normally) has been slow so they said "come on over!" There is about an inch and a half of play vertically, so it won't close without help. Since there are no new hinge pins out there for the tailgate, they are turning a set out for me to match and putting in new bushings. The alignment is the tricky part but thankfully the repair manual is better than most that I have seen with a lot of alignment cues and exploded images of the sections. So soon I can use it as a wagon again! If you are in SE Virginia, look up Walt's Water Works in Chesapeake, VA. He is an old car nut too, and loves to work on old cars, and he is not too busy right now.
Yeah...hope it works out, jax. If it does...hats off to Walt! Be sure to give us an update. Walt needs good print here if he rebuilds that gate with new machined parts to work properly.
Update It looks like the hinge pins weren't too bad but the bushings were shot. Getting parts for the tailgate is next to impossible. The guide piece for the upper lock was worn down, so Walt is welding and sanding in a new piece that he made. There's also a "rider roller bushing" on the botttom hinge that needs replacing, so they are figuring that one out. So far so good though!
