Howdy strangers! Been a minute! Kids have gotten a old enough to ride with out car seats and without just generally tearing things up so I figured it’s finally time to bust the wagon back out. Looks like the regulator seized up but I just found out the the window is held vise grips. It moves pretty freely. How would y’all go about repairing this before I dive in here.
Not sure of the whole story,my advice is only based on the picture, but if it was me i would carefully cut out the compromised area of bad metal, then find a donor scrap body panel to cut a patch panel out of, form it, and trim it to match the area and "step" , then before i mig welded it in, i would try to "pick up" the 3 hole , hole pattern from the part in back and make a template pattern for hole location then weld in the patch panel and redrill the holes to match up with the part the bolts go in...although i dont have that problem something has fallen apart inside my 68 merc tailgate, and im going to have to tear inside of mine as well...good luck and please keep this thread going with pictures as you embark on repairs...so we all can learn from it!
Actually, I'd make an 'access' panel versus a 'patch' panel. It just needs metal forming, rather than welding, and it gives you ready access to the motor assembly. Which wagon do you have, Big G? I can't remember.
Does the area thats compromised have thru bolts that attach to the dark part in the background? i love the idea of a access panel! but it would have to be strong as it would be bolting "outside" edge margin wise the compromised area, as well as have to have the strength to support the the thru bolts that attach? to the dark piece in the background ...also if that area shows, the access panel would show as opposed to doing it like body work...also a access panel might require shimming "out" the dark part on the inside as a access panel would be sitting "outside" of the original mounting location of that dark part if alignment is an issue, thats if the dark part does attach to the compromised metal, an access panel is a great idea though...and could come in handy! if alignment of the dark part is an issue a person could JB weld on some flat wasshers to the back side of the access panel to put it back to the location when it was bolted to the original metal, also an access panel would be great for opening up once in a while to spray in some lube...consider if cosmetics matter, if you want an access panel to show or not, and what you want the end result to be....again please share your process!
Andrew, i got an 87 CP. you don’t have an interior handle for the tailgate do ya? So I was also thinking that the holes were from through bolts that had gotten ripped out due to a seized regulator. Reg. turned out to be good. What I found out while replacing the gears on the back window motors was that the bolts would be inside. There were 3 little dimples on the metal and the bolts were directly behind them. A 1/2” drill bit made a hole big enough for an 1/8” socket. I could have done it with a small wrench and actually started doing it that way when I noticed the indentations directly above the three bolts. I had already done a window motor in the front and know I didn’t have to drill anything or maybe it had already been done in the past. So I’m thinking someone removed the motor in the back and just didn’t have a big enough drill bit (or patience) so they went into mangle mode. I freaking LOVE the access panel idea. I will be on the look out at the swap meets for a cool latch to make this happen. I’ll be sure to post pictures whenever that happens. Here’s a pic of the rear left motor and one bolt left. I went to the parts store and they weren’t showing anything for a tailgate motor but I’m wondering if a rear left motor will work? The orientation seems to be the same.
It is that one, the LR. And unfortunately, all the parts I had are long gone. I can keep an eye out, but right now, no Panther wagons in the San Antonio or Austin junkyards.
