Tailgate lower seam construction

[chalkywoods]

The bottom couple of inches of my tailgate is rusted to death so I've chopped it.
eg:


I'm making the new panels myself. The outer skin is wrapped round the inner skin at the edges, giving you 3 layers of metal, but I can't work out how they are attached together. There's no sign of spot welds or anything.



Can anyone give me a pointer on how they are fixed? Seems like a perfect spot for water to get in between if it's not done well

Thanks!

[multisi]

Just pressed over like the rear edge of the outer A post panel.

[cobblers]

Yep, you're right - Just folded tight over with a smear of sealer on the outside and a quick spunk of cavity wax on the inside, sometimes.
That's why the rust like they do.

[chalkywoods]

Thanks, I thought that could be the case. My fold doesn't lie as flat as the factory one so I'd have gaps. I'm tempted to put a small weld along that edge but is that asking for a load of warp?

[chalkywoods]

Finished this a few weeks ago before a trip down to Wales. 1.5mm sheet (WAY too thick and hard to bend) for the inner and outer, wrapped round, tacked in place and with plenty of drain holes drilled. There's a tiny lip about 10mm above the bottom of the original tailgate which I thought would be too hard to replicate.

My biggest mistake was not getting the lock fitting before starting to weld, realised it was in the wrong spot halfway through and had to chop a bunch.

The final welds, grinding, sanding, filling (right side had previous repair) and priming was done in an afternoon so the finish could be a bit better, but I'm happy with the functional quality. Seams were sikaflexed, everything I could get to was painted and gave the insides a good wax.
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[lefty67]

Nice one you've made a good job of that

[chalkywoods]

Cheers, the switch from gasless to gas welding has made my life a lot easier