My J-4500

[Crankyolman]

Well, today was the day I decided it was time to call this tailgate as finished as I'm going to make it and move on to the other one. So I primed it one last time and mounted it on the truck.




If I were for sure going to keep it I would continue doing a bit more straightening and filler work but it doesn't look half bad. Now onward to tailgate #2.

[SOLSAKS]

nice job
the bumper looks good too.

dave in NC

[Crankyolman]

nice job
the bumper looks good too.

dave in NC

Thank you, the way the light is hitting it and the greasy finger prints make it look like there is a big dent on the upper right section although there isn't but there are still some small waves in the center section. It's certainly not perfect but way better than what I had and also way better than a lot of what's out there.


I actually scratched the bumper while installing the tailgate, which I will have to fix. The Kaiser gate doesn't lift out which makes it a little harder to install.


I think if I ever get my hands on another AMC tailgate I will make a youtube video of the conversion. I'm already thinking about trying to put something together from the pictures I took while doing this one.

[Compound W]

That looks terrific. Your hard work paid off. Why not keep it and store the other one until later; after you have the truck on the road and complete. I am only one of many who would love to find a tail gate as nice as either of yours. Keep it for now.
Get stuck in on the other little projects you have to finish and then decide. In the meantime, what a great story you have with this one. the stories make the trucks more valuable. The next owners of our rescued trucks will never know all that went in to making Jeep trucks live again, work well and look great.
Nice job.
Dan

[Crankyolman]

It seems kind of unfair for me to have two of what so many other gladiator owners have none of. I'm trying not to be a hoarder but I will finish tailgate #2 and think about things a while.

[rang-a-stang]

It seems kind of unfair for me to have two ...

NOPE! Not at all! You earned it.
A) You saved an almost unsaveable tailgate, then posted on how you did it so others who may come across a tailgate that is rough, may be able to save one
B) You turned an AMC tailgate into a Kaiser tailgate. Again, see A; in the future someone may come across an AMC tailgate but needing a Kaiser Tailgate they may buy it. Now it's doable because you have done/posted on it
C) FSJs have a way of multiplying. You may end up with another FSJ in the coming years and maybe it will need a tailgate. there is nothing wrong with keeping a spare tailgate. Heck, Sunbeam fanatic bought a NOS Cherokee WT body! That meant someone was hoarding a NOS body. That is WAAAaaaayyyy more unfair than a tailgate...
Sunbeam Fanatic's build

[Driftwood]

Please slap some paint on that primer job! I would hate to see your tailgate begin to rust.

I have been using Automotive Touch Up paint on my wag. Its a bit expensive but I buy it in a aerosol can.

You can see my spray paint project at my Valance and Tailgate paint touchup project

[Crankyolman]

Please slap some paint on that primer job! I would hate to see your tailgate begin to rust.

I have been using Automotive Touch Up paint on my wag. Its a bit expensive but I buy it in a aerosol can.

You can see my spray paint project at my Valance and Tailgate paint touchup project

I know primer is porous and should be sealed with paint and if I planned on leaving on there for a long time it would get painted but I don't plan on it being there for long and we are going into the dry season here. The metal underneath has been treated. The reason I stopped at primer was if I decide to sell I feel the new owner will prefer it to be in primer so he can paint it his own colors. If instead I decide to put it back I will finish the body work I started and paint it before putting it away.

[Crankyolman]

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!!!!


OK maybe not completely but it isn't a tailgate.


A while back I posted my plans for making my air filter housing a dual snorkel and did a little photo shop to show what it would look like. Well now that I have the fuel injection all taken care of I decided to proceed with making the dual snorkel happen.


I ran into a bit of a setback when I realized the 2nd breather I have was a little different from the stock one. different enough that it would be obvious, to me anyway, that it was made out of 2 different breathers whenever I opened the hood so that put the idea on hold.



Then when I went to pick up tailgate #2 there was an extremely rusty breather in the back of the truck that the tailgate seller let me have for my 2nd favorite price...FREE


It was pretty rough though but just what I was looking for



Since Monday is my Friday and I got the tailgates swapped out Sunday I didn't really feel like getting started on tailgate #2 so I started on the breather. I began by cutting off the snorkel from the junk breather. I took it apart and sand blasted it inside and out.



Because I am now running fuel injection I don't need the diverter to work and I didn't want to get blasting sand where it could do damage I removed those parts. I then tack welded the lower flap in place.





The actuator on top will be reinstalled once I get everything treated and painted but it won't be connected to anything.


That was as far as I got Monday.

[Crankyolman]

Today I took the breather off my truck after deciding where the 2nd snorkel should go.



I then cut the scrap breather up to serve as a temporary air cleaner and installed that.





It's ugly but it will keep the dirt and bugs out for a day or two.


I then began the process of converting. As luck, or AMCs design would have it the nipple for the oil breather is just to the left of where the snorkel works best so it didn't have to be moved.





I marked around where the I needed to cut the good breather.





and carefully cut it out





and carefully fitted the 2nd snorkel in place.





Then as luck had it our welder happened to walk in. He was working on a project for the company so had the TIG all set up and ready to go so I asked if he would tack everything in place for me.


A few minutes later and the 2nd snorkel was all welded in place.





So I now have a dual snorkel air cleaner but I still need to treat, prime paint and put the actuator back on which should be easy enough to do tomorrow.


I did notice that the engine seems to run better and smoother with the make shift open breather. I didn't expect that. I'm guessing the single snorkel is a bit on the restrictive side so I'm hoping the duel snorkel lets the air flow a little freer and helps the engine to breath better.

[Crankyolman]

This morning I got the air filter finished and back on the truck.



I think it looks pretty good and the engine is actually quieter and runs smoother which tells me the new fuel injection wasn't getting enough air with the single snorkel.



With that finished I turned my attention to tailgate #2.


There are a few things I don't think I mentioned about #2. One was the spot of rust where some moss had grown in the back of the truck



and the usual trailer dent that all of these have, but it had been filled with bondo.



So first order of business was to investigate those areas and see just what I have to do to fix them.


The rust is pretty straight forward. It will actually need a pretty significant area replaced






The trailer dent required removal of about 1/4 to 3/8 inch of bondo and this is what I found








Besides the dent it looks like there was a quarter size hole which had a plug brazed in place. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to approach this one but I will work it out.

[rang-a-stang]

it looks like there was a quarter size hole which had a plug brazed in place.

That looks like a bullet hole from a .45!

Your air filter looks amazing!!!

[Crankyolman]

That looks like a bullet hole from a .45!

I think it is a bit larger than that but if someone were replacing a bullet hole I suppose they might make a plug the size of a quarter. The entire dented area is about the size of a tailgate latch. Since I've already done one of those I might just cut that out and do it again.


My neighbor said he has a stud gun for pulling dents that I can use if he can find it so hopefully he finds it and I can use that, otherwise I'm not sure, maybe cut it out, maybe weld washers to it and use that for a slide hammer or maybe cut a plate out of the back side and pound it out then weld the plate back in.

Your air filter looks amazing!!!

Thank you. It was actually much easier than I expected. Of course it helps to have a welder who can make tiny welds on very thin metal. I'm actually surprised that there is a noticeable difference in how smooth the engine is and how much power it's putting out. I'm actually probably going to have to make an adjustment to the FI to compensate for the extra air. Looking at the data log it appears to be getting too much at idle now.

[Crankyolman]

That looks like a bullet hole from a .45!

I might have spoken too soon on that. This morning I took a closer look at the tailgate with a die grinder and a sanding disc and discovered the back side of the tailgate also had bondo. Under that bondo was this






That is a bigger messier hole that has also been plugged with a brazed patch. I cant think of many things that go in one size and come out bigger besides a bullet. So I'm thinking maybe it has been shot. If it was it happened a very long time ago.



I would sure like to know the story behind that one.


Other things I did today was straighten out the dents in the main field and cut out the rust.



Then I cut a patch panel out of my old rusted out tailgate









I just need to clean up the hidden rust, trim it up and weld it in place on tailgate #2





My plan is to make up a batch of rust remover and soak the lower part of the tailgate over my weekend so I can weld the patch in next week.

[Crankyolman]

Today I made the decision to cut out an area on the upper back side of the tailgate to gain access to the bullet hole dent. I figure I need to replace the plugs that someone else put in there and want to be able to treat and seal the hidden rust I knew I would find. I figured I need to weld in a patch on the lower part anyway so I may as well do one on the upper part since that went very well on tailgate #1.







The rust in the upper part isn't really all that bad but my plan was to soak the lower section in home made rust remover so I may as well do the whole thing.


Before I made the patch to fill the hole I cut it a little bigger in order to beat out a second dent that was just outside of the original hole.



That done I took what was left of the new metal I had bought for tailgate #1 and made a patch. Tomorrow I will bring it home, make up some sort of tub to hold it, make a batch of rust remover and get it soaking to derust it.



Thursday I should be able to start putting it back together and hopefully get it on the truck withing the next 2 weeks.