im loving the tailgate idea it makes me think about pinching my dads old pickup tailgate he has in his garage but i was thing what to do about the top half and it thought about using the top half of a fibreglass one peice.
That's not a bad idea that although I want to try forming a piece of 6MM lexan to the curves of the back end.
Absolutely love this project. Top work mate... Although you've nicked my idea of a split tailgate lol (not really haha...ive never told anyone just had it in my head for years lol) altho i was going to make it out of a one peice fibrglass and cut it in the middle and fibreglass the cuts up.
You probably have to add a lot of the strengthening to the inside or it would tear off if you put any weight on it but it'd be doable.
After much deliberation about how to lock the tailgate I've decided to go with a simple squeeze lock that will retract two pins from the door frame. Nice and simple and it'll barely cost me anything to build.
I started out by cutting a hole for the pinch tabs in the centre tailgate.
Then I drilled a hole in each side for the door frame for the pin to go into.
Last week a I cut a couple of thick steel squares and drill a 10MM hole in each to give the pin a little more support at each end. I've also spotted some little nylon top hats and the hardware store that I might insert into them.
The top of the frame was in dire need of strengthening so I made a top cap from 1.5MM steel and welded it on. This was unbelievably hard to bend but it's stiffened the frame up brilliantly.
