Looking for Woodgrain Tailgate Insert for 1970 F100 XLT

[Agskam]

I am looking for a decent used tailgate insert for my 1970 F100 XLT. Previous owner took a grinder to try to remove woodgrain, gave up and covered it with Mactac. I peeled it off and found the surprise in the attached pictures. Any help or leads or suggestions to modify what I have would be appreciated. Regards.

F100 Tailgate.jpg

[Bullitt74]

Did you mean to post more than one picture? I'm not quite understanding what the biggest issue is,

[DuckRyder]

Did he grind it off between the “F” and the “O” is that what we are looking at? If so its a shame because the rest of it looks to be in better than average shape.

I seem to recall that Bullett74 found something close detailed in his project thread.

[Agskam]

Hi. Yes, ground the wood grain between F and O. Right down to bare sheet metal.

[DuckRyder]

Have a look here:

http://www.fordification.com/forum/view ... 0&start=30

In fact you should probably read the whole thing, but I think that link will get you to your immediate concern.

[Bullitt74]

Thanks Robert

So the good news is you might have one of the nicer XLT tailgate panels in the country. So long as the aluminum underneath isn’t too damaged, you should be ok.

The tailgate panel needs to come off by taking out the screws on the inside of the tailgate. Put some clamps loosely, or get a second pair of hands so the panel doesn’t come off and smash on the floor.

Once off, you can remove the FORD letters to get at the entire panel. Then, use 3M vinyl wood grain and stripe remover to take off the rest of the vinyl wood grain. You may have to mask the rest of the panel off to protect it...not sure what the 3M remover will do to the black painted area.

Clean up the area and fill any dented areas with body fill, and smooth it out. Obtain some 3M Di Noc “Marine Teak” vinyl wood grain. This is the closest thing that we have found to the original wood grain vinyl. You may want to consider scuffing and repainting the black painted areas before applying the Di Noc.

The good thing is your bright aluminum is in good shape, and shouldn’t need polishing. That’s where it can get really complicated,

Good luck!

[Agskam]

Thanks guys. Great advice. Much appreciated.

[Agskam]

One more question. Sorry. The Vvivid website has several woodgrain finishes on offer. Do you recall which grain you chose?

[Bullitt74]

No worries - happy to help,

I ordered the Teak wood finish. Comparing it to the Dennis Carpenter reproduction side trim, it is a shade off. The grain is reasonably close.

This Vvivid product is much cheaper than the Di Noc, so unless you are going for concours correct, it’s an economical option.

I’d be willing to sell you a piece of my Vvivid Teak for a nominal fee. I think I ordered 4’x8’

Steve

[Agskam]

Thanks very much. I reread your post yesterday and realized that you did note it was teak so I ordered from Vvivid yesterday. Also ordered the 3M Woodgrain remover so will be ready to tackle the project in a week or so when everything arrives. Not a concours truck so a bit of a mismatch is fine with me. Cheers.

[Bullitt74]

It’ll look top shelf for sure! Looking forward to seeing your before and after pics

[Agskam]

Well, it took me about a year to put everything back together but I thought I would share a pic to show you the finished product. Thanks for the advice. The old woodgrain was removed using a 3M rubber stripping wheel. It took a while but the wheel took the material off quite nicely. I used the Vvivid Teak wrap. It is pretty close and for my truck which is a driver, I am quite happy. I am going to do the same thing with the trim now since Dennis Carpenter et al. no longer seem to carry the woodgrain trim. Thanks again for the advice. Cheers.