Replacing the tailgate

[Mazzyh]

Hi

My tailgate has suffered major damage and it's easier to replace it than repair it. Has anyone got experience of this? It's a 72 plate pre facelift model.

My specific questions are:

How difficult is it to remove the trim to get to the nuts that hold tailgate to the body?

The two wiring looms - where is the best place to disconnect them? One has a connector near the door hinge area but the other doesn't, so how hard is it to extract the other one and rethread it into the new tailgate?

The replacement tailgate has everything on it thankfully but they cut the loom that isn't connected at the hinge area. Before I start damaging things, I thought it better to ask.

There's a very useful thread and linked webpage that rcEng provided about the trim on the lower part of the tailgate but beyond that, I'm in the dark.

Many thanks.

 

[Alb]

Does this help?

 

[Mazzyh]

Thank you!!! That's really helpful.

Thank you so much!

I'll report back when I've done it (or if I encounter any issues).

 

[Mazzyh]

Interestingly, what I thought was a cut loom is actually the washer pipe. The other two wires, which look like earthing wires are intact.

So far so good.

 

[Mazzyh]

I've replaced the tailgate. It was surprisingly easy. For anyone doing this in the future, here's some tips. The tailgate I got was complete with lights and wiring looms. The left one, which is the main loom has a plug in the end. The other, as I mentioned, has the screenwash house and a couple of wires.

Don't remove the intact loom - it's far easier to disconnect the old one. The plug is on the C pillar, so you need to remove the rear passenger side trim - just enough and then the C pillar cover. Once you've done that it's just a simple plug in and go.

The other side required the existing loom so before removing the damaged loom from the new tailgate, attach some string or wire and then pull it through. That was you can connect the new loom and pull it into the tailgate. Because it has multiple plugs on it, I used masking tape to make it as flat as possible with nothing dangling. It then goes through more or less easily.

All worked fine. I'm still trying to adjust it to fully lock but that's today's job. As there has been some deformation of the rear, I'm beginning to think I need to beat out the aperture a bit.

So far, so good and I'm now watertight

 

[Alb]

Did you pop in the wiring for a rear dashcam at the same time? Seems like a good opportunity.

 

[Mazzyh]

I didn't. I didn't actually think about it. Still time. No tailgate trim is back on yet as I'm still trying to get out to close properly. It will close and lock but it's just not enough to tell the car that it's closed.

The crash bar was also badly crushed, so I've bought one from a breakers. The bumper is going to be a challenge as it's severely cracked and split in multiple places.

I'm enjoying the challenge so far. Lovely car though. I had a ZS EV from new but sold it 2 years ago with only 4000 miles on the clock. Because it was new (and I'd never had a new car before) I was nervous about taking it anywhere it could get damaged etc. Silly really. So getting this 3 year old with damage is perfect. I intend to use it at every opportunity instead of my ICE car.

 

[Mazzyh]

All done. Yes, I did have to beat out the rear but used a hydraulic pump to do it then carefully reshaped the bent areas. It's pretty neat and looks almost like nothing has happened.

The crash bar was very bent so got a second hand one. There's another thread about the bumper but in short, I repaired it by plastic welding even though it was severely damaged and in multiple pieces. That too has worked and now the car is sorted other than respraying the tailgate and bumper.

 

[vpug]

All done. Yes, I did have to beat out the rear but used a hydraulic pump to do it then carefully reshaped the bent areas. It's pretty neat and looks almost like nothing has happened.

The crash bar was very bent so got a second hand one. There's another thread about the bumper but in short, I repaired it by plastic welding even though it was severely damaged and in multiple pieces. That too has worked and now the car is sorted other than respraying the tailgate and bumper.

Hi
Would you have any pics of the damaged tailgate and floor before and after, just out of interest as I am doing the same repair.

Thanks

 

[Mazzyh]

Stupidly I didn't take a picture of the inside but it was deformed and pushed back by about 4 inches. What I can tell you is that it's not hard to get it back out.

My method initially was to use a 1.5k hammer and a large rubber mallet but this didn't provide enough. So I took the carpet up behind the back seat. Behind that there is a wiring loom with a sensor that is fixed onto the metal lip.

Remove that so it just leaves the lip and then brace against it with wood. I used a simple scissor jack with wood on both sides. A large piece that spread the load across the rear of the boot (ie the bit that needs to be pushed out) and then a large 2x3 against that lip.

It came out easily but you need to go a bit further than the point you were aiming for because it does go back a little after you remove the jack. But it works well. Then I shaped the lip that the bumper fits over on the outside of the car and also managed to revive the box section that sits under the boot lip. The rubber mallet is the best tool to use for final shaping of the boot aperture. You can beat it quite harshly but it doesn't deform with this method.

The mallet will help you get the striker plate more or less in the right place with further adjustment being possible by repositioning the latch itself.

I was lucky in that the rear wings and lights were not damaged.

This is before. The crash bar was like a banana! However it did its job. It looks a lot better than it actually was. The bumper was very broken - multiple cracks, deformations and missing bits.

 

[vpug]

Hi
Would you have any pics of the damaged tailgate and floor before and after, just out of interest as I am doing the same repair.

Thanks

Hi
Very nice is that the one from Nottingham?
If so I was going to get it on Tuesday but I had just missed it.
Did your tailgate come from Wakefield?

Thanks

 

[Mazzyh]

Sorry! Yes, right in both cases.

I'm just sorting out the damp and smell in the car. Lifted up the rear seat. Oh my goodness, it's disgusting. Apart from being soaked, there's routing and mouldy food. There's a lot to do to get out nice. Couldn't work out why it was permanently misting up and why it stank. Now I know!

What did you get in the end?

 

[vpug]

Sorry! Yes, right in both cases.

I'm just sorting out the damp and smell in the car. Lifted up the rear seat. Oh my goodness, it's disgusting. Apart from being soaked, there's routing and mouldy food. There's a lot to do to get out nice. Couldn't work out why it was permanently misting up and why it stank. Now I know!

What did you get in the end?

Much the same, I had seen the tailgate for sale at Wakefield to go on your car and then when I missed out found a blue car thinking YES I know of a tailgate bumper and crash bar.
No you got in before me again and good for you.
Thanks

 

[Mazzyh]

Again, sorry!

I wanted a black one obviously but there wasn't one available at the time.

That looks about the same damage although the tailgate faired better than mine. Are you going to panel beat it or just replace it?

Glad you got something though. Looks nice otherwise.

I've never done this before so I'm learning as I go along but I've rebuilt classic cars over the years so I thought it couldn't be much different in the end.

By the way, this is what I'm dealing with inside

Don't ask!!! All I can tell you is it was very unpleasant.

Hopefully this will get rid of the terrible smell. Just need to find a way to get the moisture out of the seat foam.

 

[MG Clive]

By the way, this is what I'm dealing with inside
View attachment 43299

View attachment 43300

Don't ask!!! All I can tell you is it was very unpleasant.

Hopefully this will get rid of the terrible smell. Just need to find a way to get the moisture out of the seat foam.

Oh that's nasty mate.

 

[vpug]

Hi
Well at least I don't have to deal with that mess.
I went over to Wakefield last week and got the crash bar off the same car you got the tailgate.
I have repaired the bumper in the same way you have and will pull out the tailgate and back panel for now and lookout for replacements in same colour ( I do like factory paint ).
Was yours a cat n or s and are or have you mot it again. Thanks

 

[Mazzyh]

That's good.

Cat N, so no MOT required. Basically nothing really structural other than some pushed in rear and a bent crash bar.

I did have it checked over though and have it booked in for a service.

 

[Mazzyh]

I think I saved you from a serious mess! I dried the car out with a dehumidifier yet it still smelled bad and the windows were permanently misted up.

So I thought I'd check under the carpet. Oh boy, it was saturated - and I mean that literally. I estimate there must be about 2 buckets of water in the foam and floor. Just touching the foam produced a steam of water into your hand. So out came everything. If anyone wants to know how to disassemble the interior, I now can tell you it is not how the workshop manual describes it which must be for a completely different car - which if you look at their diagrams of the centre console, it's totally different (no AC controls etc).

Once the carpet came out, which by the way was mouldy under the seats and the console itself, the floor was sopping wet. Big pools of water. It's obviously been stored by the insurance company outside with no protection, so it's filled up with water over a few months due to the lack of rear windscreen.

It'll take ages to dry the carpet and foam underlay out. However it should start to lose it's odor and once fully dried, it'll be fine. Absolutely horrible though. The hardest stuff to deal with is the soundproofing in the footwells. It's hard to get out and unless you want to remove steering linkages (and I don't!) then it requires being cut. But even that, all the way to the front of the car and up the bulkhead was saturated. Capillary action I presume.

What was interesting was how many of the screws on bolts were loose, some being finger tight at best and others completely loose, particularly those securing the centre console.

Currently the car is back together so it can be used and also this gives me a chance to see if there are any other leaks that need sorting before the carpet goes back.

All in all, a lot of work but by the end I will have a car that's good and we will keep for years.

Here are some of the horrors!

These don't look that terrible but the reality was grim!

Once again, it's hammering down today and I have a long motorway journey to make, so hopefully any hidden leaks should become apparent.

 

[vpug]

We had a astra some years ago and the water drains in the sills had clogged up that did the same.
All trim out and around 50mm of foam just a big pung I placed the carpet on the ground and just kept walking over it till water stopped coming out, then got the vac on it.
I made a mix of water white,vinegar and lemon and spayed all over, it worked well smell went and mold never came back.
Thanks vpug