1967 Ford Country Sedan - Magic Tailgate Repair Question

All the Ford keys were double cut from 1965 onward. The round keys were in a reverse pattern. Some wagons may have only had one key,like my '56 Country Squire. The other thing that occurred to me is that the tailgate glass had to be down on the earlier Ford wagons to open the gate either way. Maybe it was 1971 when that was changed such that the glass could stay up when the gate was opened as a door (pocketless weatherstrip).

 

I'm not sure about 1965, but at least '68, because I just remembered that one of my customer cars was a '68 Cougar, and it does have double-cut keys; I replaced the ignition electrical switch once and had to have the driver's door lock rebuilt. Damned memory....

 

Ours has 2 keys, and the PO lost the one to the tailgate. Luckily we were able to pull the inner panel & hot wire the glass down from a connector.
We too are assuming that we need a relay & original switch.
Q: is the relay truly necessary? What is its purpose? Could we bypass it?
Thanks for all the help.
BYW I've found patch seat vinyl in (they say) the original patters , and the body work is coming along...Dickson

 

You could bypass it, but the relay is there to protect the car's wiring, especially underdash. That way, the window power is not routed through the ignition switch directly, taking a big load off it. I'm not a fan of changing factory wiring design simply because I've been a victim of someone else's stupidity--had an under hood fire from a ground-out on a main wire because the PO replaced a fuse link with a piece of ordinary, run-of-the-mill wire, and it caught fire. This was on my '79 Malibu wagon 20 years ago.

 

Anyway, good show you got the window down; was there any problem in running it down? And did you test to make sure it would go up without problems?

 

Makes sense. Thanks
Window runs up & down well. Tailgate was full of old leaves. Cleaned it out , let it dry, and painted interior with rustproofing.
I'll grease the tracks before buttoning back up...

 

Cool beans. This would be a good opportunity to also check the window switch operation and remove the lock cylinder to have a key made. You can run the window 'up' with the tailgate laying flat, giving you access to the switch on the LH latch assembly and the lock cylinder clip from the inside.

 

If it were mine,I'd get the lock cylinder to a locksmith and have a couple of keys made. Really curious to know was it the oval key or the other key?
I got mine all buttoned up and had to go back in later to replace the motor's gear drive when it failed! It's those three disintegrating torque buttons.
Is the relay on your '67 on the driver's side firewall in the engine compartment? I have one there,but the tailgate glass goes up & down with the relay unplugged. Wait,lemme check that...
My testing shows that the relay is between the dash switch and the rest of the circuit. Therefore,the glass can be lowered and raised without it,but only at the gate.

 

Wouldn't any DPDT switch work at the dash?

 

If it's like most tailgate/power top switches with three poles you need a SPDT center off momentary toggle switch rated for at least 20 amps, maybe 30.

 

Hey I'm in Denver as well, and I went through this with my 68
First off if you have a glove box or door key I can't remember witch one is the same as the tail gate .
What I did was removed the tumbler from the glove box and door and brought them to a locksmith
And he made me keys. One of those will operate the rear window. If you need any help let me know
I've Ben through this already.
Robert H

 

Hello all, I just recently purchased a 1967 Ford country sedan and am also having issues with the rear gate. First off I have no outside crank, and stupid question but where is the switch located inside? Any insight would be much appreciated

 

This is where a power probe would be better than a test light it would help you to diagnose where you have power and if the ground is good. It can also provide a 12 volt power source to check the switch and motor

 

At the moment I'm having an issue try I ng to get the back panel of the gate off. Removed and the screws and tried my best to pry the cover off with no luck. The switch has power but nothing from the motor at the gate. Any recommendations on how to access the motor without getting the gate open?