Well I put eighty miles on the car, running pretty good now that the old gas is all gone, developed a pinhlole in the radiator, took it out and repaired, drivers window regulator roller was bad, replaced that, still cannot get the tailgate to fold down, it opens sideways, but not drop down, removed inner panel and lubed rods, adjusted latch etc. can grab rod on drivers side with pliers and it will operate. Not sure of next step, at least it opens. polished old paint it looks good, need to find 3rd seat assy? also need thin quarter panel trim for drivers rear? same as 2dr? any ideas? Here are latest pictures. dead at work today so got quite a bit done!!
When I first got my 74 I had the same problem with the tailgate. After some lubing and simply operating the tailgate to the flat down posistion many times it finally started working, to this day it takes a little extra "umf" on my part to get it to go into the down flat posistion, I think it may just be the mechanical engineering of the time. Greasing every pivot point helped some, but it's still takes a bit of effort. The swing tailgate opens effortlessly, of course the sheer weight of the door probably helps. Your wagon looks awesome! Just some cleaning and buffing can make a world of difference. Nice job!
