All - just bought a Colony Park and the tailgate only swings open, does not drop down. Apparently the mechanism is missing. Any ideas on where to get this mechanism? I understand a similar year Country Squire would work.
On my 71 ford wagon, the flip down option only works with the tailgate window down, you have to pull on the handle inside the tailgate with it closed, it took a little motivation to get it to go down but it finally moved, I think if they haven't been used in a while there will be debris in the hinge mechanism, it also could use some penetrating oil. The hinge pins tend to be worn out, they are similar to a passenger door pin so new ones may be available.
Thanks Bill. I'll have to check it out when I get it. Guy I bought it from said he looked at it and that entire mechanism was missing. So I'll have to dig into it and figure out if that's true or it's just stuck.
66 tailgate issue I have a 66 Country squire. If you have items missing, I can take a photo of the inside "guts". I just bought a set of rear seats from Sunman Ford Salvage in OK. They took some of the parts out of a Mercury Wagon, you may want to contact them as they are scrapping cars and winding down due to health issues. They have a website with all their inventory photographed. Good Luck, Richard
Richard. I'll take you up on those photos when you get a chance! I will call Sunman today. I found them yesterday and saw that they had a Colony Park - but then saw the closing notice. It looked like it was a year ago, but I'll give them a buzz. Thanks for the help here! Also, since you have a similar year car, if you have any other sources for parts for either the Country Squire or Colony Park I would GREATLY appreciate that!
Since you're in Virginia, there are a couple salvage yards you might try depending on where in Virginia you're located. Exterior sheet metal will likely be completely rusted, but parts like those you are in search of may very well be there. My guess is that any full size 66-68 Ford or Mercury wagon would share the same tailgate hinge parts, but I don't know for certain. Leon's Auto Salvage in Leon, Virginia is a 100 acre yard on RT 29 about 10 miles south of Culpepper, and maybe an hour north of Charlottesville. Most cars in the yard are from the 40's through 70's. Another yard that has lots of 60's cars is Fredericksburg Auto Salvage in Fredericksburg, VA (not far off 95 about halfway between DC and Richmond). I suggest picking a cold day to go real soon. Both yards are much more pleasant to visit when the ground is frozen rather than muddy and before the mosquitos and ticks wasps snakes and bees are out. And once the trees have leaves on them its easy to miss cars that are hidden. Watch out for an occasional bear too. A friend of mine came face to face with a black bear at Leon's a few years ago and was rather surprised at how fast he was able to run the half mile up the hill back to the yard office after seeing the bear. The friend is a smoker and in his mid 60's so I was impressed to hear that as well. If you spot some tools sitting on the hood of a 64 Galaxie at Leon's they belong to my friend. He never went back for them after the bear.
Sunman for parts Good idea about Sunman - went there last year while I was in the area for parts for my 67 Merc S-55. Great people to deal with. Sam's a great dude. Took me on a tour of his field of cars. He had a fairly complete 67 Colony Park in there (Last year) with a ton of good parts left on it. A bunch of Ford Wagons too. He's the kind of scrapper we all like - will take a car down to the bare frame for every usable part before he crushes. Talking to Sam and his wife, I don't think they'll ever completely go out of business, but he was scaling back his time due to health issues. Give him a call and good luck....
Thanks. I just got a call back today from them and they are searching for it. I saw the Colony Park they have there and so am hoping they have additional things I may need, too. Looks like a great place.
w1966 Wagon Tailgate photos I have not had time to remove the tailgate trim, attached are scans from the shop manual that show everything, hope it helps. Richard
