The Tailgate opens!

After 8 hours, yes HOURS of drilling, soaking, prying and gutting the tailgate, I pried it open. Worked good once I over came the rust resistance.








Couldn't get to the tailgate from inside very well due to the metal panel that was screwed on below the edge of the tailgate, had to bend it over to get inside.








Had to disassemble the widow regulator (with power motor) to drop the window into the tailgate to get the glass out of the way. That took 3 hours.








Stripped the inside of all the parts, came apart very nicely thank goodness. And no broken parts either. Still have to see if the motor works for the power window.








Lights came out, all the trim came off and can be straightened nicely and polished back to its original beauty.

I got new (used) tail lights from Moon of Japan!







Parts that I took out, all documented so I can box them up and save them for the final assembly