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1976 K5 tailgate rebuild

snipepod

snipepod

TPI-Vortec-
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
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I am in the middle of rebuilding the tailgate floor section on my 76 K5. I am the second owner, and have owned it for 25+years. The previous owner had shims on the tailgate latch to get it to work. I suspected that the top of the bed rails had spread out from all the rust behind the rear wheels. I am looking for some verification of the dimension of the opening. Here is a picture of my tailgate
1679179522294.png

The top width across the corner pillars is just about a perfect 1/2" wider than the bottom. A trapezoid, not a rectangle. But I'm not sure that Chevy did not intend it to be this way.

Does any one have a more original, rust free K5 that they could measure at the two Red Dimensions to verify it my truck has spread out?

Since I am replacing the floor support, now is the time to correct the spread if ever.

Cheers
 
Thanks, BryantRiverRat I thought so.

Surprisingly, my corner pillars are actually in good shape at the bottom, so I don't think I have any fabrication to do on them. However, now I don't know how I am going to slip the tail pan into them after they are cleaned up.

I've heard of some folks, jacking up the enter body from the rear end and bringing the tail pan into the pillars from the bottom.

I was thinking about cutting my new tail pan into 2 or maybe even 3 sections so I can slide them into the pillars horizontally and the reweld it back together.

How did you get yours into place?
 
My new pan just butted against the sides of the Post and I welded in the corners...it came notched to go around the post
 
also my pan came in two sections when I bought them...L and R side, I just had to cut it off from rear to butt weld in the middle....measure twice cut once and your butt weld will work out good..
 
Don't want to be a pest, but just wanted to be sure we are talking about the same thing. The tail pan is the 3 1/2" wide cross member with the two frame mounting bolts. Basically lays on top of the rear frame cross member. The floor is the sheet metal. I got my floor from AMD and it looks very much like the pictures you provided. Left and right individual sides.

My new tail pan is one piece that spans from RH side pillar to the LH side pillar. I have never seen a new one that came in two section.

I looked real close at your pictures, and I could not see any welds where you would have joined the tail pain together.

Can you straighten me out.
Thx!
 
you are correct, i did not replace my tail pan...I just fixed mine. I was referring to the rear bed pieces.
 
After this restoration, I will know all the design flaws and will deal with them during my regular truck washing process. I've identified these so far.

1st. Get under the rear corner panels and flush the mud of the tailpan ledges. At the ends of tail pan, the bottom is open. I should be able to flush all the way across, inside the tail pan from driver side to passenger side. This will clean up to the bottoms of the tail lights.

2nd. Flush out the mud that sneaks between the tail pan and the bed floor. This is the toughest to reach. Access is blocked by the gas tank from the middle. I may drill a few drain holes in the new tail pan next to the spot welds attaching the floor to the tail pan. Only the outside 10-15" seems to be the problem. Aim the water flow from the ends of the tail pan up on top of that ledge.

3rd. Flush the mud out of the rear fenders over the wheel arches. Backflush into the drain holes in the upper fender arches. I will make a 90% water nozzle for my hose so it will fit in the drain slots and allow me to flush horizontally and get that mud to drain to the ground.

4th. Flush the mud out of the back ends of the rockers where they join the rear bed. That lower pillar support has a gap between the floor pan that is aimed right at the front tires. Another poor design. This is were the seat belts attach to the floor.

5th. Front fenders, behind the wheels packs mud between outer fend skin and the inner fender skeleton. Flush this out from inside the engine bay.

Last, I just ordered new left and right side "Inner Wheel Tub Slash Shields" from BrothersTruck. My old ones were bent and rusted. I will design rubber mud flaps to extend these shields down several inches in the hope of reducing the mud flung up from the rear tire.
1679500770732.png
The battle is worth it, cause these old squarebody K5s are just to cool!
 
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