Tackling the tail gate..**Any ideas on a plexiglass rear window?**

[jonathon]

Okay since I figure to put plexiglass in the top and make it semi-permanent, at least so it won't fall off when I have the tail gate down.. any suggestions on how to tackle that? I found a couple very old posts regarding the subject but the pictures had long died...

The goal would be to be able to open and close the truck tailgate with the plexi window in the top, and at the same time make sure it won't leak. For some reason I am having a hard time visualizing this part....

Kind of thinking some sort of frame that goes between the top and the body and is attached to the Plexi, with something like the weather strip you find under doors(that stuff seems pretty darn tough considering all the abuse your door goes through daily - yes I'm talking your house door!). The frame itself would only be attached to the plexi and be a friction fit with the top and body.. being able to remove the window with the top partially off the back would be a plus since it is a lot easier to remove the top without the window in place. Since the frame was attached to the plexi, it wouldn't be able to go anywhere when the top is installed on the Blazer..

BTW, driving in western Washington in the winter without a back window is a great way to take a quick, cold shower

**************************************************
Well I'm preparing to disassemble the donor tail gate to get the window, regulator and motor out of it to put in mine that I freshly gutted(which didn't take even 5 minutes to do without the window).

My biggest questions are before putting these in, is there any prep work I should specifically do? Any seals or anything like that I need? My old tail gate had NO seals at all, at least none that were worth saving and I'm not sure of the remaining life of the ones in this new one, and I figure I might as well only take it apart once....

My other question is wiring the tail gate up. I do not want to bother with the key at all. Since I have not tore into it yet, I am curious as to the best way to totally by pass the lock cylinder and put a SPDT momentary on-off-on switch in on the dash so I can roll the window up or down from up front. I figure I'll probably put it on the tail gate to fill the hole but that is the only reason.

Will I have to do anything to latches so I can open the tail gate once the window is down?

ETA: I'm heading off to disassemble it right now, I'll bring the camera and take some pics if I have a specific question....

 

[JPMSK5]

I will try to be kind but I hate my window. It will go as soon as I get the body work done (had body panels for 8years now) and a soft top on and a pickup tail gate.
Mine is a 79 K5 full options truck.
Make sure the cable turns freely, glass is heavier than hell so have a buddy help you. The motor mounts just under the cover, pull the mount up as high as you can. I have major problems with any weight on the tail gate and the mount bends down a hair and catches the glass bottom and will not go all the way up. There is a safety slide, rod, that is spring loaded which is pushed down by the glass so the latch can be opened. Glass goes up and you will hear it pop up and go into a groove in the latch so it cant be opened. My dash has a switch on it for the glass, I took out the one on the back because it never worked right and I had an attitude problem with it one day.
Trying to remember the wiring, I know 2 small wires control the up and down and one large wire is hot with the key, gound is the door and I had to run a ground strap to the door to make it dependable. Cant remember the wiring at all right now, brain fart. Some guides are in the door for the glass, the cable you have to run up and down to find the sweet spot from the scissor gears in the door and zip tie it in place, the other thing is if you put a box or some thing in your bed and shut the door and it covers your latch, it is a SOB to get to the latch and open the door, I continuously have this problem with tool boxes, and I know its going to happen, also I carry a 4in box I put behind the door so I know things will fit because the top is 3inches in from the bottom when shut, the pickup tail gate doesnt do this and can be opened from the outside.
Hope this book helps

 

[dyeager535]

IMO your going to need the stock wiring anyways for the connectors, you might as well wire it all up if going to that extreme anyways, it's handy to have a working exterior window switch.

I'd just get the entire window wiring from another K5, you are not saving yourself anything by making your own.

 

[jonathon]

Well it sure did! I didn't realize when I got into it that they'd used a fricken cable to control the window motor Another case of WTF was GM thinking when they designed that.. though I suppose the Bronco's are the same thing.. why it can't be easy like a door window I do not know.

After fiddling with it a bit, I've decided that I am going to scrap the idea and put a truck tail gate in. I'll use plexiglass for the rear window since the top comes off in the summer anyways... I figure if I do it right, the window can stay in place the whole time and the tail gate can still be opened and closed for loading stuff.

 

[JPMSK5]

Hoss I didnt mean to discourage you. Mine works good. Just not for what I use the K5 for. I really need a 4door truck, but I dont like to waste money on insurance and taxes. My K5 is so cheap, gets better gas mileage than my wifes new trailblazer I cant justify getting rid of it for a new truck.

 

[jonathon]

Oh no, it was fine till I looked at how it was setup on the inside.. didn't quite like it and in the summer(the time I'll be driving it most anyways) the top will be off. I figure what I'll do is get a piece of plexi cut to fit the cut out in the top and then frame the bottom in and put a weather seal on it and call it good. I also plan to do a soft top in the next couple years...

So the next question is, what year tailgate should I look for to keep the body lines consistent for my 1984 K-5?

 

[JPMSK5]

81-87 Pickup Chevy though. GMC will say GMC on the back. Do you still have the big chome plate that covers your Blazer tail gate?? I have one, I seen a cool tail gate on a Blazer, shaved the handle and put it in the top and put the chrome plate back on. Like to remember where I seen it.

 

[jonathon]

I gave the old crank to a friend, that was about all that the Blazer came with.. rest had been gutted out of it and the regulator was bent. Crank was fine though, and the person I gave it to daily drives their Blazer....

 

[jonathon]

Okay, so I put an idea in the first post that I got from reading an older posting here on CK5(search is great!)..

What sort of Plexi should I be looking at? Any ideas on how to make the "frame"?

 

[gmcjimmy88]

I am not sure what exactly you are planning with the window? I took my glass out of my door and made it a swing out door. I still need to make a back glass for the cap. I was thinking something simple like that of a pickup cap. Two hinges and a seal around the plexi. I plan on having my top off most of the time during the summer as well. Removing everything from the gate made it much, much lighter also. Not sure if that is what you are planning for your bakglass or not?

 

[jonathon]

Well what I'd like is just something that stays in the top all the time.. don't care about being able to remove or open the window, just as long as I can open the tail gate.

I figure a piece of plexi cut to fit the rails in the top would be the best route..

Guess the question is how to I keep it from leaking where the tail gate would meet the plexi?

 

[JPMSK5]

A rubber flap on the door that seals against the glass when shut. Above that seal on the glass put a little gutter like the whats on the top of the cab doors to guide alot of liquid off to the sides. 2 pennys

 

[colbystephens]

didn't see why you want to do all this... were it me, i'd hate having no way to remove the glass. i have 2 ideas for you:

the first is that i've got an extra tailgate with manual crank and good glass that you can have - just come down and get it. then you'd have a properly working gate.

the second, if you're really stuck on this plexi glass thing, is this: on the top of the tailgate at either side of the glass there's an odd shaped grommet dealio that screws into the gate so that it seals with the base of the hard top. i'm envisioning that you make a couple triangles of a similar shape to those out of some metal and drill a hole in the corner of each of them. remove those grommet/braket dealios from your tailgate. send a screw thru the hole in the brakets you made into your top where those brakets you just removed would seal. if you don't tighten them down super tight, they should be able to pivot there. that way you can pivot those brackets in and out to support the plexi glass and then it would be removable...

clear as mud???