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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Lift Gate Installed; Headliner

Haven't had too much time to work on things, but have managed to get the lift gate installed. This was not as easy as it sounds, as the collision (or whatever it was) that made the original tail gate unusable also distorted the lift gate hinge brackets and dented the steel frame. This meant that the hinge brackets had to be re-bent to not just their correct shapes, but also to conform to the dent, etc..

It took me a while to figure out how to bend the hinge brackets, as they are very thick. Finally, however, they were done with the help of a long pipe wrench and a firmly anchored shop vice. It took a lot of adjusting and many trips back to the vice.

The damage also meant re-riveting the galvanized brackets into which the hinge brackets fit. No damage there to the parts themselves, just pulled and sheared rivets which had to be replaced.

Below, the final result (which also makes me realise the original paint on the interior needs better cleaning...). No inner door handle yet, as the mystery of how the parts get assembled still needs to be resolved. Window and seals also need installing.

Overall Land Rover still wearing the plastic used for protection when painting the lift gate. It'll stay on a while longer, as work begins on the interior headliner.


More damage than you might think. The latch handle had been pulled off, too, dragging the bolts through the skin.

Headliner. Very dirty, but still in pretty good shape. The metal frame is rusted, but should last for a while, and won't be the end of the world if it needs to be re-made. Thread and seams are in excellent shape. I had thought about having the local upholstery shop redo the fabric, but I think a good cleaning and a coating of specially formulated paint for vinyl will work, and is in keeping with efforts to keep everything original where possible.