April 24, 200718 yr Should I do it? It would be really neat to have a tailgate wagon, even though the EA81's never came this way. Cut the rear door in half in a line even with the top of the taillights, and remount the bottom half as a tailgate, and keep the top half as a hatch. It would require a bit of sheet metal welding and grinding and repainting to make it look stock. And re-designing the latches so there was two of them now. But I have a parts wagon with a good hatch too. For lower hinges, I was thinking of steeling two door hinges off the parts car. Or turning the hatch hinges around from the other hatch. And I have a wirefeed welder, grinder, paint, bondo etc. I think I could make it look pretty good when I was done. What do you think?
April 24, 200718 yr It would be cool looking sure but tons of fabrication work to make it work. Also if you dont do it right you might end up with water in your car. I would vote nay and put your money into a weber or SPFI swap. Youll be happier that way.
April 24, 200718 yr I would say YAY! Ive been dying to do this to my legacy wagon.....but g/f says no. THINK EACH STEP THROUGH.....and if youre still comfortable with the whole process..... Go for it! If you do it..... POST PICS!
April 24, 200718 yr I would say YAY! Ive been dying to do this to my legacy wagon.....but g/f says no. THINK EACH STEP THROUGH.....and if youre still comfortable with the whole process..... Go for it! If you do it..... POST PICS! Well I wasn't the only one that said no. Your family did too. Plus you need to be helping me work on my truck b/4 any more of your projects.:-p
April 24, 200718 yr Author Well I wasn't the only one that said no. Your family did too. Plus you need to be helping me work on my truck b/4 any more of your projects.:-p My family lives far away and doesn't even know I own the '82 wagon yet. Or else, I'm sure they'd be saying that I've got more important things to do than sawzalling more cars apart
April 24, 200718 yr Author The sawzall is your friend;) Yeah. I sawzalled the whole top off of a school bus and welded it back on 14" higher up once...
April 25, 200718 yr Yeah. I sawzalled the whole top off of a school bus and welded it back on 14" higher up once... THAT is a story I would like to hear sometime.... there is something about school buses that always made me want to buy one and turn it into.. you name it. Party vehicle, RV of my own creation (GOD i have so many ideas in that folder) race vehicle, what EVER... Be careful; you might want to make sure that there is good strong metal frame on the bottom to weld a tailgate to in the first place. It MIGHT not be strong enough to take the kind of weight that will be rested on a tailgate without more extensive fabbing than you are really willing to get into. I don't know anything about it myself, but I thought I would add the thought to the fire and see what happened.
April 25, 200718 yr Be careful; you might want to make sure that there is good strong metal frame on the bottom to weld a tailgate to in the first place. It MIGHT not be strong enough to take the kind of weight that will be rested on a tailgate without more extensive fabbing than you are really willing to get into. I don't know anything about it myself, but I thought I would add the thought to the fire and see what happened. See Backwoodsboy. your car doesn't fall into this category. Too much rust. I think it is a great idea and would be a neat project. So I give this project a YAH:banana:
April 25, 200718 yr LMAO yah the rust hole in it are only good for holding spot for the bungy cords around the christmas tree.
April 25, 200718 yr Author Oooof. That looks a little like my older '82 wagon I used to own. No metal below the rubber door strips, and no rust free paint below the roofline. Still ran fine, but I finally donated it to a school shop class because the body just wasn't worth fixing.
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