Side opening tailgate

I'm not sure that a tailgate that opens to the side is a tailgate. Some call it a half door. We coined the phrase Safari Gate for the duration of the works. I guess it's actually just a gate.

I bought the tailgate from someone who had already converted it to side opening. All we needed to do was bolt it on.

Well, replace all the bolts with a nice matching new set with new hinges, then bolt it on.

First thing was to remove the bracket used for the Safari door catch.

When I say just add new bolts, it's never quite that simple. To get to the bolts under the wheel arch there were some stubborn screws that needed to be ground off and replaced.

Then I made some reinforcement plates.

Shelley coated them in Duralac Green to reduce the chance of the steel and aluminium reacting with each other where they meet.

Then we bolted it all together, lined it up, drilled and fitted the antiluce.

I could not get the Land Rover style tailgate rubber to fit where I liked it so I made my own rubber stop from some matting.

Another days work and Fender can now carry stuff.