Posted by chriscase on Tuesday, November 27, 2007 at 10:06:11 :
In Reply to: Question on repro tailgate posted by Galen on Monday, November 26, 2007 at 21:02:54 :
Mine had a bow in the top, and a bulge in the middle. I pounded out the small dents first, to relieve the tension- both in the gate and within my karma. Then put the gate between 2x4's and judiciously jumped on it with my 1/7th of a ton body slam- the kind that made Hulk Hogan famous. Like any time you start pumping iron, start out with low impact, and many reps, building up to full power over time. Careful, don't strain yourself, or put a crinkle in the gate.
The center hinge point is a weak spot, the Achilles tendon. Very easy to tear it by bending tooo far. Take it slow...
Mine had some small cracks where the end flanges join the bottom roll. While that section is only about 1/2", the gate sure got rigid when I welded them solidly to the roll.