Tailgate Jr. for my 1975 Jimmy

[Mike Phillips]

Ever since the accident and removing the tailgate because of how extremely ugly it was after being rear-ended, I haven't had but a little net to keep things from flying out of the back of the truck bed so today I built a little Tailgate Jr.

This was an easy project because I have the very rare full roll bar out of a 1972 Blazer.

If you look closely you can see a chain being used to keep the floor jack and ice cooler from exiting the truck under hard acceleration...



I used a 2" x 12" x 8" and cut it down to about 6" wide


U-Bolts will be used to hold the 2" x 12" steadfast to the rollbar...


Holes were drilled and then the exterior painted with Hammerite...






Simple and effective...


Time for a new Pirate Flag




Off to go get the new pirate flag...

[Lt.Del]

Great ingenuity. 
Has Allstate come to your terms yet or is it still "pending" in red tape? 

[Mike Phillips]

Great ingenuity.  
Has Allstate come to your terms yet or is it still "pending" in red tape?  

They've been the worst company I've ever dealt with in my 49 years of life.  Absolutely the worst.  Whatever they would have offered would include "totaling" my truck and I decided monetarily it wasn't worth giving up for a low-ball offer and it wouldn't be worth giving it up and doing all the work to remove all the running gear and moving it over to a new truck, so I built a website to document their lack of integrity and lost interest in it when I started doing TV shows.  My career is worth more than my truck and at some level... it's just an old truck.  

http://www.david-versus-goliath.com/

I'll build another truck someday and when I get it done I'll get the I-beam bumpers put on it and then adequately insure it which was the mistake I made with this truck, I didn't adequately insure it and I didn't have the I-beam bumpers.  Had them on the last truck... correctly installed, provides quite a bit of protection from the front or rear.

One thing for sure, it's an absolute blast to drive... I wore down the 35" Boggers till the looked like slicks and am now running some 38" Ground Hawgs.  Even with 4:11 gears, the 454 will smoke the tires to the point I start fishtailing with just a blip of the throttle.  It will go from 20 or 30 miles per hour by first "jumping" and then accelerating like my Sanger Drag Boat.  I almost feel guilty every time I take it out because it's so much fun to drive.  I love having a carburetor, it makes throttling the engine so much fun, something you just can't do with modern trucks.

The last truck I had like this was the same way, (4:11 gears, 402 BBC and 44" Swampers), and I drove it for 12 years and should have never sold it...

Everywhere I drive it "Car Guys" come over and check it out, both old and young... almost everyone around me drives something new... this is not only my daily driver, it's my only vehicle.

Time to push away from the keyboard, have to blast down to the Nautical but Nice store and get a new Pirate Flag and then hit Cowboy's for a cold one...

[fitz]

 I know that your truck is all bent up so this may not help but a pick up truck tailgate will physically fit in the place of your Jimmy gate, you just need to rig up some hinges and latches for it. Maybe someday you will find one at the boneyard and you can trim the edges to make it fit your truck since your truck is no longer square.
 I love the fact that you are still driving this truck and enjoying it.

[Mike Phillips]

I know that your truck is all bent up so this may not help but a pick up truck tailgate will physically fit in the place of your Jimmy gate, you just need to rig up some hinges and latches for it. Maybe someday you will find one at the boneyard and you can trim the edges to make it fit your truck since your truck is no longer square.
 I love the fact that you are still driving this truck and enjoying it.

Probably not going to happen... instead, an Igloo Cooler with a drain is going to be attached to the lumber using an aluminum strap so it wont' bounce around and fall out and then the truck will have finally arrived.  Ice chest at arms reach, no bending over... always with you... live is good...

[Mike Phillips]

Colors are flying...



Hardy har har...

[bake74]

     Hey mike :  I am coming late in the game here, just read your "David and Goliath " thread ( sorry about having to deal with insurance company's ) but have you done body work to your GMC since the accident, or did it just wreck your tailgate ?  If it just wrecked your tailgate, why in the world would they total a whole truck for a tailgate ?  Just curious.

[Mike Phillips]

     Hey mike :  I am coming late in the game here, just read your "David and Goliath " thread ( sorry about having to deal with insurance company's ) but have you done body work to your GMC since the accident, or did it just wreck your tailgate ?  If it just wrecked your tailgate, why in the world would they total a whole truck for a tailgate ?  Just curious.

Check out page 2 of this thread,

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=14415.0


The pictures tell the story, the adjuster Tim Seymour called two "new car dealerships" and they said my truck was worth $1000.00 so it would cost more to repair the damage than the truck is worth... he also said there were problems with my motor and transmission?  Not sure why he put that in his report, at the time the engine and tranny only had 4000 miles on them, neither leak and 3 times already this morning I've lit the rear tires up just for fun...

LOL