Fantastic job Doug , you are making the impossible possible . There really is a lot of us out there pulling for you, we want to see this project as much as you want it done we want it done too 🏁
It's very very time consuming to straighten a liftgate. I assume he had 6 to 8 hours in the cycle! You start by getting the liftgate secured and as close as possible. Then slowly very slowly start heating up the top across the roofline. The top is what gets twisted from years of pressure forcing up from the torsion bars. Once you start heating it up you very very slowly start to pull it back down into shape. You can use whatever works best for you to start forcing back down. Pros use a jig with big C Clips and slowly increase pressure on the C clips all across the jig! Ive used small racket straps pulling down on each side. It's a very slow process but we'll worth the time and effort.
Don's got it right.It is a very long,very slow process of heating and cooling and adjusting for more heating and cooling etc.It would have been worse than watching paint dry LOL.But the result to me was worth a full day of work!
Looks good Doug. By the time all the window trim is back on the lift gate will blend right in. You’re doing some nice work and I’m enjoying the process. Have a good night my friend.
Doug your patience is second to none,your hard work is coming together nicely. I look forward to your next video to see what direction you’re heading next. This west coast old timer is learning a thing or two from the east coast old timer. Thanks Bill in Calif.
Really nice work on that liftgate, as well as the tailgate Doug! I bet you're somewhat relieved to have that liftgate looking so good! I bet there was some nerve racking going on while doing the heating and cooling movements on the gate, praying it didn't crack or something!
It is looking great. Everything is falling in place and soon will be more body work. If someone came in there now they would think your restoring a Nomad, not making one.
Aren’t you glad you decided to finish the gate before moving on to something else? I can tell by the tone of your voice you took a lot of self satisfaction from fixing that lift gate. The work on the tail gate was very interesting and informative. You should be proud of everything you’ve done so far. What fun would it be to buy the overpriced Chinese replacements and then have to massage them to fit. You used almost 70 year old metal to fix almost 70 year old metal. Great work my friend.
Doug, I honestly believe that you wouldn't have to pay for any body parts, other than chrome, if you had the time and patience to create it. I did clay sculpture and furniture wood restoration just by making pieces of wood to fit in broken or chipped off chair arms and stained the areas in question, with as close a match as possible and they sold in auction without any problem and everything was able to be looked at and touched by potential bidders and I hope that they are loved by someone else. And I am proud to have saved many cool items from ending in the landfill dump. I really appreciate your multi talented versatility and people like you are usually able to play some kind of musical ins trument. I got all the usual things down, except car welding fabrication. I always wanted to have a welder and learn cause I wanted to make my own version of the 66 Batmobile or 50s prototype Bulge mobile. I know that I have it in me but I don't see it ever happening after turning 65 and I will have to live it through your video's and a few others take care, it's looking great
Thanks Peary! It is nice to have dreams.And it's hard to admit that you're too old to reach some of them.I've had to admit that to myself lately.But as long as I'm breathing I'm going to keep clicking off as many as I can till I run out of time LOL.Take care my friend
@EllisKarKustoms-v9j all I can say is, look at 82 year old Paul McCartney . Ever wonder why he seems to be on the never ending tour?. As long as he keeps moving, it keeps him going like the Eveready Bunny. I never stop and I'm only just turned 65. But I think that I am still 18, until I look in the mirror. It's like in the old days when the bar was closing and they turned on the lights. We used to call that, the UGLY lights. Keep moving and as usual, take care. PS our other daughter has 3 cats and can only keep 2. The wife and daughter are thrilled to accept 3 year old Harry. I told them, it's like, if my wife suddenly died, and a couple of weeks later, I have a new replacement wife. But I have to admit that I am also looking forward to the new kitty that I get to say, "You love him more than me".
It's totally amazing work. I'm glad you tried heating it. It took a long time to get out of shape, and you got it back in record time. Kudos to you! You are a true metal master.
Thanks Big Don. Glad to have guys like you in the neighborhood. This means Doug can go get primer tomorrow for Sundays update? Really nice job on that lift gate
Wow, you lined that up good. I'm definite,y impressed. How'd you heat it? torch? Might be a good idea to soon make sure the window still fits the lift gate
Wow! I was wondering how you would reshape the lift gate. I can imagine that shaping it cold could cause it to crack… It has to be finished and plated, so why not heat it and straighten it. Nice work! I do wonder how the glass will fit, but I would think it will fit better than it would have before reshaping the lift gate. Keep it up!
Thanks Craig!There is no way to reshape the gates cold.As you said,they will just crack because they are only Pot Metal.As you'll see in a future video,the glass fits great!
Thanks! It is a long slow process that wouldn't have made for very interesting viewing.I used claps at the four corners and a regular propane torch.As I heated the gate I would slowly tighten the clamps.I'd let it cool then repeat the process again and again...and again etc.I did it until I could loosen the clamps and after it cooled it stayed where it belonged.I hope that helps...
I'm inpressed bud l was thinking more in the line of the upper hindges needing twerked a little to make it come out that way. So are you going to do a little with the lower edge to comform to the tailgate.
Thanks Robert! The lift gate is made of Pot Metal.It has about the same strength as Aluminum.I used a regular propane torch to gently heat it up and cool it several times till it stayed the shape I was shooting for.
Not yet Howard.The nice thing about this project is that,since it's not a real Nomad,every color of the rainbow is open to me.I don't have to worry about keeping it original.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Shaping up nicely and enjoy watching,
Thank you!
Nice work on the liftgate. It's delicate work but very satisfying! The nomad is really taking shape. I enjoy the build series. Later Man
Thank you Don and thanks for the great advise!You are a great asset to the Nomad community!Take care
Doug don't short change your self. You do amazing work my friend. Enjoy your videos nomad coming together real nice.
Thanks Edward,that means a lot to me!
Doug, Fine work, on what I think is one of the Iconic features on a 'Mad
Thank you Cj!
Great job on the gate.
Thanks Ruby!
Terrific effort on getting the lift gate to conform to the opening and the roof! Nice job! 100% a win! 🤩👏🏻.
Thanks John,I am loving it!
Fantastic job Doug , you are making the impossible possible . There really is a lot of us out there pulling for you, we want to see this project as much as you want it done we want it done too 🏁
Thank you very much Mario!
Amazing… i would have never thought trying that
Thanks! I had heard that was how the pros did it so I thought it was worth a try.
Great work Doug! It would have been good to see some of the work process on how you added heat and straightened the lift gate-
It's very very time consuming to straighten a liftgate. I assume he had 6 to 8 hours in the cycle! You start by getting the liftgate secured and as close as possible. Then slowly very slowly start heating up the top across the roofline. The top is what gets twisted from years of pressure forcing up from the torsion bars. Once you start heating it up you very very slowly start to pull it back down into shape. You can use whatever works best for you to start forcing back down. Pros use a jig with big C Clips and slowly increase pressure on the C clips all across the jig! Ive used small racket straps pulling down on each side. It's a very slow process but we'll worth the time and effort.
Don's got it right.It is a very long,very slow process of heating and cooling and adjusting for more heating and cooling etc.It would have been worse than watching paint dry LOL.But the result to me was worth a full day of work!
Looks good Doug. By the time all the window trim is back on the lift gate will blend right in. You’re doing some nice work and I’m enjoying the process. Have a good night my friend.
Thanks Russell and you do the same!
Doug your patience is second to none,your hard work is coming together nicely. I look forward to your next video to see what direction you’re heading next. This west coast old timer is learning a thing or two from the east coast old timer. Thanks Bill in Calif.
Thanks Bill! It's up to us old timers to keep this hobby alive!
Excellent progress!
Thanks Dee!
congrats looking great
Thanks Brent!
Really nice work on that liftgate, as well as the tailgate Doug! I bet you're somewhat relieved to have that liftgate looking so good! I bet there was some nerve racking going on while doing the heating and cooling movements on the gate, praying it didn't crack or something!
Yes,I was very nervous the whole time.But it was worth it,thanks Gregg!
You're getting that lift gate dialed in, looks real good now. Keep up the good work Doug.
Thanks Jeff!
It is looking great. Everything is falling in place and soon will be more body work. If someone came in there now they would think your restoring a Nomad, not making one.
That's the plan my friend! But we'll all know the truth LOL.Thank you!
Great job you're doing there Doug. Gate is looking good.
Thank you my friend!
Beautiful work Doug!!!
Thank you!
Every day is a step closer! Nice work Doug!
Yes it is,thanks!
Nice work on the lift gate, Doug. Dan from DD Speed Shop could take a lesson from you on how to fix the lift gates on his Nomads.
Thanks Bob! I know Dan was watching at the beginning but he's probably too busy now to keep up with my little channel LOL!
Impressive. I never would have guessed that that thing would come back into position as well as it did
Me niether LOL,Thanks!
Great job I know that progress feels good
Yes it does,thank you!
Doug, looking great
Thanks Joe!
I was gonna suggest some heat for that lift gate, I’m glad that worked!! Good job .
Thanks George!
Nice work Doug, your doing a great job working the kinks out! The gate window is fitting good! Keep up the great work 🎉😊
Thank you Daniel!
Nice! Glad that worked out so well for you.. Nothing beats playing with fire in the shop :)
Thanks! Especially when the fire actually does some good LOL
More great work, looked like Nomad approved too. Calming little dude for sure. 👏👏🇨🇦
Thanks Wayne!
Aren’t you glad you decided to finish the gate before moving on to something else? I can tell by the tone of your voice you took a lot of self satisfaction from fixing that lift gate. The work on the tail gate was very interesting and informative. You should be proud of everything you’ve done so far. What fun would it be to buy the overpriced Chinese replacements and then have to massage them to fit. You used almost 70 year old metal to fix almost 70 year old metal. Great work my friend.
Thanks! If nothing else,I proved that nothing is beyond saving if you want it bad enough!
Wow! Great work , matching the contour of the hatch. Impressive skill bossman. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Matthew and thanks for watching!
Excellent job fixing lift gate, and aligning top gate
Thanks Dean!
Wow I am really impressed at how well you have that lift gate fitting it looks great
Thanks Richard!
Looking good my friend, love watching and learning thankyou sir!
Thank you very much my friend!
Great Job Doug ! that truly was a great win with how much you needed to do to get that to a close to were it should be ,again great job !!
Thank you John!
Doug, I honestly believe that you wouldn't have to pay for any body parts, other than chrome, if you had the time and patience to create it. I did clay sculpture and furniture wood restoration just by making pieces of wood to fit in broken or chipped off chair arms and stained the areas in question, with as close a match as possible and they sold in auction without any problem and everything was able to be looked at and touched by potential bidders and I hope that they are loved by someone else. And I am proud to have saved many cool items from ending in the landfill dump. I really appreciate your multi talented versatility and people like you are usually able to play some kind of musical ins trument. I got all the usual things down, except car welding fabrication. I always wanted to have a welder and learn cause I wanted to make my own version of the 66 Batmobile or 50s prototype Bulge mobile. I know that I have it in me but I don't see it ever happening after turning 65 and I will have to live it through your video's and a few others take care, it's looking great
Thanks Peary! It is nice to have dreams.And it's hard to admit that you're too old to reach some of them.I've had to admit that to myself lately.But as long as I'm breathing I'm going to keep clicking off as many as I can till I run out of time LOL.Take care my friend
@EllisKarKustoms-v9j all I can say is, look at 82 year old Paul McCartney . Ever wonder why he seems to be on the never ending tour?. As long as he keeps moving, it keeps him going like the Eveready Bunny. I never stop and I'm only just turned 65. But I think that I am still 18, until I look in the mirror. It's like in the old days when the bar was closing and they turned on the lights. We used to call that, the UGLY lights. Keep moving and as usual, take care. PS our other daughter has 3 cats and can only keep 2. The wife and daughter are thrilled to accept 3 year old Harry. I told them, it's like, if my wife suddenly died, and a couple of weeks later, I have a new replacement wife. But I have to admit that I am also looking forward to the new kitty that I get to say, "You love him more than me".
Thanks for sharing that with us. Amazing good fitment for a car you created. I've seen others who started slicing up the roof to make things fit.
Thanks! I will admit I briefly thought I would have to modify the roof but I didn't give up and was rewarded in the end!
Awesome bud, the window frame fits much better.
I follow Don’s posts and enjoy watching his content just as I thoroughly enjoy yours.
Thanks Dennis! Big Don's advise was a big help to me!
It's totally amazing work. I'm glad you tried heating it. It took a long time to get out of shape, and you got it back in record time. Kudos to you! You are a true metal master.
Thanks Harvey! It was worth the time and effort.After all,as I said,where would I find another one?
Nice job with the lift gate metal wizardry! You are a metal wizard Doug! ❤️😎
Hocus pocus!...LOL,thanks Rich!
Doug That is super great news...
Yes it is Steven,thanks!
REALLY LOOKING LIKE A NOMAD GATE NOW!!!♥
Thanks Mom! I am happy with it. Love you!
That's amazing. Really great how you got that to fit so well.
Thanks Joe,I appreciate it!
Thanks Big Don. Glad to have guys like you in the neighborhood. This means Doug can go get primer tomorrow for Sundays update?
Really nice job on that lift gate
Yes a big thanks goes out to Don!He has been a big help to me.It is nice that we have such a supportive community in this hobby!
Getting it to closed and fit right was the goal, I'd say - That worked out well!
Congrats on the Progress
thx Bro
Thanks Blake!
Doug your doin amazing , and Big Don is a nomad gooroo
Thanks Willie and yes he is!
All white would look good with all the trim
That would look cool...Thanks Tim!
Great looking work Doug
Thanks Tim!
If your an amateur I wish I could be one too😂. Keep up the great work brother
I'm an amateur with 45 years of experience LOL.But no experience in straitening Nomad lift gates.Thanks Brother!
ROCK ON DOUG. 👍👍👍
Rocking on...LOL! Thanks!
Nice job on the lift gate.
Thanks Dewain!
Yer kind of a metal magician, doing a fine job!
Thank you John!
Great job on the tail gate & lift gate, nice gaps Doug, concours class quality work. I’m very impressed. 😎
I don't know about that LOL,but definitely driver quality.Thanks!
Awesome! I never doubted that you'd get it!
Thanks for the confidence in me Dave!
Looks great. Awesome work.
Thanks Lewis!
Doug! You are the MASTER! Great work!
Ken
Thank you Ken,that is very kind!
Wow, you lined that up good. I'm definite,y impressed. How'd you heat it? torch? Might be a good idea to soon make sure the window still fits the lift gate
Thanks JC! I used a propane torch,clamps wedges and a lot of patience...
Great job and video 👍👍
Thank you Shane!
Once again, amazing work!
Thanks John!
Wat about your tailgate glass will it fit in ❤❤❤❤
Next video Red...stay tuned LOL!
thanks for sharing and taking the time to show us what you are doing, quite a difference from when I first started watching, thanks!
Thank you! I'm glad you're sticking with me!
Making progress getting closer to the finish line on gate.
Thanks Rick!
Wow! I was wondering how you would reshape the lift gate. I can imagine that shaping it cold could cause it to crack… It has to be finished and plated, so why not heat it and straighten it. Nice work! I do wonder how the glass will fit, but I would think it will fit better than it would have before reshaping the lift gate. Keep it up!
Thanks Craig!There is no way to reshape the gates cold.As you said,they will just crack because they are only Pot Metal.As you'll see in a future video,the glass fits great!
Another great video you’ll get it done before long
I hope so,thanks Glenn!
Love it ❤❤❤
Thanks Red!
great job on the lift gate i had to cut my roof to get straight line
Thanks Elliot! I'll admit,the thought occurred to me that I would have to cut the roof to get it right.I got lucky LOL!
Amazing !!!
Thank you Ron!
A true fabrication magician
Thanks Peary!
I wish you could have shown more on how you heated the lift gate. I appreciate the explanation though. More details would be helpful.
Thanks! It is a long slow process that wouldn't have made for very interesting viewing.I used claps at the four corners and a regular propane torch.As I heated the gate I would slowly tighten the clamps.I'd let it cool then repeat the process again and again...and again etc.I did it until I could loosen the clamps and after it cooled it stayed where it belonged.I hope that helps...
For an amateur like me, that would be a life changing lotto win😅
Thank you Peary!
Now you are fixing to take off like a rocket. Now that the lift gate problem is corrected.
Thanks Coby! It was a major roadblock for sure!
Nice Doug! Im trying to figure out the heat and cool thing. I took some dents out with it. Im trying.
Thanks Chris!Heating and cooling the steel along with some hammer and dolly work is the best way to deal with dents.Good luck my friend!
But will the glass fit?
Next video Tim,all will be revealed LOL...stay tuned
Mint
Thanks Doug!
I'm inpressed bud l was thinking more in the line of the upper hindges needing twerked a little to make it come out that way. So are you going to do a little with the lower edge to comform to the tailgate.
Thanks Michael! The lower edge is actually not too far off.The glass fits real good so I think it will be alright.
Did you use a little propane torch or a big acetylene torch to heat the liftgate? I want to try and straighten my liftgate as well.
I used a hand held torch.A big torch would heat it faster but I would be afraid of getting it too hot without realizing it.Good luck John!
@ Thanks! I’m definitely going to give it a try.
L🐱🐱Kin Good !
Thanks Adam!
Nice work. What kind of metal is the lift-gate made of ? How did you heat it up?
Thanks Robert! The lift gate is made of Pot Metal.It has about the same strength as Aluminum.I used a regular propane torch to gently heat it up and cool it several times till it stayed the shape I was shooting for.
@@EllisKarKustoms-v9j wow, I didn't know that could be done!
how is the installed liftgate glass going to effect that the glass should have the curve to it
Spoiler alert,the glass fits fine in a video I uploaded today.
Have you picked a color yet?
Not yet Howard.The nice thing about this project is that,since it's not a real Nomad,every color of the rainbow is open to me.I don't have to worry about keeping it original.
Big Improvement! Kudo's!
Thank you!
More great work, looked like Nomad approved too. Calming little dude for sure. 👏👏🇨🇦