I got ambitious tonight, and decided I was going to try and get that rear window & tailgate open. I had sprayed the hinges and pivot points with penetrating oil Sunday night. I laid an old blanket in the rear interior of the car and entered it with a rubber mallet, screwdriver and can of penetrating oil ready for a battle.
I was not disappointed. I have herded cows that were less stubborn and obnoxious than this window hatch was being! Finally, with the blow of the rubber mallet the latch broke free and success! The rear tailgate window was unlatched. I exited the car, completely covered in tattered pieces of headliner, dead insects, spider webs, rust flakes and dirt. I carefully lifted the glass hatch up 2 inches and sprayed it with oil. Than down. Up four inches and sprayed with oil. Than down. Than all the way up.
VICTORY!!!
I surveyed the damage around the glass lift frame and the roof rails around the sealed glass hatch. The Pine needles and water did a good job of corroding them. Most of the paint was bubbled up and flaky. I scrapped it with a screw driver and found solid metal in most places. However there are a few thin spots and a few pin holes. I thought it would be a lot worse so this is good news.
I will include some other interior pictures in this post, as there is better lighting tonight.
The actual tailgate is being extremely stubborn. The latch on the Rh passenger side is stuck and won’t release off its latch pin. No matter how hard I bang it or soak it, it refuses to budge. So that battle was lost. I even tried talking nice to it, but to no avail. It just laughed at me and during a quiet moment of mental strategy I swear I heard it giggle at me and say….“amateur”. That is when you know its time to pack up the tool box and call it a night.
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