I am late reading this and could not adequately measure things outside in the dark. But it has piqued my interest. I never realized there may be differences between the years of tailgates, other than the hinge placement. I am aware of profile differences in the tailgate clamp latches, but probably not apparent to most people.
Some hasty rough measurements, along with some taken indoors, indicate old tailgates with widths ranging between 65-13/16 to 65-7/8, with heights from 16-5/8 to 16-3/4 inches.
While some folks are adding a non-existent tailgate, others like myself are replacing bowed or damaged tailgates. I measured several of my "bowed" tailgates and the dimensions are off by 1/4 inch or more in each direction, depending on damage. Kevin's work is dimensionally straight, as would be an original new unused factory tailgate, not bowed or skewed or tweaked in any direction. Tomorrow I'll measure an early 1965 3-hinge tailgate I bought that was a day-one take-off, and compare it with several original tailgates from the eighties, and report back here.
As the tailgates are externally fit to the bed, and not fitted inside the side walls of the bed, I suppose some minor trimming could be had as well as very minor adjustments to the hinges. We all know American cars from the fifties and sixties that had panel gaps that were uneven at best. A few restorers of those vehicles have been known to clean up the factory gaps with lead, creating a precision that never existed originally. My guess is that Toyota was no different, and that minor variations in the original tailgates occurred, from the beginning. After all, these were work trucks, not finished to the level of a Ferrari or a Bentley.
I have not fitted one of Kevin's repro tailgates to anything yet, until the rest of the body and bed is corrected, so their installed appearance I cannot comment on. Anyone out there who has installed a new tailgate, could you comment on the fit to your truck bed--is it too high or low, too wide or narrow, or does it fit just fine?
Having never heard of a size difference, I know that if I were recreating tailgates, I would use whatever good sample I had on hand, whether three or four hinge, and create the other the same size as well. Hopefully this is all workable and everyone stays happy with their own results. With all the stories over the years of body panel manufacturers with lousy fitting parts and pieces, we would be very hard pressed to find someone as skilled as Kevin willing to work for pennies on the dollar. I for one will make this work, as I possess no skill to properly repair some of the old tailgates I have. Likely some day those old-timers will be put up for sale, and for someone qualified to do them justice.
Will do some careful measurement tomorrow.
MS
