This is freaking unbelievable. On our first day of vacation at the Cape, we were headed up route 6 and were stopped waiting for a car a couple ahead of us to make a left turn. Suddenly we hear a noise and bam the car behind us got rear ended and went flying into ours.

Here's the damage.



Can't tell you how pissed I am for one, wrecking our vacation and two, damaging our car. I've already looked into DVA. They have some Vista Cruisers. Hopefully they have a good tail gate. If not, does anyone out there have one?

Thank,
Jim

 

The tailgate is the same on any 1966-67 Olds wagon, not just a Vista. Good luck with the search.

 

That sucks. Hope everyone is ok. It was probably good that a car was between the 2 of you. Probably lessened the damage.

 

That is terrible. Looks like a beautiful car. Any 64-67 A-body tailgate should work, but chevelles don't have the stainless trim just below the glass. The clips for that trim have oval holes that would be a little difficult to reproduce. I have some tailgates down in south central PA if you can't find anything else. One from a 66 chevelle and one from a 66 or 67 buick. The buick one has the upper trim holes, but both would need work. Although not a gate, here is something you will also need from the looks of it. It is not mine, but the price doesn't seem too bad ($175 + $40 shipping).
https://www.ebay.com/itm/12479944497...AAAOSwzSpg4ytj

 

Damn! That is a shame. It can get fixed though, I would me upset about it too though....

 

Man that sucks. I am sure you are beyond pissed. Thank goodness it was only the tailgate and not the quarters.

 

Great find. That is the one piece I was thinking would be the hardest to find since my car is rare in having it. Most VC's have the wood grain and have different tailgate trim. Top trim looks the same on a lot of GM A body's. Interesting though in his ad that he writes, not Vista Cruiser. Thanks for the Tailgate offers too. I will see what DVA has to say this week and will keep you in mind if nothing comes of it.

Thanks again,

Jim

 

I think the ad says not VC because, as you said most come with wood grain. Yours looks really clean without the wood grain.

 

Wow, I guess I should have acted this morning, the part is gone. Dang.

Jim

 

Actually, not that many came with woodgrain. 1967 was the first year that the VC got woodgrain vinyl, and that was only on the Custom version, not on the base model. 1968 was the first year that the VC got woodgrain as standard equipment on all. Granted for the 1967 model year, Olds built about ten times as many Custom VCs as standard models.

 

This could be another option for the tail gate. I contacted Desert Valley and he didn't sound too optimist.

I'm not sure how good the quality of fit is, but my inner shell looks to still be ok. I would still need the internals though. Any thoughts?

https://www.classicmuscle.com/p-1967...saAqIhEALw_wcB

 

Find a competent body shop. I mean someone who works on old-school metal and does restorations. Do your homework.
See what they say. Maybe get two to three estimates to get a sample size of opinions. Look at the shop. It should not look like a schizt hole. Ask for past customer references and go look at the work they have performed. Talk with past customers. Do a BBB search et al.

It's possible the skin could be replaced if in fact, that skin is the same.

Whereabouts are you in tax york? Capital district? Downstate? We may be able to point you in a good direction

 

I live near the Albany area. I will be using the shop that did the previous accident repair. They replaced the whole left side quarter as well as stripped the whole car. They also did my 67 Cougar. I agree and will take their advice on what direction to go.

Thanks,
Jim

 

Doesn't have the holes for the Olds trim but this one looks real clean. Call them they may have something else in their yard.

 

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I will definitely check them out.

Jim

 

I got the tailgate from GM Sports. They are shipping it right to the shop I use. They were great to deal with.

Thanks again for your help.

Jim

 

Glad it worked out for you. I always worry about getting rear ended like that in my 67 Vista given how much harder the rear end sheet metal is to find for the wagons. I wired in a pair of GM pickup/van rooftop led brake lights (GM#15030038 discontinued but available cheap in wrecking yards or Dorman 923-201 for $50 each). I used clear RTV to glue one at each side of the trim piece on the top of the tailgate. There are many aftermarket LED tail and stop light bars sold for trucks but I couldn't find one that would blend in on the back of the Vista.