been there before! You're right, it would be cheaper to just replace the entire thing

What Mark was too gentlemanly to say is that I was supposed to be telling him where to back up, so the tailgate is completely my fault. Ooops.

Repairing this will be a lot of effort; I'd say you'd have to

• Cut out the damaged stuff. (The metal has been stretched so much you won't get it back into its original shape.)
• Hammer and pull the remainder back into shape. (It wouldn't surprise me if the whole tailgate has been deformed.)
• Grind the paint off the cut edges (for welding)
• Cut/grind plate and U-channel steel sections to size.
• Weld in new plates and channel sections (Welding thin plate is not easy with a stick or mig welder. Very easy to burn a hole right through. Best to try and make plug welds. Welding experience wouldn't go amiss either.)
• Possibly more straightening (welding can cause deformation)
• Prime and paint to prevent corrosion.

Unless you know how to weld and/or have a lot of time on your hands, getting a secondhand tailgate sounds like a better option.

Sounds pretty daunting. Glad to hear you agree with Mark's analysis that a junkyard tail gate replacement would be much easier!