Rear Tailgate required? and other items....

[Betweenthewheels]

I have recently purchased a 1998 3l petrol (R417 NUF) - lovely car with a few niggles that I'm going to iron out over time.
One of the main things at the moment is that the black trim at the top of the rear glass of the hatchback has 'buckled' and come off the body/glass in places.
Spoke to a guy en route from purchasing the car in Lincoln and he said that you can do a botch repair job with silicone to temporarily stop water ingress (which has been done) but in the long term that a new tailgate would be required as it would take a skilled glazier to put a new piece on (I imagine there are no new pieces so you'd have to strip an old car and that piece could also be damaged). The fact that this car already had a reversing incident in the past with a bollard and the spoiler has been badly repaired would lead me to think about replacing the whole hatchback. My question(s): Is there any XM breaking with a very good tailgate with properly attached black trim and very good spoiler. If available, is it an easy removal/installation?

Other parts required are front and rear passenger side door lock mechanisms, drivers side glass and other cosmetic stuff (such as ashtray insert, ashtray 'button' to open flap)

Any thoughts?

[Citjon]

I'm breaking a 1994 VSX with a very sound tailgate and can probably help with the door locks and glass. The only issue could be that I'm located back up in Lincolnshire!

I've not tried removing a tailgate before but from memory I think they are bolted on 2 bolts either side at the top.

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[Betweenthewheels]

I'm smiling as I read your location Citjon!
Nothing is easy in the XM world I know that!!
I'm certainly interested - whenever you get a chance could you take a photo of the top part of the tailgate (where the glass meets the plastic strip and body) just to show the condition?

Is that your understanding Citjon, - you've a hell of a lot more experience than me - that is have replace the whole thing if the trim fails?

[Dieselman]

I think the rubber trim on your tailgate has been cut off for the tailgate to be painted, then poorly stuck back on, probably with PU adhesive.

My sable car has the same issue, which I intend to resolve at some stage. I'll look at removing and re-sticking it properly.

[Betweenthewheels]

Ahhhh. I think that might have been the case. So, Dieselman - is it possible I don't have to replace the tailgate? If I got a 'good' rubber trim i could just have it bonded on? The one that's on it is very badly damaged and has buckled and perished in a number of places.
Any ideas how best to take it off a donor car? Heat gun seems counter-intuitive given the buckling nature of them......