hi all,
I have 2000 reg mk 2 punto 2 door.
I have noticed the rear tailgate hard to close.
On closer examination I see that where the hinge is bolts to the body,
the body has rusted and the hinges are ripping away from the body
due to age and a bit of rust.maybe more wear and tear.
I guess I will have to get this area strengthened or else the
rear tailgate will rip away eventually,
any help welcomed
tony

TONY55S said:

hi all,
I have 2000 reg mk 2 punto 2 door.
I have noticed the rear tailgate hard to close.
On closer examination I see that where the hinge is bolts to the body,
the body has rusted and the hinges are ripping away from the body
due to age and a bit of rust.maybe more wear and tear.
I guess I will have to get this area strengthened or else the
rear tailgate will rip away eventually,
any help welcomed
tony

Click to expand...

Wow?!
Never heard of that on a punto

Pictures are a defo!

Given that it's a pretty rare area to see rust on a punto, I'd advise a detailed examination of the body as best you can, it's simply not worth getting this repaired if other areas of the body are also badly rusting, and you'll be forever chasing rust with the welding torch.

If there is a lot of rust else where on the floor pan, where the rear suspension mounts, boot floor, sills and inner front wings, then a call to the local scrap man may sadly be in order

I would guess that the metal has sheared from the stress of the tailgate
over 17 years more than the bit of rust I saw.
I would say its metal fatigue,will try and post some photos.

Had the same thing a few years back on the right hand side.
Welded back up and all ok As you say is more metal fatigue No other rust on the car.

puntos dont rust there

Has the car had a history of funny behaviour of the rear lights ?

My car always has masses of vegetation accumulating up by the hinges which I tend not to clean off ever. I can easily imagine an owner who was cleaning that area out with a stick or something could damage the paintwork and since that vegetation is always there it would soon rust with it remaining damp all of the time.

the ingers were surrounded by body sealent at the factory to stop water ingress
if tailgate has been swapped in its lifetime its highly likely this is the reason for the corrosion and stress factors

s and b said:

the ingers

Click to expand...

I started thinking about Benny hill. 'or the ingers on the gate?