early tailgate swallow tail??

we have an early tailgate in at present which has no rear wiper hole and two small square holes inside where there is normally the large card cover on mk1's how can u tell if this is would have been off a swallow tail, or just an early tailgate with no wash wipe?
it is new old stock with the part sticker still on and IS a genuine vw part.

it would allso have a series of holes down each side and there would be no
gromit hole for the ele window heater on the top.it allso wouldnt have the usual mount for the suspension bar for holding the tailgate open.its totaly
different.on the swallowtail it has a release clip.

jukes

i'll check it over asap  

jukes said

it would allso have a series of holes down each side and there would be no
gromit hole for the ele window heater on the top.it allso wouldnt have the usual mount for the suspension bar for holding the tailgate open.its totaly
different.on the swallowtail it has a release clip.

jukes

Not necessarily. Only base models (like yours) have the stay rod instead of the gas strut and no heated rear window. On L models and above these features were standard.

volkswarren said

we have an early tailgate in at present which has no rear wiper hole and two small square holes inside where there is normally the large card cover on mk1's

VW didn't punch the wiper and washer holes so that one part number covers all models. The dealer makes the holes if wash-wipe fitted.

The 2 smaller access holes were a feature of all Series 1 except for early cars before wash-wipe was an option = no holes. At some point (MY 81 Series 2 I think) I imagine VW made a cost saving and moved to a one piece cover rather than 3 smaller ones.

My 75 L has a gas strut.

If it turns out to be a Swallowtail tailgate, I may well be interested :wink:

As rear wash-wipe was not available during the swallowtail period and the tailgate has the access holes it is a later one from Model Year '76 to '80.

how would they mount the rear wiper? there are no internal brackets. there must have been more than the one tailgate avaliable, i know that the lt van present model has two different side loading doors the only difference is the roller hinge fits in a different place. but they still make two different doors for the same van just because of a little difference. i know this as they have supplied me the wrong one!

The wiper motor bolts directly to the tailgate, there are no internal brackets.

there are 3 oblong holes up each side internaly and 4 holes along the bottom by where the glass sits. will try to get some pictures up.

added some pictures now, is it a swallow tail  tailgate??

more pics athttp://s47.photobucket…addtype=local&media=image

It is not a tailgate fitted to a swallowtail on the production line as these had no access holes in the back for fitting the rear wiper (as no swallowtail has a wiper). It is an early aftersales tailgate that covers all variations (with and without wiper) with only one part. If the car has a wiper the dealer would drill the holes but did not have to cut out the access holes for the motor. 2 plastic covers could then be fitted to cover the access holes. If the car had no wiper the dealer could just fit the plastic covers for the access holes.

It is quite common for manufacturers to do this in aftersales - it saves expense of storing such very large multiple parts and the customer has to pay a bit more for some slight mods.

The holes across the bottom of the window are ventilation holes that use a plastic trim insert.

so what years would this be fitted to?? any idea?