Chassis 85517 Number 17 356 Convertible D

[JTR70]

Continue stitching the bottom back in:
lap joint complete with gas welded edge as found originally.
Forward lap joint detail next.
Complete.
Moving on to the inside with the new forward section all buttoned up. Onto the next deal.

Thanks for looking !
Justin

[JTR70]

Gas welded seams on the underside completed things up here.
Offically done with the door bottom now onto the rest of the issues with this frame.
Upper corner had this ratty patch hidden under a chunk of solder.
The give away was the weld joint hanging out in space which warped into the cavity below giving a really swollen appearance with the lead applied.
Plan was to move the weld joint lower where its tight and supported by the inner panel. Seemed straight forward enough..

[JTR70]

...but no. The other door showed this stepped relief feature in this area that the other shop missed or just didn't want to replicate. As always I thank god for factory referrence parts.
Eventually got that feature hammered in and copied.

Just about ready to go in for good.
In..
While I was in this area some overlooked fatigue cracks where also welded up. Onto the rear upper corner next.
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Upper corner flange area is a bit rough and mishapen so most of the lip will be trimmed out and built to suit. The bare door structure twists and flexes with ease so those vicejaws where needed to draw the door in tight to simulate the preload that will be needed once the skin is back on.
Area straightened with flange trimmed but I've gone as far as I can until I get this skin closer to installation time. Onto the skin preparation.
Leading flange cut free for repositioning and backfilling.
Flange is now mocked up on the doorframe to establish a "new" raw gap that will require a more reasonable amount of solder in the end.

With an approximate 4mm gap at the edge of the fender I'll need a filler strip of steel about this wide.

[JTR70]

I'll need a filler strip about 1/2 inch + through the middle.
Like the door frame before I've got alot prep work ahead before this skin's ready for remounting.
Have some backfilling to do at the forward corner
And at the rear.
I'll also be redoing the entire bottom flange for a cleaner outcome. So pretty much the entire perimeter of this door skin save for the rear leading edge.

[JTR70]

Forward leading edge:

With the flange reset for a 4mm gap with the edge of the fender there is some excess that needs trimming back to even with the edge of the frame which incudes where the previous spot welds where . Who ever supplied this skin just rolled this flange in a half-inch too soon.
Flange trimmed back and now onto width determination for the filler strip.
Just about mapped out here.
Trimming for a final fit here.
Tack welded on.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Door skin prep continued:
Stitching the filler strip in a section at a time using my welding table to help hold down the warpage.
Now onto joining it with the old flange. Tacking it slowly and adjusting for height and gap with the car as it goes.
Ran a little high in places and a low in others so it was series of fine adjustments and repeated test fits.
With all of this going on I still had to keep an eye on the holes for the side spears. Could not let those get misaligned as it went.
Switched gears and folded the new bottom flange.

[JTR70]

Adding new bottom flange section:
Carefully establishing my cut line so the new leading edge winds up in the same spot.

I had to hit this one right on the money otherwise I'd lose my bottom door gap, my sides spear hole alignment or both. The side spears really complicated things.


Commitment time...

Getting ready to stitch it together starting from the center outward.
New bottom flange installed and just about ready to test fit it to the car.

[JTR70]

Initial mock up with the skin's new flanges and final reassembly.
Heeling the flange over a little tighter but not too tight so it will clear the rocker threshold. Time to slip the door frame back in and see how off it turned out.
Much to my great relief my 3mm gap was preserved with only some mild irregularities.
Most importantly the side spear holes are aligned while that bottom gap sits at 3mm's. Because this is all redo work the build sequence is out. The closing panel(door) should be built and set first then everything else added in around it. Building a closing panel to fit the opening of a body makes the challenge so much harder. I know first hand now.
Preloading the door with clamps and set screws next to get just the right twist in it so that the upper and lower corners of the door even out with the body; or as close to it as I can requiring the least amount of solder in the end.
Door frame preloaded in its best adjusted position and now locking in that tension with the skin. Slowly replacing set screws with plug welds.

Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Most of the welding completed on the right door now its onto the loose ends.
90% of the leading edge of this skin is now finally all stitched up and dressed.
test fitted to the car one more time to make sure the door held that tensioned shape I was after. So far so good...
Good consistent match against the rocker.
Now its onto tying up my loose ends at the corners.
Beginning at the top.

[JTR70]

Approaching it pretty much the same way as I did on the left door.

New section tacked in and area will only need minimal amounts of solder to create a 3mm gap.
All set. Save for a couple of pin holes I have to zap closed but ready to be lead wiped.
Again only a sliver of solder needed for a 3mm gap up here.
Now onto the rear corner. Paper templating for the shape I need. Masking tape on the post side represents the eventual lead soldered shoulder for the final door gap. More later...
Thanks for looking!
Justin

[JTR70]

Rear upper corner.
Onto steel
Before I could commit to anything I had to mock up the rear window channel to make sure the new opening shape was going to clear.
Ran a small reinforcement to strengthen up this edged opening. The other side shows it double walled along this edge.
New section in and fully dressed.
Onto the next deal...

[JTR70]

Lower forward corner.

Templating for the final shape needed to match the rocker opening.
Both inner and outer walls added and shaped to the needed contour.
Nice to get this mess all tidied up.
The corner itself will need almost no filler the "step" at the top represents the amount of solder that will be needed to get the final gap width. Had a sliver of weld yet to add to the body side to smooth out its leading edge.
and finally the rear corners was finished out completing my steel repairs to this door. This was a long one...

[roy mawbey]

Justin, its Roy here!!! I adopted a different method of opening abcgt and I have managed to get on! Your latest work is just looking super to me well done indeed. I can open the forum on my small tablet but its not user friendly for me to type any answers. By getting on the forum on my PC which was impossible before its allowed me to type this comment. We both know I use windows XP but its working well at the moment and I have only a couple of problems opening other sites, DDK and Samba work fine so maybe I have after changing my password here and re- registering the problem might be solved ?? I will now see if this is sent and I will try opening as usual afterwards. Very strange situation indeed. Wish me luck !
Roy

[roy mawbey]

Justin, As the forum style has changed a little, I confirm here as above in my 'comment' I was able to finally get on to this forum and post a reply. This was impossible before. So fingers crossed I can do it again. However if not I will try again, the tablet works but my fingers are too big to type on it,
Roy

[JTR70]

Hey Roy, Thanks! So good to see you back. You could take your PC into a local repair shop there and have them clear off the XP operating system and install windows 10. That's what I had done a few years back. Glad you're getting it dialed in either way. Justin

[JTR70]

Resoldering begins:
I finally have my raw metalwork finished in and around this right door and its now ready for some tinning acid.
Began with the leading edge of this door. Lead wiped with solder and tinning acid.
I get out of practice quickly so I started out on a more horizontal section before I make my way downward to the vertical.
It took some doing but by sessions end I was able to apply and spread the solder vertically without losing it on the floor.
My lead work still has a lot divots in it but the loins share of the needed shape is in lead so I'll feather the rest of it out in putty.