More Driver's Door

Today I decided to see if I could get the latch and hinges out of the driver's door that had been welded in.  

Hinges and Latch

I used a 4 inch cutoff tool and cut the welds between the door and the hardware.  Then I drilled out all the screws as they were welded and screwed together.  I was able to save the hinges  and the latch but the latch is so worn out I will get new ones.  Then I decided to see if I could separate the inner and outer door skins.

Inner and Outer Apart

Originally they are spot welded at the top and crimped on the other 3 sides but this one had welds everywhere.  I ground out the welds and opened the flange on the perimeter and was able to get the rotten outer skin off.

Bottom Corner

Bottom Corner

Inner Skin with Latch Cut Out

Bondo

   The inner skin will need some welding to repair cracks and holes, and I will construct a new bottom lip and corner and  new pocket for the latch.  

Inner Skin Hung on car

Latch Pocket Needs Repair

Then I hung the inner panel back on the car to see how warped it was and with a little work it fits pretty well.  I will order a new outer skin and fit it to the old inner skin and with a little time, re-use this door.  In the last picture, notice the large caliber bullet hole by the latch.  Hope no one was sitting in the driver's seat when that happened!   Steve

Left Rear Quarter Panel

After the door issues, it was good news that the left rear quarter panel was typical or better for its age.  

Rear Corner

The rear corner which is usually rotted was in great shape, save for a few dents that were bondo'ed over.  

Upper Quarter

The upper corner was only split a couple of inches and filled with brass welding rod which will have to be removed to weld it properly.  

Bottom Quarter

The lower quarter was only pinholed with rust and a short lower patch panel will fix easily.  

Wheelwell Cutout

We had to cut four inches of the lower wheelwell out which is very typical of roadster rot.  

Old and New

Next photo shows the new patch panel over the old cut section.  

Fitting Wheelwell Patch

Patch

Next is fitting the new patch panel in place and getting ready to weld it in.  

Inside View

Inside Back Corner

Left Rear Corner Patch

All in all, it was a very good "A" day!  Steve

Driver's Door

I sort of knew we had a problem with the driver's door as it weighed twice as much as the other one.  Well, bondo spread over an inch thick all over the door is going to add pounds.  Throw in the window screen wire and you have a great unuseable door. Harry came by today to help speed up the restoration and we sanded the bondo out of the left door and quarter panel.  There is not much useable here!  It's either find a used drivers door or spend $ to get a new one.  Booo Hoooo!

Top of Door

Door Top

Door Corner at Lower Hinge

Inside Door Corner

Hinge Weld

Bondo Over 1-Inch Thick

Latch Welded In

Rear Corner Braces

The triangle rear corner braces support the rear quarter panels and tie the quarter braces, subrail, and quarters together along with attachment points for the curved inner panel below the rumble seat.

Cracks and Holes

Ready to Weld

Cracks

Extra Holes

  The originals were full of extra holes from someone using a torch to remove them because they had been welded together in addition to the original bolts, along with lots of stress cracks from years on the road.  

Old and New Corner Braces

They were so bad that I bought new ones to use but upon trying to fit them it became apparent that it would be easier to repair the originals than to make the new ones fit.  

So I welded up all the cracks and filled in the holes with leftover pieces cut out of the subrails.  Then I primed them and started to test fit them in the car.  

The last two pics show where they go on the car and how they tie the rear section of the body together.  I want to temporarily assemble the entire body before final riveting so I can adjust body parts as I go along to get the best fit possible.  Steve 

Body Work Continues

The rear panel below the rumble seat is held in place with machine screws to the curved inner panel on top and screws to the rear subframe channel at the bottom.  The panel has D nuts riveted in place for the screws but someone broke the heads off years ago so the last time the car was repaired, they punched new holes beside the D nuts and screwed it together with sheet metal screws.  

Wrong Screws

Tapped Hole and Metal Screw

Picture one and two shows the original broken off screw with the broken off sheet metal screws.  The panel has an inner brace crimped in place that I was able to remove to get to the back side of the screws and get them all out.  I then ran a tap through the D nuts and they were useable again.  Then I put the brace back in place.

New Screws

New Screws

   The bottom of this same panel bolts in place to the rear subframe channel.  Eight D nuts are riveted to the channel before an inner channel is welded to it.  All our D nuts were missing so they had to be replaced.  The D nuts have to come up from the bottom side and have a flange peened over to hold them in place.  Since there is now no access from the bottom I had to drill eight 1/2 holes in the channel to insert the D nuts.  I taped a D nut in place from the top to locate my hole and drilled all the way through, then removed the D nut and finished drilling from the bottom side.  I had a magnet just the right size to insert the D nut up from the bottom and then held it in place with a screw until I could get it to the vice and insert the channel over a piece of 1/2 steel rod to peen the nut.  

D Nut Hole

Picture 5 shows the channel with the missing D nuts.  

New Access Holes

Picture 6 shows the 1/2 access holes drilled in the bottom side.  

Magnetic D Nut Holder

Next is a D nut on the magnet.  

Bucking Tool in Vice

Next pic is the steel rod in the vice for peening the nut.  

On Vice With Bolt

Nut in Place for Peening

The next pic shows the channel on the steel rod with a bolt in the D nut to hold it in place until the steel rod is under it, then I removed the bolt and the next pic shows it in place ready to peen.  

Peened

Rear Subframe With New D Nuts

The next pic shows a D nut in place peened over with a new bolt in it and the last one shows the rear channel ready for bolting together.

    Next time we will repair the rear triangle braces that go on the ends of these panels to provide support for the rear quarter panels.  Steve

Body Alignment Check

The first picture is a close up of the subrail /crosschannel intersection showing body bolt #5 and the two different sized Cleco's installed.  

Next is me hanging the driver's door to check the spacing between the cowl and rear quarter panel.  This space is not adjustable once the quarter is riveted to the subrail, so it has to be correct.  

The next pic is the interior with both doors hung looking through the rumble seat opening.  

   Everything is aligned and fitting well now so I will remove the body parts and unbolt the subrails and cowl from the frame and one by one I will replace each Cleco with a rivet and using an air tool with a special waffle head rivet them together. There is a sequence to riveting the body together because in several places once you have riveted a panel in, you can't get to the back side of other rivets to buck them. Let's see if we can figure it out!