Body / Glass: Door Bottom Repair

[JohnM15]

At some point in the future I will need to repair the door bottoms of my M15A-20. The bottoms are completely gone and on one door some of the skin went with it. I have not seen any replacement panels for door panels. Is this a case of either finding new door or fabricate from scratch? What have you folks done?

[Carl Purdy]

Here is what I done to my wagon doors

[JohnM15]

With a MIG? What is that , 16AWG?

[Carl Purdy]

Yes with a mig. I used 20 gauge it is easy to work with. I raised the lower lip and got all the old metal out cleaned it and POR 15 and re crimped it after I got it all welded up.

[woodysrods]

Okay.!
If you don't have a mig and you have not done any rust repair in the past, and you value your time at more than $1.00/hr????
Find better door! Espesially if you have not invested any time or sandblasting costs on the ones you have, as you can do tat to the new ones that you buy.
Rust repair is very time consuming and costly. I do it every day, and have just spent the past 2 months doing rust repairs on my wifes 61 Hawk.
Could have and should have bought a better car!
Good Roads
Brian

[Skip Lackie]

Looks like Classic Enterprises is planning to produce M-series door bottoms in the near future, but they are not listed as currently available in their catalog. Might be worth a phone call to find out.

http://www.classicent.com/M-Series.php

[Bob Andrews]

Are not M-series doors the same as sedans? Thought I might have heard that somewhere. If so, that might help increase the odds of just going with a better replacement.

[StudeDave57]

Are not M-series doors the same as sedans? Thought I might have heard that somewhere.

I seem to recall something along those lines,
but I think it was about just the door handles...

I could be wrong, though.

[garyash]

As ST2DE5 has done, you will probably have to make bits and pieces to weld in. I did it on my M5, including a 6" high piece of the outer skin. It was an ugly task. I tried butt-welding the outer skin, wound up warping the skin pretty badly. Fortunately, the body shop guy who cleaned up my messes and painted put things right. While overlapped welds are not ideal, in the case of replacing part of the door skin, he suggested that (next time) I put an offset flange at the top of the skin patch and slide it under the existing piece, then tack front and back and weld the front. Later, the Bondo gets wiped from top to bottom so that the weld area can be covered and blended. After priming and painting, including the inside of the door, you can get inside the door and apply lots of rubber sealer and sound deadener over the weld so that it doesn't rust through later.

The door bottoms are tough because they set the whole shape of the door skin curvature, and rubber seals need to mate to the cab if you are going to avoid wind noise. Rather than do the whole bottom at one go, which would let the outer skin change shape, try replacing short sections. Don't forget to leave some drain holes. When you reassemble the doors, use some good duct tape or wide vinyl tape to cover the whole inside surface of the door with a sheet of thick polyethylene. This will keep water that comes into the door via the window seals from attacking your cardboard door panels.

[Bob Andrews]

If you are going to tackle the repairs, here's how I do it:

1. Cut back to rust-free metal

2. Fabricate the outer skin first. Leave the edges 1/4" longer all around to bend into a lip. Bend the lip 90 degrees.

3. Fasten the outer skin with sheet metal screws, about 1" apart. If the door is off, rehang and adjust.

4. Fabricate three sheet metal strips, approx. 5" long by 2" wide. Insert one end of each into the bottom lip of the outer skin. Tack weld, screw, or pop rivet. One at each end and one in center.

5. Tack, screw, or rivet the other ends to the inner door, taking care to assure the outer skin is aligned properly with the rocker and cab.

6. Once the outer skin alignment is right, start fabricating inner pieces, starting at the ends. Be sure to allow for proper pressure on weatherstrips as you go. Tack weld in place, then go to the next.

7. Once all pieces are made and tacked, door can be removed for welding. Finish weld all inside pieces. Hammer and dolly the flange the rest of the way over.

8. Stitch weld outer skin. Remove screws and weld holes.

That's a thumbnail sketch. Welding ntechniques, priming, and rust prevention are all separate issues.

I just wanted to give an idea what this kind of work entails. It's not easy, takes a lot of practice, but (to me, at least) is very rewarding.

What you do is up to you.

[63t-cab]

What Bob says is a good thing to think of doing,I would like to add this though.I bend the lip completely around(useing a peice of metal a bit thicker than what will be used for the job)this allows for curveing/arching the skin panal easier as needed,and the inner door shell patches will drop right into the lip and then tap the lip tight against those peices.oh and do'nt forget to make holes in the lip to plugweld afterwards.

If you are going to tackle the reapirs, here's how I do it:

1. Cut back to rust-free metal

2. Fabricate the outer skin first. Leave the edges 1/4" longer all around to bend into a lip. Bend the lip 90 degrees.

3. Fasten the outer skin with sheet metal screws, about 1" apart. If the door is off, rehang and adjust.

4. Fabricate three sheet metal strips, approx. 5" long by 2" wide. Insert one end of each into the bottom lip of the outer skin. Tack weld, screw, or pop rivet. One at each end and one in center.

5. Tack, screw, or rivet the other ends to the inner door, taking care to assure the outer skin is aligned properly with the rocker and cab.

6. Once the outer skin alignment is right, start fabricating inner pieces, starting at the ends. Be sure to allow for proper pressure on weatherstrips as you go. Tack weld in place, then go to the next.

7. Once all pieces are made and tacked, door can be removed for welding. Finish weld all inside pieces. Hammer and dolly the flange the rest of the way over.

8. Stitch weld outer skin. Remove screws and weld holes.

That's a thumbnail sketch. Welding ntechniques, priming, and rust prevention are all separate issues.

I just wanted to give an idea what this kind of work entails. It's not easy, takes a lot of practice, but (to me, at least) is very rewarding.

What you do is up to you.

[JohnM15]

Wow! Thanks for all the great tips. I have sent Classic an email. they do list door bottoms on their web site but with no price. I suspect that they put that out there to see if anybody is interested before actually starting the product. I have no MIG welding experience but have some arc and lots of gas welding experience. I have hesitated on purchasing a MIG mostly because of the cost. I currently plan to pop rivet the floor panels in temporarily to get the truck on the road then if I am serious about keeping the truck, go back and MIG them in.

[sweetolbob]

Wow! Thanks for all the great tips. I have sent Classic an email. they do list door bottoms on their web site but with no price. I suspect that they put that out there to see if anybody is interested before actually starting the product. I have no MIG welding experience but have some arc and lots of gas welding experience. I have hesitated on purchasing a MIG mostly because of the cost. I currently plan to pop rivet the floor panels in temporarily to get the truck on the road then if I am serious about keeping the truck, go back and MIG them in.

John

If you can gas weld, try that. That's what was used long before MIG was invented and leaves a softer weld that is easier to hammer and dolly.

Bob

[JohnM15]

I have tried gas welding sheet metal in the past and it always warped and contorted. Is there a procedure that prevents the contortion?

[52 Ragtop]

Back in the "days" <G> We used powered asbestes and mixed with water to form a pliable putty, tacked the welds and cooled them as we went. Another "idea" is to get some panel bond and glue it lip back on the shell. That does 2 things, one: complete sealing of the inner & outer, and 2: less welding. Panel bond takes a special caulking gun, (squeezes 2 tubes at one time) and it is NOT cheap, about $45 for a double tube (part a & b) there is about 3/4 of a regular tube of caulk.

Jim