Project 90

Both doors were pretty rusty. New ones were not available and good used ones are rare, so I had to rebuild what I had. Here, the inner panel and window regulator have been removed. The glass is then slid out.

Even the top rail was rotten at both ends.

In order to properly repair the door, the skins have to be removed. Various tools were used to carefully bend back the edges. It is important not to bend aluminium any more than necessary. It becomes brittle very quickly.

Where the skin folds over the inside of the window frame, it is tricky to unfold. I clamped a piece of wood to the frame and used these 90 degree long nose pliers. It worked quite well.

There is a single pop rivet in the middle of the skin below the window aperture.

The passenger door skin removed.

Even more rust becomes evident once the skin is off!

The skin is sealed into place with brushable seam sealer on both sides.

Then the skin edge is carefully folded over.

The other door was even worse and needed a lot more cut away at the bottom.

Again, the hinge bracket was salvaged and welded in the new frame. The frame again needed recessing. This time, I just formed the swage.

The check strap bracket was built into the new section this time.

The new front frame section welded in place.

And the bottom frame section welded in place. You can see the upper frame has also been repaired.

As with the other side, I had to fabricate this bracket which was missing.

I managed to find a new RH door skin. Here it is in place on the frame.

And both doors top coated.

The doors were then fitted with hinges (the mirrors have to be fitted first) and hung on the bulkhead.

The doors have to be adjusted to align properly. This involved resetting the bulkhead and rear tub several times!

The door lock mechanism.

These are the plastic inserts that locate the door window channels.

The windows are a bit of a fiddle to get back in. Here, the drivers one is installed along with the lock mechanism.

I had to drill the holes in the frame for the inner panels because the frame had been repaired. To do this, I fitted the plastic pegs to the panel, put masking tape on the door frame and pressed the panel against the tape. This gave enough marking on the tape to locate the holes correctly.

I picked up a rear door in reasonable condition. It is a 2 hinge type from an earlier car. This is OK since I'm not hanging a spare wheel from it.

This is the door from the 1988 donor.

This is the earlier door. Note the differences in the frame and the check strap channel.

The replacement door turned out to be very thin at the bottom of the frame. This is just the first of the holes I found! But the reat of the frame was solid

More rust holes after cleaning up the frame.

The underside of the frame was cut out ready for replacement.

I rebuilt the rear door hinges. Here you can see the break down of parts in the hinge pivot and an assembled hinge.

The rear door painted and the hinges fitted.

Fitting the rear door was straight forward after 'tweaking' some of the hinge holes.

This is the early type check strap. Not strong, but it will do for now!

Both door locks I had were in poor condition, so I bought a replacement one. This is the earlier type. Later ones are of an 'anti-burst' design.

This is a Britpart spare wheel carrier. Not the best quality, but cheap and adequate!



Doors

Both doors were pretty rusty. New ones were not available and good used ones are rare, so I had to rebuild what I had. Here, the inner panel and window regulator have been removed. The glass is then slid out.	Even the top rail was rotten at both ends.
In order to properly repair the door, the skins have to be removed. Various tools were used to carefully bend back the edges. It is important not to bend aluminium any more than necessary. It becomes brittle very quickly.	Where the skin folds over the inside of the window frame, it is tricky to unfold. I clamped a piece of wood to the frame and used these 90 degree long nose pliers. It worked quite well.
The skin is 'glued' to the frame with Mastic type seam sealer. The aluminium skin is very fragile, so I used a hot air gun to soften the Mastic and gently prised the skin off.	There is a single pop rivet in the middle of the skin below the window aperture.
The passenger door skin removed.	Even more rust becomes evident once the skin is off!
Here, the outer section of the top rail has been repaired and the inner panel is folded ready to weld in place.	This shows the outside repair of the top rail.
Here, I am cutting the very rusty bottom rail off after making several careful dimensions!	Nasty!
I carefully cut around the hinge bracket so it retained it's position.	These are the cut and mitred sections ready to weld into the door bottom. These sections are available in 2m lengths from YRM Metal Solutions (www.yrm-metal-solutions.com).
One problem with the repair sections is they are flat faced. This is fine for the bottom, but if used for the hinge pillar, they need recessing for the hinge bracket.	So I cut out the middle section. Here, the end and bottom are already tacked together..
Like this!	The bottom and side repair sections welded in place.
The check strap bracket was distorted and needed repairing.	I cut it out as a section.
The tabs were first welded back in the correct place.	Then a repair section was made to fit around the tabs.
In place ready to be welded.	You can make out the holes where the chequer plate was rivetted on. These are to be TIG welded up.
This bracket was completely missing and needed fabricating.	The skin is sealed into place with brushable seam sealer on both sides.
Then the skin edge is carefully folded over.	The other door was even worse and needed a lot more cut away at the bottom.
Again, the hinge bracket was salvaged and welded in the new frame. The frame again needed recessing. This time, I just formed the swage.	The check strap bracket was built into the new section this time.
The new front frame section welded in place.	And the bottom frame section welded in place. You can see the upper frame has also been repaired.
As with the other side, I had to fabricate this bracket which was missing.	I managed to find a new RH door skin. Here it is in place on the frame.
In primer.	And both doors top coated.
The doors were then fitted with hinges (the mirrors have to be fitted first) and hung on the bulkhead.	The doors have to be adjusted to align properly. This involved resetting the bulkhead and rear tub several times!
The door lock mechanism.	These are the plastic inserts that locate the door window channels.
The windows are a bit of a fiddle to get back in. Here, the drivers one is installed along with the lock mechanism.	I had to drill the holes in the frame for the inner panels because the frame had been repaired. To do this, I fitted the plastic pegs to the panel, put masking tape on the door frame and pressed the panel against the tape. This gave enough marking on the tape to locate the holes correctly.
I picked up a rear door in reasonable condition. It is a 2 hinge type from an earlier car. This is OK since I'm not hanging a spare wheel from it.	This is the door from the 1988 donor.
This is the earlier door. Note the differences in the frame and the check strap channel.	The replacement door turned out to be very thin at the bottom of the frame. This is just the first of the holes I found! But the reat of the frame was solid
More rust holes after cleaning up the frame.	The underside of the frame was cut out ready for replacement.
I rebuilt the rear door hinges. Here you can see the break down of parts in the hinge pivot and an assembled hinge.	The rear door painted and the hinges fitted.
Fitting the rear door was straight forward after 'tweaking' some of the hinge holes.	This is the early type check strap. Not strong, but it will do for now!
Both door locks I had were in poor condition, so I bought a replacement one. This is the earlier type. Later ones are of an 'anti-burst' design.	This is a Britpart spare wheel carrier. Not the best quality, but cheap and adequate!