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RESKINNING A DOOR SHELL.


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#1 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 05:30 PM

I've already posted this in my member's projects & plans but I figured it would help more people if it was posted here as more people will see it here than in my project thread.
As most people will know, good straight rust free doors for Toranas are getting hard to get & with some companies like Rare Spares making reproduction skins for Toranas, repairing & reskinning your original doors can be a easier & better alternative.
The subject of the reskinning here is my LH Torana but the basic principal is the same for alot of cars.

The door on my car was badly damaged from contact with a garage wall or something so was beyond reasonable repair. I was lucky & found a genuine NOS skin for $200 which is cheap as a VZ Commodore skin is over $220 & easily found.
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First step is to remove the trims, door glass etc. I leave the rubber seal (in this case I pulled back & taped away from the main part of the door to the top of the window frame) & door latch in place for reasons i'll explain later. Once disassembled & placed upside down on a suitable stand, there will usually be spot welds around the flange fold. These will have to be drilled or ground away. This door had been reskinned in the past & had the folds brass welded.
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Once these are removed, using a disc sander with coarse grit disc, carefully gring around the edge until two layers of steel are visible. Once this done the flange fold should come off relatively easy.
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Before trying to remove the skin, you will have to find the join on the window frame. I don't think Rare Spares skins join the same, in which case I would lay the new skin over the old one & mark out the join & cut acordingly leaving about 10mm overlap.
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Carefully cut the join, taking care not to cut through the frame as well. You will have to turn the door over & cut the flange fold too. Now the skin should lift off.
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Using a wire wheel & sander, clean any rust etc off the edge of the door shell so it is clean, even & rust free. If any serious rust is found, it will have to be repaired before the new skin goes on. If is only lightly pitted treat with POR or deoxidine. Once this is done, apply zinc primer aound the shell frame including the flange fold. To avoid water from getting in between the skin & shell, I apply a bead of seamsealer around the edge before I lay the skin down.
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Now making sure your stand is padded to prevent damaging the new skin, turn the door over & using a panel hammer & heavy flat dolly, start turning the flange fold over. I usually start on the lower edge & work my way around. Don't hammer the fold completely down just yet.
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Next step is to bolt the door back on the car to check alignment & fit (which is critical on the likes of LC LJ coupes where there is no adjustment in the fitting of the door) This is why I leave or refit the rubber seal & catch on the door & only lighty fold the flange over as if any adjustment of the skin fitment is needed, it can be done now. Vise grips come in handy now to hold the skin in place.
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Once alignment etc is correct, remove the door & finish turning the flange fold over. Then turn the door over. No matter how carefull you turn the flange fold over, there will always be a minimal amount of distortion, so the next step is to lighty sand the edge of the skin with coarse sander such as P80 & using a body file, lightly file in a cross hatch pattern to find any high or low spots. If you have taken your time & used care these should be minimal & file out. If not a light skim of body filler may be neccesary.
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Once you are satisfied with the finish on the edge, join the skin to the window frame.
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This can be done before you sand & file the edge of the skin, however my personal preference is to do it last. Now turn the door over again & tack weld the flange fold. I was lucky in that I had access to a single side spot welder. For those who don't, a few tacks around the edge are just as good & can be lightly ground smooth to "hide" them. Another method is using a 1/4 drill, drill through the fold carefully to the door shell & "plug" weld. Once ground smooth it will be hard to pick that the skin has been replaced.
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Bolt the door back on the car to do final alignment/fitment check & if all is OK the door will be ready for priming & painting. Once paint etc is done, apply fish oil or caity wax around the inside of the door making sure it's applied all around the edge of the skin where it meets the door shell& your repair will easily last another 30 odd years. :spoton: If anyone has any questions or advice I am always happy to help in anyway I can.
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#2 Statler

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 05:39 PM

With good doors hard to find, & the price of good panels continually rising, it's only a matter of time before someone [Les?] starts reproducing repro panels.

Thanks for sharing LH SLR 3300.

This could form part of a good sticky!

#3 _TUFF_

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 05:41 PM

Nice tutorial very handy

#4 Ruts

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 05:47 PM

Great stuff.

#5 Zook

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 07:20 PM

Thanks LH SLR. That's excellent! I have to do this with one of the doors on my LC but I want to re-use the skin off another door and put it onto the original frame. Is it difficult to get skins off?

#6 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 17 May 2009 - 08:03 PM

Thanks LH SLR. That's excellent! I have to do this with one of the doors on my LC but I want to re-use the skin off another door and put it onto the original frame. Is it difficult to get skins off?


No probs. Yeah it can be done but is very time consuming. Follow the procedure in the thread I out lined but instead of grinding the edge of the flange folds, gently pry them up. I actually made a tool for this out of a large flat blade screw driver. I slowly heated, bent & cooled in engine oil the blade so it's turned 180 degrees like a hook & once I've lifted the fold enough to fit the hooked end, I slowly & carefully bend the fold at 90 degrees. You will probably distort the skin anyway but once it's off you can dress up any damaged areas easily enough.

#7 _Pete_

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Posted 21 May 2009 - 05:35 PM

Great Post LH SLR3300 thanks for going to the effort in sharing!

#8 _nial8r_

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Posted 06 June 2009 - 08:18 PM

was a good read Matt, but ya seen my doors and well yeah.... i must find doors with clean shells first lmao :spoton:


Lee

#9 _keith1962_

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 08:23 AM

^^^^^^ same here as i must find some rust free doors myself, a great read Matt


cheers Keith

#10 TerrA LX

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 09:10 AM

I will see if I can make up a set for ya Keith, you want with strip lugs or without?

#11 _keith1962_

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Posted 07 June 2009 - 03:46 PM

What ever you can come up with Terry

thankyou muchly


cheers Keith

#12 _Yella SLuR_

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Posted 23 July 2011 - 11:30 PM

We did this at tech, but we either soldered, or brazed the corners?

Can't recall which one exact, as I haven't needed to do it since doing the course. Are you able to advise?

Ours was just a new rusty corner, but same process for reskin.

Corner as shown below:

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I think my Datsun 120Y practice door went back to where it belonged ...... the tip.

Edited by Yella SLuR, 23 July 2011 - 11:32 PM.


#13 _LH SLR 3300_

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Posted 24 July 2011 - 12:06 AM

I either braze or silicon bronze weld, i recently fitted a 1/4 skin to one of my doors where i did this but forgot to take many photos. When i 1/4 skin the other side i'll post some more info & pics.
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#14 _Yella SLuR_

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Posted 24 July 2011 - 07:49 AM

Fantastic, thanks for confirming.

#15 _willybigears_

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Posted 29 June 2013 - 01:38 AM

Good info . Makes me think I could have a go myself

#16 tuxedoss

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Posted 29 June 2013 - 02:32 AM

I'm in the process of rebuilding a lx hatch door and not sure if they are different but the top of the skin where the weather strip clips in is spot welded either side of the holes, so there is probably around a dozen spot welds that need removing, this guide doesn't seem to mention that. Wondering how this spot welding was done as I can't see how you could get a spot welder in there during assembly. And what happens when you put a new skin on do you just plug weld it?

Edited by tuxedoss, 29 June 2013 - 02:33 AM.


#17 tuxedoss

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Posted 01 July 2013 - 10:22 PM

Well I have an answer for my own question. The hatch doors are different, there is a rail that runs the length of the door which is what the skin is spot welded to. This rail is welded to the front and rear of the door shell. The rail is attached to the skin before its put on, spot welded at the factory, probably plug welded at home as not a lot of room for a spot welder to get in. Then the skin is fitted with the rail attached then the ends of the rail are plug welded to the shell, they were plug welded at the factory as you can see the weld if you scrape the paint off. Worked all this out after speaking to the guys at Waddingtons, he wasn't that familiar with the hatch door but once I described it he says its the same way the HQ coupe is done.




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