10 replies to this topic

[NuFab]

Hi everyone,

I've got to a point on my mk1 restoration where I just have to sort the doors out and the bodywork is pretty much done.

As mentioned in another thread, my door gaps are too tight, and I probably need to 'shrink' the doors by about 2-3mm on the front and back edges.

I've now come to the conclusion that I really ought to reskin the doors; that way I can be sure the doors are rot free.

My question is... how easy is it to adjust the skins to match a slightly smaller door frame? My thinking was to cut the skins off, fix any rust, and then resize the door frame to match the car (allowing a bit extra for the skin), and I'll then fit the skin.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Chris

[sonikk4]

Fairly straight forward to do. Once you have everything lined up then either pin the skin to the door frame or plug weld it on. Now you can dress the edges round a bit more when you fold over the edge of the skin. that way you should get a nice even gap. 

 

I would mark on the skin a maximum line you can fold round. If you go too far then you can always add metal to the edge.

[Homersimpson]

Personally I would do one of two things, either fit the skin then grind the edges down a bit at a time and reweld or cut a slot in the skin to reduce its size near to one edge then weld up.

 

I have tried altering the pre formed fold in doors skins before with very limted success.

[weef]

Hi   what has happened to make the door shuts too small?

[Shifty]

With the mk1's pattern skins tend to be a bit smaller.

[NuFab]

Thanks guys, I'll give it a crack then.

Shifty, when you say pattern skins, do you mean the Heritage ones? That's what I'll get as I've had better results elsewhere on the car with them.

Weef... I think it's my a-panel replacement that's to blame, although everything else lines up properly around the front, so i can't be sure. The drivers door is the worst by far, and there were already signs of it rubbing, so I'm not sure that it was ever fitted that well.

I guess I'll go and get a skin for the passenger door (where the issue isn't as bad) and do that one first before moving on to the more problematic side.

[Shifty]

By pattern I mean magnum, the cheap ones.  I've used these on mk1's before with good results. 

[Daz1968]

I have also used the magnum skins on both my mk1 and mk2 and they have been fine, needed a few adjustments but then I doubt the heritage ones would fit perfect either.

[weef]

Before you start cutting up the door skins you will need to know where the problem lies. Have you measured up and compared the door aperture sizes side to side?. If they are not the same you have to find out why and which one or if both are wrong. Someone on the forum may be kind enough to tell you the preferred sizes. Misalignment in the panels must show somewhere. Is the bonnet shut gap correct and even and does the bonnet sit flush with the wing fronts, does it look right?. If as you suspect it is an A panel problem it might be better/easier to rectify than trying to adjust door skin sizes. Most quality panels are produced to a tolerance where major surgery is not required when fitting them. If the skins are 2 to 3 mm tight the door shut sizing has to be wrong.

[tiger99]

I have heard tales about how this was a common problem in the factory and they used a large ratchet jack with appropriately shaped pads to jack across the door aperture in various directions until the door fitted. Make of that what you will! I know that Ford, whose bodywork is generally assembled to impressively close tolerances nowadays, had a procedure for wedging a length of timber between door and A pillar, and levering the door towards the closed position, to get correct fit, after the door hinges had been welded to the pillar, so it wasn't just BMC/BL/Rover who bodged doors! I have also seen late 1960s video of door bodging in a Japanese factory, so probably everyone was at it...

 

If someone does come up with the correct dimensions for the door apertures, that would be most helpful as those doing full restorations could make the correct adjustments during, for example, sill and floor replacement. There is no reason why we can't do better at home nowadays that the factory ever did. It is mostly about the time available to do the job.

[NuFab]

Weef... the front end fits fine, my main issue was bonnet fit in that the bonnet was too wide along the edge of the front panel, but that width is set by the front panel itself. That's now sorted.

I've replaced the inner and outer a-panels, floors, sills, inner wings, scuttle and front end. The door openings were braced before I did the floors and sills. I think I've probably caused some reduction in the size of the door aperture, but it was tight beforehand.

I've been and bought a heritage skin for the passenger side where there isn't such a problem, so I'll use that side to learn the process and hopefully I'll be able to sort the drivers side later. I think the main issue on the passenger side is just that the hinge holes need shifting slightly to allow the door to sit where is should.

Tiger99... none of that surprises me! I'm sure we've all seen the official guide to adjusting the doors using pieces of 2x4 as levers 😳

Edited by NuFab, 01 October 2017 - 09:56 AM.