14 replies to this topic

[Gaz66]

I'm at the skin fitting stage.
A question for all those that have fitted them....
What did you do at the top corners where they are usually welded to the door frame?

[Cooperman]

I think a really good structural adhesive such as 'Tiger Seal' might work well. There are other adhesives which could work. Try a Google search.

[Ethel]

Guessing nobody has 

 

Suppose you could weld some sort of bracket to the frame to increase the contact are for bonding. There's also those aluminium brazing rods, might be doable with something as a substrate, like bronze braze or silver solder????

[Gaz66]

Only thing I could think of was tiger seal and molegrips or some sort of chemical anchor.
Thing is it's got to work first time as when the skins on its on!😬

[sonikk4]

Mmm i have always been skeptical about how you would bond a aluminium skin on knowing whats involved in a standard steel skin, so with that train of thought in mind maybe something like this. Not cheap but it does exactly what it says on the tin (well tube)

 

https://refinishsyst...V8aAtt-EALw_wcB

 

Or this

https://race-tapes.c...JwaAmFUEALw_wcB

 

Would Tigerseal do the job, i don't know. There are numerous Aviation sealants that meet the criteria but all at a cost. However they will do the job plus a lot of them have anticorrosion properties as part of their make up thus helping to prevent dissimilar metal corrosion.

[Cooperman]

I think Tiger Seal would work so long as the surface prep is thorough.
For a more 'structural' adhesive you could call 3M or Hexcel tech service and ask for advice. They can probably be very specific on what would be best. Please let us all know what works

[Bobbins]

I've used both Tigerseal and Sikaflex 221 (not together!) to bond the front wings on my Caterham with no issues.

 

There's much higher breakaway forces possible, so securing a door skin on a Mini shouldn't be a problem.

[mm man]

As a coach builder for the past 15 years all the external aluminium body panels that are fitted to modern buses are stuck on with the likes of tiger seal or sikaflex and I can guarantee is more that strong enough. The panels are not even folded over like a door skin  they are just surface bonded to the frame . I have repaired hundreds of these after they have been involved in accidents and you have to cut them off and it’s not a easy job  .

Prior to this I’ve spent 30 years in vehicle accident repair and it soon became standard practice to fit door skins with sealer alone as it’s much faster and stronger than old traditional methods.

Please remember that alloy doesn’t like to touch steel directly as it will react and you will end up with  galvanic corrosion  so the two dissimilar metals should always be separated by paints / primers / sealers.

I guess there must be a few hundred videos out on the inter web of fitting door skins with this method.

[minifreek1]

I used Tigerseal to bond the skin to the frame and welded the top corners... No corrosion as yet, been on now for about 6 months... :)

 

I used my MIG with aluminium wire and argon gas. :)

[Gaz66]

I used Tigerseal to bond the skin to the frame and welded the top corners... No corrosion as yet, been on now for about 6 months... :)

I used my MIG with aluminium wire and argon gas. :)

How did you manage to weld aluminium to steel?

[minifreek1]

As above....?

 

It bonded no problem and stuck... so left it alone. Only thing I did to it, was dress it and spray etching primer onto it....

 

I know they're different metals, and I was dubious about it myself but gave it a go and it worked... it might ping apart when going down to the MoT place (eventually) and I'll cross that bridge if I get to it...

[Ethel]

Isn't the issue more fixing the window frame to the door than the skin?

 

I reckon if you provide an alternative for doing that, getting the skin to just look after itself will be easier.

[Gaz66]

I offered a skin up to the frame tonight and apart from it being twisted a bit the top edge seems to be half an inch too long so some form of reworking will be in order. I might be able to even wrap it round the window frame to secure it, lol
Not sure whose skins they are but they are pretty grim from a fitting point of view.
I don't think I'll risk blowing the panel away trying to weld it to steel so it's going to be a tiger seal and mole grip job as said before.

[stuart bowes]

the heritage steel door skin I got wasn't any better in terms of being a tight fit, and it seems designed that way to give you the flexibility to line the skin up on the frame to suit the panels around it

 

i.e. fit the frame into the car, gap it up nicely (with window glass in for correct weight) and then fit the new skin to the correct alignment, and a tack or two to the frame would hold in place before taking it to the bench and folding over the edges

 

I suppose in your case that would be a case of glue and mole grip into place at the top edges with the window down? then when cured, take door from car and do the edge folding

 

were you planning to use the sealant anywhere else around the folds because I have heard people often do a couple of extra plug/spot welds to stop it shifting over time.  Just curious how it would work really more than anything else

Edited by stuart bowes, 19 July 2023 - 11:06 PM.

[Cooperman]

Gaz, I think, rom memory, that it's supposed to wrap around the frame a bit. It's a while since I did one, but I seem to remember I had the same thing with a Magnum skin and I jusr dressed it around the door frame and welded it in place, then linished back and it was fine.

It loks like the general opinion is that TigerSeal will be fine and the more contact area the better. I guess you could also use a countersunk pop-rivet at each end if you so wished, but it;s probably unnecessary.