GreenBlood’s D(very)Special Rejuvenation 2009>

[lhs2.1]

Those door skin pliers look interesting - did you source those locally?
roger

 

[GreenBlood]

Those door skin pliers look interesting - did you source those locally?
roger

Eastwoods's in the USA Roger, I couldn't find anything close here in Aus. Pretty good to deal with and quite prompt.
The pliers actually do work really well, they make removing a skin a breeze, without damage to the skin or door frame. Likewise with that rubber crimp on the rear guard, cleanly opens the crimp without damage.
http://www.eastwood.com/

http://www.eastwood.com/door-skin-removal-pliers.html

Cheers
Chris

 

[DoubleChevron]

Wow there really cheap.... I just ebayed them and found these too.... Are they the same as yours ??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOOR-SKIN...motive_Tools&hash=item2c6898f989#ht_908wt_755

$25 delivered to your doorstep!

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[GreenBlood]

Wow there really cheap.... I just ebayed them and found these too.... Are they the same as yours ??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DOOR-SKIN...motive_Tools&hash=item2c6898f989#ht_908wt_755

$25 delivered to your doorstep!

seeya,
Shane L.

Same but different, for $25.00 delivered they'd be worth a shot.

Cheers
Chris

 

[DoubleChevron]

SSShhhhhh.... now how to sneak a purchase onto the credit card without my wife noticing

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[lhs2.1]

Eastwoods's in the USA Roger, I couldn't find anything close here in Aus. Pretty good to deal with and quite prompt.
The pliers actually do work really well, they make removing a skin a breeze, without damage to the skin or door frame. Likewise with that rubber crimp on the rear guard, cleanly opens the crimp without damage.
http://www.eastwood.com/

http://www.eastwood.com/door-skin-removal-pliers.html

Cheers
Chris

Thanks for the lead, I will get myself a pair.
roger

 

[GreenBlood]

Left Rear Door

Too much tool chat not enough work being done... :nownow:

Finished blocking off the rear guard, this is still using 320 grit dry so still has a soft look. It will do for now, I'll put away safely and when ready for top coats finish with 400 grit wet.

Now, who remembers that rear passenger door that I cut the bottom out of - you'd be forgiven if you've forgotten it was 12 months ago

Link to visit work done October 2011
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/sh...tion-2009-gt&p=1002543&viewfull=1#post1002543

Pulled it out yesterday as it is the next panel in line, looked a little sad, the work done was still good but I decided to replace the two bottom ends (when you buy the repair panels these are included). Mostly MIG but I cheated and used a little bronze.

Then decided the only thing stopping me from have a go at the outer skin was FEAR... I'm a bit miffed because I thought I was taking progress pics but I hadn't replaced the SD card in the camera - anyway this is what I did get.

The skin is quite flat before it is welded and the skin folded, but as you can see it takes on a nice curve once fitted. Fitting was all done by measurements, so time to see how it will look on the car before taking it any further.

Still room for a little adjustment panel to panel, and some creative filling but I'm pretty happy with the result.

I got so excited I went for a spin on my Bathurst track in the back yard, great day here for open top cruising...
... remarkably throughout I have managed to keep the car mobile under it's own steam

Cheers
Chris

 

[DoubleChevron]

Did you manage to seem weld that entire patch in without rippling the whole door panel ... That is amazing! Did you just stretch/shrink the distorted metal as you welded it

seeya,
Shane L.

 

[GreenBlood]

Did you manage to seem weld that entire patch in without rippling the whole door panel ... That is amazing! Did you just stretch/shrink the distorted metal as you welded it

seeya,
Shane L.

The repair panel is joddled(sp) under the old cut skin, the whole thing is well thought out in my view, because of the joddle and bottom (middle) fold the repair panel is quite strong. I did what I knew I could, spot welds into the seam about 50mm apart, then back to the beginning and welds at 25mm gaps, and kept repeating the process until there were no gaps between welds. Slow and tedious, but it kept the heat from ever being concentrated in one spot.

Believe me, I've been putting this off and 12 months have passed since I began. Welding this thin sheet worried the crap out of me, but I seem to have pulled it off. A little bit of tweaking and I think it should be hard to pick.

Cheers
Chris

 

[GreenBlood]

Just a call out for Fivedoor :headbang:

Who went to extraordinary trouble yesterday to drop off his loan sand blaster gun. I can't wait to give it a blast, just need to swap the air connector over to suit my lines. Don't you just love this forum... :wink2:

Many thanks it will be put to good use, I'll grab some safety gear as suggested before I have a play

Cheers
Chris

 

[Fingers]

Great thread,and to think it would take all this to replace a starter...

 

[GreenBlood]

Great thread, and to think it would take all this to replace a starter...

Cute, the tragedy would of course be that it has now taken so long to get the car back on the road that the starter will need replacing again...lol

Cheers
Chris

 

[forumnoreason]

Just as a minor comparison... It took me 4 goes at getting my panels 'half' decent, I had to return to the task two more times after finishing up and dropping the panels after bogging and sanding. They are quite challenging as it is. Yours look great!
I'm toying with repainting mine now to original colour.
Cheers Steven

 

[GreenBlood]

October 10th. Front passenger door - panel fit

Just as a minor comparison... It took me 4 goes at getting my panels 'half' decent, I had to return to the task two more times after finishing up and dropping the panels after bogging and sanding. They are quite challenging as it is. Yours look great!
I'm toying with repainting mine now to original colour.
Cheers Steven

Keep us posted on your progress Steven, I'm flipping all over the place on the final colour for mine. There is a strong argument to stay with original and Bleu Lagune does look good with the black upholstery. Plenty of time for my final decision...:wink2:

I'm working to get the best panel fit I can, so have made adjustments now to the rear guard and repaired door (it looks better but is now a little close to the guard - easy fix). As the rear door has had the complete bottom replaced I need to hang the front passenger door now to check how the adjustments I have made affect the front door position.

So, I've pulled out the front passenger door, I cant believe how heavy and awkward a fully assembled door is. It will be the next panel in line for preparation so stripping off the hardware may as well happen now as later and will make handling much easier without half it's weight.

I've taken pics along the way, this will be teaching 'granny to suck eggs' (where did that saying originate?) for most of you but hopefully useful for those that have yet to pull a door down, maybe a few tips for those that are all too familiar?


The door is a beauty, some surface rust on the underside only, shape is good, a couple of very small bog bubbles on the lower fold. Which will reveal rust but should be an easy fix - anything is after that rear door.

To remove the door card on a D Special, firstly remove the armrest - 2 x Pozi drive screws (yes I'm using a Philips head driver :nownow: )

Next the window winder, Just need to depress the doorcard sufficient to remove the holding pin. I find use of welding clamps makes it an easy task. With the forks of the clamps between the plastic trim and handle you can lever downward as you push out the pin.

You can now pry up the door card, put that spring with your collection of bits.

Now we are going to remove the glass, first undo the two M5 bolts extreme left and right.

Next the two spring clips under the lower arm mechanism. Release the arm from the glass support.

There is a large spring clamp that now needs to be opened in order to release the glass. I discovered a second use for the Citroen steering column spring compressor, it is the perfect tool for this job.

It slides into the spring clamp, and using the lever it opens the spring making withdrawal of the glass simple.

Next drop the winder mechanism, 4 x M5. and remove.

Internal door handle, undo the large chrome nut N.B. TREAT AS LEFT HAND THREAD!! RELEASE BY TURNING CLOCKWISE.

Turn the handle 90 degrees and lift, remove the rubber strap and release the handle from the actuator rod.

Next that big chrome nut, it's held by a washer with a split, I just lever the washer and wind it off the thread.

Next I remove the window slide channel, it gives more access for removal of the outer door handle.

So, to the external lift style door handle, it is secured by two 10mm (from memory) nuts.
This is the easy one :wink2:

This one I find easier working from the outside of the panel.

Now release the actuating rod, M5 screw.

The door lock, simply lever the securing clip and it drops out.

All done, and half the weight. I've left the door catch and hinges because I'm hanging the door on the car.

...and finally on the car, I can see plenty of tweaking to get it right (or close to right)

The back of the front door needs lifting, add one shim to the lower front. The rear door can move forwards, remove upper and lower shims one of each. this should close the middle gap and open the rear gap, I'll report back...

Cheers
Chris

 

[GreenBlood]

Just a call out for Fivedoor :headbang:

Who went to extraordinary trouble yesterday to drop off his loan sand blaster gun. I can't wait to give it a blast, just need to swap the air connector over to suit my lines. Don't you just love this forum... :wink2:

Many thanks it will be put to good use, I'll grab some safety gear as suggested before I have a play

Cheers
Chris

Just lashed out on a Sand Blasting Hood 1cent on Ebay + $20.08 delivery
It's probably rubbish but for the sort of use it will get should suit my needs.

Fivedoor, I've run air through you gun and all is good, I'll grab a bucket of grit from Supercheap (thanks Michaelr) and experiment on the weekend. Crash helmet until my new purchase arrives.

Cheers
Chris

 

[michaelr]

Looking like good progress GB. The pictorial of stripping the door will become a very useful resource world wide!

Fantastic to see a good solution to the opening of the glass retaining spring using the steering column tool. It has always been a real source of frustration.

One point I will pick you up on though:

"Internal door handle, undo the large chrome nut N.B. LEFT HAND THREAD!!"

Nope, it is a right hand thread, but your viewpoint is from the "wrong" side so it is a little counter intuitive.

With the sand blaster, don't forget to buy a few kg of baking soda (Bi-carb) too, it really is very useful for delicate items.

 

[GreenBlood]

Looking like good progress GB. The pictorial of stripping the door will become a very useful resource world wide!

Fantastic to see a good solution to the opening of the glass retaining spring using the steering column tool. It has always been a real source of frustration.

One point I will pick you up on though:

"Internal door handle, undo the large chrome nut N.B. LEFT HAND THREAD!!"

Nope, it is a right hand thread, but your viewpoint is from the "wrong" side so it is a little counter intuitive.

With the sand blaster, don't forget to buy a few kg of baking soda (Bi-carb) too, it really is very useful for delicate items.

Hmmm, OK, I concede you are correct, to clarify the big chrome nut is undone by turning clockwise as seen in the above image. If it were a normal nut on a thread with the same viewpoint you would undo it by turning anti-clockwise. Do we agree on that description? :wink2:

I remember well the struggles I've had in the past opening that spring clamp to remove the glass and worse yet when replacing. The tool shown above just makes it a doddle as when turned the lever/handle locks the spring open. It would be very easy to make similar without going to the expense of buying one.

Baking soda added to the shopping list - thank you

Cheers
Chris

 

[FIVEDOOR]

Looks good, good luck

Thanks for the show and tell.

You know I like you car the way it is now, a convertible

Or can I suggest a panaromic roof:headbang::roflmao:

 

[GreenBlood]

Looks good, good luck

Thanks for the show and tell.

You know I like you car the way it is now, a convertible

Or can I suggest a panaromic roof:headbang::roflmao:

You mean like this?

Could be a little warm in Queensland summer, but aesthetically very, very cool

Cheers
Chris

 

[FIVEDOOR]

Only yours would have higher quality finish around the edges. It could be your night time car.