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TR2/3/3A passenger door

sp53

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Well I have the gap at the top of the passenger door. I have seen this gap before on other cars and remember someone on the forum welding metal to one side of the problem, either door or the fender and the one I am thinking about they welded the door. On this one, I want to either weld a piece to the fender or maybe even fold out the fender metal right in that area by rolling the metal out. It looks like someone pushed and rolled some extra metal under the fender so there is material there to do it. My thoughts are that if I try to fold the edge out the metal will tear and plus lift up or whatever and cause more damage, but again that area is damaged anyway and will need putty. So if I heat it up would rolling out it be easer? OR is welding a round 1/8 something there best? Thoughts are needed!!!!
 
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CJD

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The curve of the wing into the tub looks good to me...it's even and smooth. The curve on the door edge is where I would add metal...it looks like there is a straight section. If you go slow and allow time to cool between welding bursts, you can limit the heat damage to your primer to just about 3/4", which is easily resprayed.

The doors on these cars provide unlimited frustration. All the way to the final fitting they seem to change shape every time you re-hang them!?!
 

DavidApp

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I had to add material to the front edge of my door. It went better than I expected.

David
Strip on edge of door.jpg
 

DavidApp

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Thank you.

I did not show the back side as the photo I had had not been cleaned up. I just went along spotting every 1/4" or so. Held the bead in place with the vice grips that have pads on the ends. Do not remember if it was coat hanger straightened out or some 1/8" rod I got at a big box store.

David
 
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sp53

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Well that is unsettling, John and Dave I need to win you over to the welding of the fender because I respect your choice. I am just so stubborn and my evidence is better because I have the pieces in front of me, plus my camera is not good and that is a bad angle and there is full moon coming that I need to get a picture of the fender to win you over. I do have animosity towards these doors and that is affecting the effect of this project. Nice Job Dave!!
Steve
 

M_Pied_Lourd

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I added some steel rod to both the front fender and the front bulkhead to improve the gaps there....I think I took some video if you would like me to find and post it?

Cheers
Tush
 

DavidApp

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It is hard to make a judgment from a photo. Doing it with the car in front of me took a while.
I looked at it for a long time trying to decide where was the best area to add the rod. Taped some to the wing then to the door. In my case the door looked best. The rear edge of the door required a tapered filler.
Also added a strip under the door to get that gap correct.
I hope they still fit when I reassemble the body on the frame.

David
 

CJD

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On the 2 I added metal to the wing edge too...so don't mind me. You can fix the gap from either side you like!

If you are able to unfold a little metal from the wing edge, that would be great. I didn't have a lot of luck doing that, but my wings were pretty crumpled. Remember metal is hardened (and brittled at the same time) by either working it or by heating and quenching. To remove the hardening from working it, heat to red hot and allow a slow cool by gradually removing the flame. That will "anneal" the metal back to dead soft, allowing you to work it again. On some areas that get a lot of working, you may have to anneal several times to keep the metal soft and pliant.

Keep the updates coming!
 
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sp53

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Thank you John for sharing your knowledge, I appreciate it. I will pull the fender and give it a go. I have been putting the complete car back together to see what it looks like with all the fenders, hood, boot, and vent in place to the reassembled cut in half welded up car. What a pain. Anyways, the finale outcome is workable.

John I see what you meant once when you mentioned how you visualized the carriage builders of the 1950ites. I mean wow fitting theses panels and having the doors open and the structure be structurally sound. All the cures they dealt with plus they did it in a day. I guess after a few of them it gets easier.

We built these 100+ modular 4 bedroom houses for the Navy once that were shipped to Alaska and that got way easier. But again I envision those guys gas welding all those joints and piece and stuff; it is amazing.

Steve
 
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sp53

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Well I heated things up and opened up that double fold on the fender and now I am kinda stuck. I need to open more but there really is no more I am back to the single fold, so I guess I need to add something. Not sure what. I did save some old fender metal that should weld easy, so maybe just lay it in there flat on layer it /fold it and then weld it? Then grind to fit and fill with putty or lead. I might solder it in after I weld because the area has a small tear and is thin. I could buy John and Dave a plan ticket, but I need to win the lotto first. What do you think?
 
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sp53

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Well here is the update on the gap. I teased the single fold back over on the fender and then soldered in with 60 % tin 40 solder the edge because it was getting thin and splitting( John was correct about the heat) plus I was sure I would blow it out with a weld. Then ground and sanded the final gap for an end piece. If I restore another one or more work on this one, I am going with more soldering and if I paint another car I am going with Lacquer. However, I will use glazing compound for the top of most this stuff.
steve


Thought I would add, the steel rod in the mirror hole is forleverage. When I cannot get the fender to go down, I put the rod in hole andpush forward that moves the fender easily.
Peace out
 
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martx-5

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Shaping up nicely. BTW, just in case you doing any more lead work, the proper solder to use for body work is 30/70...30%Sn, 70%Pb. It has a very wide temperature range where the solder is in a plastic stage and makes it much easier to work than any other ratios of Sn to Pb. Also, do not sand or grind lead as the fine particles will get everywhere and are toxic. It's always best to use vixen files to shave off the lead, as cleanup is much easier and safer. The vixen files will also shave sheet metal very nicely. Of course, you should be wearing dust protection either way.
 

CJD

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Beautiful! It's a shame that few know the effort that goes into working out the details on these cars. Everything I see is looking very nice, so keep it up!
 
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sp53

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Yeh thanks for reminding me Art. This guy I knew years ago said something similar about the lead. He added that the lead was heavy metal and at some point was discontinued in body shops because it would get into the lungs and settle to the bottom and could not get out because of the weight and cause lead poising and breathing problems.

I must add that the resin and plastic stuff is easier to deal with and clearly has its place, but for me it is too temperature sensitive that I found the learning curve difficult, but I did get more of a feel for it when I did the apron.

One good thing about the lead is you can put it on anytime and it has structural qualities. For example, after I tease that double found out of the that fender edge things were getting stretched back and forth too much even with the heat, and again I figured the odds were 50/50 I would blow it out with a weld or the weld would break. Whereas, the lead adds to the strength of the sheet metal. I will look for the 30- 70 stuff at the welding supply store next time I go; they had a large selection of stuff like that. I assume for metal working.
steve
 
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