Door Skins..how much twist

With spring coming, I am looking to repair the Long put off damaged door frame and put on a new skin. I have read Roger Williams' book on the process as well as view an MG site and others on how to go about it. I am not a body man, but have done dolly and hammer work on my project TR6 and I naively think I can tackle this job.

Have any of you gone this route, and what problems or heads up can you give me before I destroy a so so door?

Thanks

Re: Door Skins

Hey Ray,
I am less of a body man than you. Unless you are hellbent on doing it yourself, I might suggest your taking the door to a competent body man. Door skins are more of a trick than meets the eye. I have seen doors tackled by friends that meant well but made a mess. A good body man make quick work of a door. You could probably do the stripping work to save money. Just bring him a shell.

Just me.

Re: Door Skins

Ray. Had my door skins done by a very competent person. They came out beautiful. If there is one lesson I learned,it's give him the car to align the skins. Like a fool,I didn't and I can't get them to line up as nice as before.

Re: Door Skins

I re-skinned both doors on my MGB. I'll never skin a door again as long as I live.

Getting the old skin off is a breeze, just grind through the fold with an angle grinder and peel it off. Getting the new one *perfectly* centered is not as easy as it looks. If it's off just a bit, the door will not sit right i the arpeture. I buckled/distorted the skin on my first attempt as I had it too "tight".

I built a hardwood jig to hold the door at the right angle whilst hammering the flange. I was very careful not to leave marks on the outside perimeter; I still needed a skim of filler all the way around. Probably 10 hours of labor in each door.

I'll buy good used doors before I ever skin a door again.
YMMV

Re: Door Skins

it's not that hard but you need a few things. go get some vise grips that look like they have flat bars on the ends. when you bend the flanges, do not make them tight. you want to assemble the door and mount it this way. I would put in new hinges first if yours are sloppy in any way. now the skin needs to be positioned to the car with the door on. a little prying and tapping on the edge to get the fit. now you can tighten the flanges with dolly and hammer checking the fit while you do it. once tight, then you can spot weld.
personally, i would de-skin, diassemble, blast and paint the inner first, and paint the inner of the outer skin before starting.
Rob

Re: Door Skins

trfourtune said:

you want to assemble the door and mount it this way. I would put in new hinges first if yours are sloppy in any way. now the skin needs to be positioned to the car with the door on.

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<span style='font-size: 20pt'><span style="color: #CC0000">AMEN</span></span>

Re: Door Skins

Thanks for all the input. I changed the subject of the thread slightly to ask...

The infamous lower rear door pooch out is a problem I need to deal with. So in the door re-skin process, how much twisting is possible before the final crimp and tack weld? Is it enough to correct this 1/4 inch problem?

Re: Door Skins

no problem,but you may need to pre-twist the inner first and check the window mechanism for binding.My dear old dad (40 yrs plus retired bodyman) uses 2X4s between the sill and the bottom of the door sometimes to twist the rear top in, what you want to do is mount the inner to the car and push the rear bottom with your knee and pull the rear top with your hands while its mounted.it's metal, it bends just watch the closing latch position for fit in between push/pulls.
Rob

Re: Door Skins

more,
you can adjust the up/down even if you are out of adjustment at your hinges by prying(lifting) the bottom of the door up with a quick jerk or blocking the door bottom with wood and standing inside the car. the metal around the hinge will bend.as you know, doors sag over time not just from worn hinges but also the bending of the door where the hinges mount.it really is a bit crude but it works.This is where the experience counts for the "feel" required to get it right.our cars were all custom fitted together anyways with a pull or push here and there.
Rob

Re: Door Skins

and,
(should have remembered this) put a 2x4 block between the top of the door and post with the door on and push with both hands on the bottom corner of the door to get it in further. remember to use both hands flat to spread out the pressure so you don't dent the skin (if its on). this is an accelerating shove. may need to brace the post across the car to the other post so the post does not move.
Rob