TR6 REskinning TR6 Doors

I decided to have my doors reskinned, after removing the paint there were a lot of holes and welds at the top front and rear and on the DS a bunch of dents that I dont feel good about just bondoing them up, so has anyone reskinned their doors, I have seen it done on youtube and it looks fairly easy and they have a pretty cheap crimping tool to fold the edge over

Hondo

Let us know how that goes.

All I know is body shops don't like to do it. I talked to them about doing one for my car and they charged about double what it would be to buy a new door.

I am not sure what that means but it means something.

My suggestion after having mine done. Have them align the skins with the doors on

I have door skins yet to be installed. Not really sure whether I will do it or try and farm it out, but not at twice the price of a new door!

What has me a bit concerned doing it myself is the process of hammering over the fold without distorting the outer panel. This is especially troublesome on the top curve of the door.

And yes to Don, before the skins are tacked or epoxied into place, they need to be fitted to the car and aligned.

Oh, on that crimping tool, I used one when repairing a fender, it gives a very sharp thin edge. I prefer the more rounded edge you get from working with the hammer.

I think I will wait until you have done yours and report back to us...

Ray, Please,Please don't ask me how I know.

Sometimes the skins will oilcan on you if you don't get them just right. You might want to consider repairing the doors you have, or look for replacements. Keep an eye out for Phoenix Craigslist under Triumph parts. They do come up at times.

tomgt6 said:

All I know is body shops don't like to do it. I talked to them about doing one for my car and they charged about double what it would be to buy a new door.

I am not sure what that means but it means something.

Click to expand...

LOL Tom.

well I will definately go the 3m pannel bonding adhesive route and then fold over the edge either hammer and dolly or the tool I ordered, and with the doors in place to get the alignment, the TRF book say in Rodger williams book how to restore tr250 and tr6 there is a part on door skinning ,, anyone have the book and willing to scan the few pages and pm an email, When I get the door skins in I will decide what I am going to do and call around, My door skins are in such bad shape too much welding to do to patch all the holes and cracks and dents

Reskinning a door: yet another body shop task that seems mostly to have gone the way of lead-loading and metal shaping in general. But such are the economic realities of shops that do primarily collision work, I suppose!

Many years ago, my dad brought home a deaccessioned book from the library; it was a late 1940s auto body textbook. Most of the techniques are still valid (although I suspect most shops no longer line each side of a to-be-welded seam with wet asbestos paste!), but some of the tasks they show are jobs that just plain wouldn't be done except maybe for a beginner to get some practice on a skill he/she might never use.

well the door skins will be here tomorrow and I will be home on Thursday, so I will get to access the project. I purchased the 2 part urethane body adhesive today only 42.00 and then the 50.00 application gun. working time 70 minutes at 70 degrees, that should give me time to hammer over the edges and get it on the car and be able to move the skin a tad to get the seams to line up. We shall see

Hondo

I've done them. Not as difficult as you might think. If the skins come with the edges pre-bent 90 degrees, you can "help" them over with the wide flat vise grips first to get them farther over. ease the whole edge over gradually all along the whole edge, a little bit at a time. When you use your hammer, make sure you keep a (flat) dolly on the opposite side under the edge. I have found that after removing the old skin, the edge of the inner door panel is usally rusty and should be sand blasted to clean it up first and painted. The door gets all wobbly when the old skin is removed. Take the door off and install the skin loosely! install the door, line it up, move the skin around on the inner part of the door and adjust hinges for perfect fit. THEN, tighten the skin to the door (on the car) and adjust the squareness of the door to avoid a big twist. Tack weld,check fit as you go, seam sealer, done.
I like to pre-paint the inner of the door skin first since they usually come only primed (not water proof-epoxy primer required to be water proof).
Rob
ps-I'm no expert but that's how i do it. (my dad's a retired bodyman with 40+ years experience-always had a car on the go inthe garage while i was growing up- i learned a few things).

thanks TRfortune, I didnt think it could be as hard as some say but I do have the ability that some dont, here are some pics of the progress, the color is super red, not original but dont really care

pic2 which should be pic one

just finished painting the inside of the door skins, left bare matal around the edge for bonding adhesive as required by directions

I know you are going to do this, but just in case, a simple reminder to be sure to apply your sound deadening material before you put the skin on.

Thanks, almost forgot about it, so what should I use, dont think I can pull the old stuff on the old skin? Any suggestions?

Hondo

Hondo, I used two layers of Dynamat Xtreme inside the tub where the original stuff was, and plan to use it on the doors as well.

There are other products out there that I am sure members will bring to your attention.

The old stuff is asphalt based, so if you heat it from the outside of old door skin you might be able to peel it off. Once removed, I am not sure how well it will adhere to the new door.

IMO, it's best to go with modern products.

ok driver side door, the skin is on, surpriseingly it was fairly easy, the skin zipper I purchased is a POS so dont bother unless you are skinning your doors with tin foil, so a hammer and rubber sanding block worked just fine, I tack welded the top but glued the whole skin so when it sets up should be good, the only minor body filling I will have to do is where I used the skin zipper, very minor though

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