Door Fitting!

[Pete&Matt]

got both the inner doors on and sorted in the end! what a complete nightmare that is! Surely there is a better way the hinges can be done than what is being used! Would have helped if they were originally welded on straight by Tim!

[PeteC]

Just about to start on my doors, does anybody have any usefull sugestions/prayers to pass on?
Pete..

[stylussprinter]

Just about to start on my doors, does anybody have any usefull sugestions/prayers to pass on?
Pete..

Well , I'm sure everybody found it a pain to fit the first one but frankly , once I'd done one the other wasn't a problem. Sure ---- it's not like a mecanno set that simply fits without any judgement but it is really quite simple. Once the holes are cut and hinges have been bolted on then fit the inner door with whatever gapping material you have to hand so that the final door with outer wont jam against the surround. I didn't use any strengthening plate before bolting the hinge onto the f/glass door . With hindsight it may have been a good idea to bond a thin sheet of ally or carbon fibre behind the inner door.Any flex is really within the f/glass door not the hinge , I've realised over the years since building the car. However , I just used penny washers to spread the load and after 11 yrs the door has dropped enough to scratch the paint off the shutting edge ---- doesn't really bother me.
Remember to allow for the door shut rubber to be squeezed to less than it's original width for a nice seal and no rattle
Fitting the outer is just being patient . Offer it up to see how much , if any , needs cutting/filing off the inner door edges so that the outer door skin will be flush with the body line everywhere --- front/rear and sill . The SSC method was to drill and rivet the outer skin to the body to create the perfect shut line , using about 10 - 50mm x 20mm ally strips around the door edge. I chose to gap the shut line all round with various pieces of ply wood , cardboard etc then leaned heavy weights against the outer skin where I wanted it to bend into position(crow bar , timber etc)
Then I very carefully climbed into the car from the opposite side and SIKAFLEXED the two skins together in about 10 places with 50mm long toothpaste sized layers. 24hrs later I removed all the weights and gapping bits to f/glass them together completely . Job done

[PeteC]

I started this job having read all the info I could find on here and the build manual but simple things like fitting the hinges stopped work straight away. They didn't fit, I couldn't physically fit them between the body and chassis/frame and so had to lop off about 20mm and re-drill the bolt holes. They are fitted now and the holes are cut in the body, the swing arms move quite nicely once I figured out what size the threads where and bought some nyloc nuts to fasten them!
My current problem is that I have cut 1 inch pieces of door rubber seal and temporarily fitted them at suitable intervals around the opening but to get the inner door to seal all the way round requires a twist. I was hoping somebody would say "yeah you need to twist it, what I did was.........", but they haven't.
Anyway, I'll carry on until I'm satisfied or sectioned before I mix any resin!!
Thanks Pete