Restoration

[Cliff4WD]

I know that my doors have a lot of rot in the steel frame, but I haven't investigated the full extent or how far to go repairing them, or maybe just replacing them altogether. As I'm collecting together parts for the galvaniser, it makes sense to strip them down now and make some decisions.

First one up for attention



The rot is evident in all the usual places

Up top





and bottom





The door tops themselves look pretty past it



I'm not sure that it's going to be worth the effort to cut and weld the door top frames. Complete new tops with galvanised frames and aluminium skins are not that expensive and are readily available.





I removed the glass as I can reuse this and turned my attention to the bottoms



Soon had the skin off the frame





I think my plan is going to be, repair the frames and add to the galvanising pile, then re-use them with skins back on but buy new un-glazed door tops. I'll also finish the repairs to the bonnet support frame and put that with the rest of the for galvanising pile.

Getting closer to the finishing line, but still, I basically have the entire vehicle to paint.

[Cliff4WD]

Continuing on with the doors work, I inspected the frames now that they're freed from their skins.

Usual bottom rail rot was very evident, on one with the main damage being to the bottom corners while the other was more extensive.





Also, the handle areas are in a state.



Now, the more I look and begin working on these, I'm still debating if it's actually worth the effort. I can buy a pair of new doors (aftermarket of course) for about £600 complete with new locks and glass. However, this seems a bit too easy and I can't help but think it might lead to a whole other set of problems; will they really just fit in place and everything line up, etc? I've read very mixed reviews and so don't know if it's a risk worth taking? For now at least, I'm pushing ahead with the repairs. I do plan to replace the door tops though so will spend my money on them. Maybe go for a pair of military spec.

I ordered up a couple of frame sections and got to work on door number 1; passenger side door. This one has a badly rotten bottom rail but the lock section is not too bad, with a few rust perforations on the frame uprights.

I cut away the bottom rail at the mitres (I wanted to retain the correct length so that the skin will fit back without issue).





After cutting the replacement to length to fit, I then cut off the rotten section of one of the uprights.



The upright with the door hinge support tubes in place, rather fortunately was not too bad, so no need to cut this part off; I can repair a few holes around the posts. I sorted a replacement piece to put back on the now shortened upright.



squaring up and measuring the bottom rail replacement to make sure I cut the mitres correctly.



... soon had it all welded in place, and cleaned up.



I stripped the paint away from the lock support and had a look at what needed doing there.





I wasn't happy with the rust that was obviously between the frame skins or hiding inside behind the lock frame, so dunked the whole frame side in my electrolysis bath for an overnight session of de-rusting.



This worked nicely and most of the rust had gone.

Carrying on, I cut away the bad section of frame ...



... made a patch



... and repeated for an area on the opposite leg



I've had the other door frame dunked in the electrolysis bath while I've been working, so it will all be repeated (and more) when that comes out.

I still have to weld in the patches, but since the weather changed and it's now raining heavily, I had to stop and tidy space inside my workshop so that I can work inside. High amperage welding doesn't mix well with rain!

This is another lot of work, but very nearly the last of the rust repairs and replacements, so I guess I should just get on with it. Until next time.

[Cliff4WD]

Door Frame Repairs Cont.

Getting back to it, I welded in the patch pieces I'd made ...



... and that about sorted the driver's side door. Now to do it all over on the passenger side door. Now this one has a relatively solid bottom frame piece but has more extensive rot to the lock mounting piece. It will take a bit more faffing around to patch this up.



I started by removing the bottom rail, cutting at the mitres so as to maintain the frame sides (stile) lengths, then cut off the bad section of the stile and replaced it.



I then cut off and replaced the rotten end of the other stile ...



... leaving the frame ready to accept a replacement bottom rail.



Only trouble is, I only ordered 2 sections of the frame replacement (I didn't think through what was actually going to be quickest) so I had to repair the old rail for re-use. Soon had it done though although making sure of lengths and square do seem to take up a heck of a lot of time.





So, that was the frame back together



The lock frame is next up, so I made a quick template (actually I'd made this before starting the frame repairs).



Cut away the rotten steel



The template was used to work out what I needed to make up to replace the damaged section



I then fabricated the piece I needed for the repair



There was a bit of head scratching on how it should be attached to the frame, but looking at the other door pointed the way



and so it was weldup time



I also patched up the holes that had rotted through on the rounded corner.

That's the 2nd frame repaired. Just a few holes left to drill, and the paint to strip off before they go for galvanising.



The last bit of rust repair (I think) is to finish off the work I started on the bonnet support frame. This is in good condition overall with minimal corrosion to the front frame ends. I'll get onto that next and it can also go in the galvanising pile.

[Cliff4WD]

I've been working on the bonnet support frame that I left sitting around to rust again after having de-rusted it last year. Oh well, can't do everything. Anyway, I've been sorting out the rotted front ends. The damage hadn't gotten too bad, and I could ignore it altogether with little to no consequence, but cutting corners (excuse the pun) isn't really my thing. It's attention to detail that makes the difference between a good job and a bodge-up.

Last year, I'd had the frame in an electrolysis bath to remove the surface rust. This had worked well.



... but I'd moved onto other stuff and put it aside. Getting back to it, it has re-aquired a layer of surface rust. The damage that I want to put right is in the front corners. I seem to be missing the photos of the areas needing repair, but I have this one



I made up a replacement section of steel



After cutting this into shape, the damaged section was cut out and the patch piece was welded in



Similarly, a patch was made and the hole above the first patch was filled.



Next was top edge and a strip that had several perforations rotted through it



this was welded and shaped



The other side was not as bad, but still needed work



again, a patch piece was made and welded in place

The end result is not too bad, looks a bit untidy in the raw, but after a bit of cleaning, should look fine.



My plan is to have this galvanised along with the door frames, all the cappings, and the screen surround. It will probably be given a quick sand blasting to clean up before it goes into the dipping tanks, but I'll discuss that with the galvanisers.

I think that that was the last of the welding (I hope so). It is basically all body painting and fitting from here on in. I have to fill up the rear diff with oil, and fill and bleed the brakes, so fingers crossed I don't encounter any problems there.