door skins

[siii8873]

I am rehabbing a SIIA. The door frames are rotted bad, I have some replacement doors. I like the look of the faded aged paint on the current vehicle. I'm thinking of skinning the doors and putting the original skins on the newer frames. How difficult of a job is this and are there any special tools to make it easier?
Thanks
Bob

[Andrew IIA]

I have no s****s in this area, but I love this idea ! Rehabbed Rover with vintage skin


edit: funny word-block above by BBoard Software; was 'I have no s.k.i.l.l.s.'

[jac04]

No problem at all. I did this to a 69 88" that had rotted door frames but excellent skins with a nice patina.

Just carefully pry the edges of the skins from around the door frame. Work slowly & carefully to avoid distortion of the skins. Only pry them as much as needed to get them off. Then install on the new frames and use a dolly (or a piece of wood) and a hammer to bend the edges back around.

[stonefox]

Does our host carry these non rustified frames that I'm hearing about?

I thought they all came out of Solihull with rusted out bottoms!

[LaneRover]

Also, if you can practice on a throwaway piece of the aluminum from a land Rover to learn what the 'work hardening' feels like. that way you will know when to 'anneal' the metal.

Which is when you look up how to anneal aluminum.

[mongoswede]

funny timing... s****s... (just a test). I have been thinking/wondering to myself just how hard it would be to make up new doors from scratch. I know that the rear door is pretty simple and could drawn up in cad and handed to someone with a water jet cutter. Then you could attach a frame as needed for aditional support. Obviously flat panels are easy but its pretty easy to anneal and work a piece of aluminum and still quite easy to make some wooden forms for shaping the door skins (or just buy new ones if they are available).

edit (so why is the word s.k.i.l.l.s. censored out?)

[scott]

...(so why is the word s.k.i.l.l.s. censored out?)

cuz k i l l is a bad thing. ya shouldn't k i l l. ya can smash in a head and let the eyeballs roll on the ground but just don't say you're going to k i l l

[siii8873]

Thanks,
by annealing do you mean heat the aluminum skin so it forms without cracking. I think I read somewhere that you put some oil on and heat it until it smokes and that's about the correct temperature.

[LaneRover]

Yes

As you work aluminum it work hardens and will crack. I have also heard that you can rub soap or wax on the aluminum and wait for it to melt.

You would have to be very careful to not heat it up too much to ruin the patina'd paint.

[bchene]

Check out eastwood.com. they have tools made just just for this. used them on a rear door skin and they worked great. if i remember right they were not too expensive.

[mongoswede]

in that series about building a land rover from a range rover frame they have a bit about working the aluminum. The guy puts dish soap on the back of the aluminum and then heats the opposite side with a torch until the soap starts to change color. Then he is able to work the aluminum without any issue.

[leafsprung]

If you anneal the aluminum it will ruin the patina you are trying to preserve. Less is more when you are removing the skins. Just move them the minimum amount in order to remove the frames. If you have galvanic corrosion at the bottom of the door you will have issues . . . Here are some galv frames on some original paint doors.

[thixon]

You don't need any special tools to remove the skins. It can be done with a chisel if you're careful. As long as there isn't much corrosion on the edges you'll be fine. As for annealing, you need to read up on it a bit more before you try it. You're local welding supply will have crayons that melt at specific temps which may make things easier for you. If you overheat, you'll warp the panel. Underdo it, and you're wasting your time.
Leafsrung is right. Don't anneal unless you plan to repaint.