Door Capping

[Dadevilledisco]

Trying to remove upper doors from 88' and the capping is stuck to the rubber gasket. What is holding the caping to the door as it comes up 1/4 inch from the door and the schematics i've seen only show the 2 bolts from the upper to the door. Question? Do I separate the rubber abd capping or is it safe to pull off the capping with the door tops Thanks.

[TedW]

The capping is riveted to the door - 3 or 4 rivets - can't remember.

[SafeAirOne]

The capping is riveted to the door - 3 or 4 rivets - can't remember.

Yeah. It should come off with the door top. There's no attachment betwen the rubber and the capping, except through age in your case.

[stomper]

To clarify the above posts, the capping should NOT come off with the door top. the rubber should. You need to separate the rubber from the capping with a putty knife, and will most likely need some new rubber seals. the capping will need to be re-riveted to the lower door.

[SafeAirOne]

To clarify the above posts, the capping should NOT come off with the door top. the rubber should. You need to separate the rubber from the capping with a putty knife, and will most likely need some new rubber seals. the capping will need to be re-riveted to the lower door.

Thanks, James! Yes I was talking about the rubber with the doortop. I just reized that the phrase I quoted had "capping" in it.

[stomper]

I thought it was my lack of coffee stupor this morning, but I read your post 3 times, and I was scratching my head. I knew what you meant, but I was thinking it just didn't sound right!

[Dadevilledisco]

Thanks, that is what I thought. The bolts seem to be at an angle that prevent them from coming straight up and out. Truck had a complete nut and bolt restore in 1999. How aggressive can and should I get? i do not want to do more damage but want these tops off for the summer months. Ithought about putting a ratchet in the bolt with the nut and use it to leverage it out after I loosen the rubber gasket form the capping. Ideas please!

[Revtor]

maybe cut or find some thin long wooden wedges and tap tap them in there to get it to budge..

[SafeAirOne]

The bolts seem to be at an angle that prevent them from coming straight up and out. Truck had a complete nut and bolt restore in 1999. How aggressive can and should I get? i do not want to do more damage but want these tops off for the summer months. Ithought about putting a ratchet in the bolt with the nut and use it to leverage it out after I loosen the rubber gasket form the capping. Ideas please!

The doortop studs should be at a slight angle to give the top of the door an inward lean to match the angle of the roof sides, but the studs should be parallel with each other and shouldn't cause any binding in the holes.

Often times, water gets into the stud holes with the doortop installed and if you aren't in the habit of removing your doortops annually, the studs can rust solid in the holes, where it becomes necessary to start sacrificing body parts inder to separate the two.

I know of one particular rover where the doortop was sawed off and the studs STILL couldn't be pounded, burned or drilled out of the door bottoms.

What I'm leading up to is that yours might be in the beginning stages of being rusted in, but you may have caught it in time if you still have some vertical movement when you try to separate the door halves. Presuming this is your issue, I'd try to get some sort of penetrating oil in there and work the doortop up and down till enough corrosion breaks free that you can separate the pieces. The wooden shims (Home Depot/Lowe's, etc...) mentioed above are also a good idea. Note that the studs have to come out relatively evenly, lest you cock it forward or aft and jam up the works.

[milhouse]

I was in a similar situation this past winter when we were removing the door tops to replace the window tracks. In the end a combination of pry bars (being careful not to bend or damage the upper window or the galvanized door trim), wood wedges, PB Blaster, propane torch (just on the nuts/studs at the bottom... very risky and I had a fire extinguisher right there just in case), and wooden blocks and steel pipes to place against the studs and hammer from the bottom (I placed the nuts on flush with the bottom of the studs to get the largest area to pound against and not damage the threads). If you use any of these methods do so at your own risk... I'll fully admit that I was in a rush and while I lucked out I could have easily broken something or damaged something very easily. If your door tops are able to move a little bit I would suggest the same as above, soak them with penetrating oil every day, and spend a few minutes just sliding the tops up and down to loosen things up more. Good luck!

Edit: One more thing... if the rubber gasket is sticking to the door bottom I have found that Simple Green does a wonderful job of softening rubber without damaging it. I also soaked the gaskets on our doors to loosen them up.

[J!m]

I placed the nuts on flush with the bottom of the studs to get the largest area to pound against and not damage the threads. If your door tops are able to move a little bit I would suggest the same as above, soak them with penetrating oil every day [Jim- several times a day!!], and spend a few minutes just sliding the tops up and down to loosen things up more. Good luck!

Edit: One more thing... if the rubber gasket is sticking to the door bottom I have found that Simple Green does a wonderful job of softening rubber without damaging it. I also soaked the gaskets on our doors to loosen them up.

^^ Good advice!

I will add that I use silicone spray to get the rubber "un-glued" however if you plan to paint the door and/or door top, don't use silicone or you will have more fish eyes than the pacific ocean... Use a floor scraper razor if you have to! (nice and long to reach across) Those rubber gaskets need to be replaced for sure!

Assuming you get it apart, clean out the holes in the door bottom with an appropriate drill (1/2 inch I think- but you may have to sneak up on the final diameter) and flood the clean bore with cold galvanize spray to make it easier next time... Also clean the outside of the studs with emery cloth (sand blasting would be best- finish with glass bead blast) and also spray with galvanize. Zinc-on-zinc will move easier than rust on rust for sure. Chace the threads if you have a die- it might be 1/2-20 but it has been so long I don't remember now... (I remember it was a fine thread, but may be 7/16-20)

[SafeAirOne]

Forgot to mention that I coat the doortop studs with silver anti-seize before I permanently install them for the winter every year (I remove the nuts and just let the doortops sit in place during "roof optional" season) and have never had a rust issue, even with my lousy cracked rubber seals.

[TedW]

Forgot to mention that I coat the doortop studs with silver anti-seize before I permanently install them for the winter every year .........

x2x2x2...Very important - doing so will save you much pain and agony down the road.

[Dadevilledisco]

Thanks for the info, about to attack!