Hi All, I'm tackling my doors and need some help AGAIN. Do you install the inner panel first or do you start with the outer door skin first? I'm only doing the lower part of the door about 4" up. Thanks Paul
Inner panel welded in first for me. Sometimes I leave the old outer on until the inner is done- sometimes not.
It might depend on how you plan to do the finish work on the outer panel. If you are going to hammer weld it I'd think leaving the inner panel or enough of it to keep things lined up would be the way to go but if you you are going to mig and grind it probably doesn't make much difference which way you go.
The inner frame gives you strength and the basic shape you are working towards. Without this your outer "skin" can warp and twist and not align up as you wished. I always work up the inner frame repairs first and then work the outer skin on - sometimes you need to leave part of the inner frame unwelded so you can tweak the body lines however this is the basis I work along. Its hard to bend or alter the frame once the inner frames are all welded - that's where your strength comes from
this is how I am repairing the rear door on my 48 sedan delivery,,I was concerned with the being able to reproduce the contour of the outer door skin. I only have to replace the bottom 2" of my door, repairing the inner door skin was very tedious,,keep reminding myself "this is a hobby"
Thanks for the info so far. The inner frame does not have as much of a curve from front to back as the existing door does I've tried to tweak it a little but with all of the formed bends it's pretty strong. I don't want to kink it by pushing too hard, do think it"ll be ok to leave it? It's only out about 3/8". BTW, GO SEAHAWKS!!!
Ok, change of plans, i'm not going to replace the whole inner frame. I only have a section about 6" long by 4" tall right over the forward inner corner brace that really needs to be replaced so I'm going to butcher the new patch panel and use a section of that. Does anyone see a problem with doing that? Thanks. I really appreciate all the feedback, this site is great for us first timers! How do you post a picture? I tried doing it as an attachment, but it didn't work. I think the file was too big.
If that's all you need I don't see a problem with just replacing that section. Just get the tightest fit possible at the joint. Just for conversation's sake- If the contour of the inner panel is different, it may need some release cuts or heat shrinks or both to get back into shape. Lots of these after market panels need plenty of tweaking to fit properly.
Well, I cut the new panel apart and it fit like crap. The bends were in the wrong place and the radius wasn't even close. So I grabbed a piece of sheet metal and a vice and started bending. Got lucky on the first try, it fit like a glove. Does the outer door skin get spot welded to the flange of the inner frame or do you just fold the edge over? I thought it was just folded over but the original was spot welded and folded. Thanks for the tips, I still need to do the passenger side door and both cowl panels.
it is just about always better to use as little of a patch panel as possible, especially since most of them are not as accurate as we would like them to be. I would bet that a good 50% of all patch panels sold these days are not even needed. if a person has the skills to make these ill fitting panels work, they probably have the skills to fix the area starting with flat sheet.
What the heck is cheater panel? The outer skin gets heavily hammered over the inner and spot welded to the inner.
We used to call anything less than a full panel (i.e. full door skin, full quater skin) a cheater panel or patch panel.
Hey, i'd suggest that you only tack your patch panel in place, rehang the door, and check that it fits and flows with the rest of the vehicles's shape on that side. Take a good look at the other side, and make any adjustments to your patch before you weld it out completely. Yes, the skin is welded to the door shell with a series of spot welds or tack welds.
I unfolded the the bottom edge of the door skin and used a piece from EMS to fix the inner structure. I had to reform some and cut away some, but it was workable. It took 3or4 days to get the old metal cleaned and the new fit and tacked in place. You can't be too careful with the skin; just re-crimping the bottom can warp the skin.
You have to cut the bad part of the outer panel off by cutting the door skin and unwrapping it off the inner panel. There are usually a couple of tack welds on the overlap that need to be ground off. With the outer panel off you can repair the inner. When it is done you can replace the outer. Make your patch panel, bend it on a brake, and fold it onto the inner before welding it to what is left of the outer. I like to bend the ends 90 degrees and fold the bottom all the way over before installing it. if you bend the bottom over, put a piece of metal in it when you flatten it down so it will have enough room to slip over the inner. When I was doing a lot of rust repairs I used to do this, and overlap the new piece about half an inch then weld it with long tacks. Seam seal the joint and smooth over with bondo. This was strong, it saved time and prevented warpage. If you chose to do the job properly and butt weld the whole way, bear in mind that door skins are the worst for warping and no matter how careful you are, they always warp when you weld the last few inches of seam. So be careful.
The Jalopy Journal
