Technical Need advice of how to correct the door gap.

You ,Sir, are a good proof of the fact that things that have been screwed up by someone can also be fixed by someone. Wheras the"someones" are usually not the same person. Good job!

 

You are doing good GRASSHOPPER

 

Got most of the roof frame done. Decided to do it in two pieces and prevent some stress. I've found patience and a gentle touch on the shrinker/stretcher yield the best results. The welding rod is a great tool to visualize curves. I decided to stop here and not weld it in as it's at this point that I usually make my most foolish mistakes .

 

Does anyone have pics of the door seals? I'm curious as to where they sit and what they seal against at the top? I've got what seems to be a big gap @ about 3/4-1".

 

Mentioned earlier that you didn't own a porta-power?This is where the much-hated[here] Harbor Freight can be your friend.Been using one of theirs for years straightening race car frames and its still plugging away-cheap enough that I own 2 sets for bad wrecks and I never feel guilty cutting or welding on the extensions to get what I need

 

P.S.-the handy-man jack you pictured are known as "Farmer Killers" up here-LOL

 

I've had the opportunity to buy porta powers cheap many times but have never been in a situation where I couldn't find/fabricate a tool to do the job. For Christmas I plan to buy what I consider my retirement tools. A 10 ton porta power is on the list.

 

They're known as a "Danger-Man" around here.

 

If you don't know this already, they are overkill for a lot of situations, and heavy and awkward compared to a 4 ton set. My 4 ton disappeared a while back, so I have been making do with my 10 ton, but I really miss the smaller set.

 

Working in a body shop while in high school one summer, a big, long, Chrysler convertible came in with one whole side damage. The body man put the car on stands, and level it out before pulling the front fender, door and quarter panel off for replacement. With everything replace he painted the whole side of the car and set it back down on the tires. the doors were way off and he spent a day trying to adjust the gap. At the end of the day, he thrown in the towel and I was told to replace the two rims and tires on the damage side. So I jack up the car in the middle and change the tires and let it back down. The door gap was perfect, I was a hero, well at least for that day.

 

A vehicle supported on the ends of the frame will “fit” differently than one setting on the suspension or where at least where the spring contact points and load are. And Especially a convertible. I bitch about it all the time.

 

Peck, peck , peck. Installed the roof frame and started on a roof patch. After lots of wheeling I realized I'm working with way to big a sheet on metal. Usually I make a paper template to ensure I'm working only what I need but today I was too eager to get to shaping. Tomorrow I'll make a template and greatly reduce the size of my patch. Plan B is to make a T shaped as indicated by the shaded area. Plan C is two small rectangular patches. The T shaped patch I think will be easier. Shaping two small patches and welding them in will be the easiest and might be how it goes if I dont make decent gains in my next attempt but I've got to try at least a couple more times. If I wheel in specific directions it should shape the metal differently. I need more front to back curve. I'm certainly open to suggestions.

 

I saw the pictures and I’m thinking yup that’s what you need to do. A nice big transition piece to blend all the lump out. And it’s looking pretty good.
Then I read the words and saw that you’re thinking the piece is too big.
Don’t cut that one up just yet

I’d make the door jamb and about 1”-1-1/2” drip edge up into the roof. Make that as long as you need it across the top of the door so if it’s nice. Then make the roof patch and weld those two together. you want that edge To be nice and tight With minimal mud on the edge or inside.

 

Any instruction on how I should work the sheet? I used the rubber band on the English wheel to get where it is now. It curved easy to get the side profile but it doesn't seem to be working to bend it front to back. I can feel/see the metal stressing/loading which makes it want to twist but not bend.

 

From my build thread in signature and this starts page 8 or so up thru 13 on
But I cheated lol


The rubber band on the wheel will form ,,, not shape. It stops the stretch you get from the wheel and just slowly bends the metal around the lower wheel.

 

Sooo, you're sayin I need to buy a deep shrinker/stretcher and an old pointy hood. Gotcha . Thinking I need to shrink the short sides as that could induce some bow into the panel. I'll also wheel the middle of the panel with a high/er crown wheel. Kinda eager to home and get at it. I tried reading and understanding your description regarding 16" pipe bend with a 4" radius. I grasp the concept but it gave me a brain cramp so I had to move on. Sure wish there was someone who could have taught me some of these skills in my youth. Learned basic shaping at Aviation H.S. class of 1981 but never saw an English wheel shrinker or stretcher. Just lots of funny shaped anvils, dollies and plastic hammers. Now off to search for a deep shrinker.

 

If I trim off a few inches of unnecessary metal at the roof insert area would that make it a little easier to work since that would be 96 square inches less sheet metal to move.

 

Absolutely!!

 

The wheel moves metal towards the top anvil.
Think about Holding your patch up from underneath and where it’s low needs wheeled so it comes up .
Where it’s got to head left or right, put the side to the top anvil.

 

Cut off a few inches. Took out some of the curve. Fits better but still way out. Not sure where to go from here. Think I'll try shrinking the two long sides to induce some curve.

 

A little better. More of the same? If some is good more of the same must be better right ?

 

I’m horrible with this mark up app.
Fat fingers won’t draw a damn line
Try tracking like this.
Your tracking marks are the stretch moving metal towards the top anvil


Since you can’t shrink with the wheel,,, everything without tracking marks is the shrink and you’re stretching everything else.

 

Probably will get killed by the experts here but I put a replacement door on my '59 Elky and after hours of adjusting, the only solution was to get 80% of my gaps perfect then grind the edge of the door and run a gas weld bead to seal the fold. Came out perfect.

 

Third times a charm. Trimmed off some more surplus. It amazing the force/stress/energy that metal can hold in a static condition. Gonna shrink some more and add a little English wheel as a chaser on the rear.

 

That’s the way you do it.
Sometimes you need to weld a 1/8 rod on and grind it back.
Now if for some reason you wanted nice gaps on a 88 k5 blazer you need to weld a 1/8 rod three quarters of the way around the top of the window frame then on top of the first rod another rod 1/2 way around and another 1/4 of the way. Then grind it back to fit the opening.and Since that worked so well you can do it on the other side.,

 

Feeling I'm so close to something good that I'm gonna stop and put this piece to the side and start on a new longer piece so I can eliminate all the lumpy bumpy patches on this side. Any ideas on how to put the curve for the eyebrow into the new panel without straightening it out ? I was thinking bead roller with a soft lower wheel and a 3/8" round upper roller.

 

Just me, but I would probably use a hammer and a round rod welded to a stand and carefully hammer that into it. Even with all the years of hammering I have, I would practice on a few pieces first, so as to not screw up the rolled panel in case it didn't work. You are cruising right along now, congrats and respect from here, mister.

 

The edge that goes under and just the edge needs shrunk the perfect amount before tipping. The bend/tip line goes on curve then the little whoopdeedoowatergoout thing needs 1/2 stretch and 1/2 shrunk in the valley.

I did it in 2 pieces like I said earlier. I wanted the edge crisp, in the right place and without mud (on that edge)
You could try tipping it and see what happens.

The added shrinks on your patch pulled the ends down. That’s a good indication that it needs more stretched out by the wheel in the middle.
Your pics are very fisheyed so it’s hard to feel that patch. But it looks puckered up at the shrinks... that’s telling you that it’s streched from the wheel a little too much in front of the shrinks. Then it looks by the fishy pics that there’s a dip in the center. Another good indication that it needs more wheeling.

 

You would think a $1000 phone would take a decent pic. I'll try another camera/phone.

No dip in the center. It has IMO a smooth and gentle crown befitting a gentleman of my caliber. No puckering but I did have to shring the snot out of it to get it to curve into the roof. Without shrinking the edges I did t seem able to get enough bow in it (too flat). I'll try more wheeling in the center on the second panel.

 

That jogged my memory. I welded the spare tire panel to the body of my '36 Willys coupe. The factory trunk lid had a large gap in the bottom right corner that I fixed by welding a 3/16" welding rod there and ground and bondoed to perfect gap. My body work is custom by bust 'em.