Sneak peak of my EK Sled.

[bebop67]

Channelled the bumper? I know what channelling a body means but not this. Do you mean sectioning it? I've got a few different overriders that I will be trial fitting when I get to that, so it may not stay just as it is.

Ye thats what i meant, i always get the two mixed up lol

[DeadSled]

Ahh yes i get ya.

Another update..

Got the pillar out. Took a fair while was a bit of a pain to get it out. Then started on getting the door gapped. The door is giving me grief at the moment. Not sure if its a combination of things or what.. but i'm sure i'll get it figured out tomorrow or next week.



For some annoying reason the door isn't lining up properly. I've got the gaps okay and it closes but then doesn't line up on the inside of the car quite right. I think its just an alignment thing because the sills that were welded in are perfectly straight and all, and the door is straight as can be so i think its something to do with the damn hinges. Anyone (Harko?) thats done a two door conversion before got any advice on this?

Basically i can get the door flush with the sills, and the gap around the window frame looks good but then on the inside of the car the edge of the door is like half an inch from the top of the sill, although i noticed on an original sill the spot welded part folds outwards.. whereas my sills fold inwards. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it. I'm thinking its either hinges or something where my old man did rust repairs a few years ago is hitting on something (whether it be the door bottom at the front or the bottom of the a pillar) because its like the door closes all the way on the outside almost, but doesn't want to line up on the inside. Maybe i'll need to get pictures if it doesn't make sense.

[Harko]

Ive never done this with the frame attatched , maybe send Ratbox a PM if he's not watching the topic .
It is a little hard to catch clearly what it is you are refering to but Is it that the door is too large for the hole now ,a stock door is shorter to the rear top to bottom so might have ended up slightly taller with the mods.
Or is the sill not correct ,stock sills have a curve ,not straight.
Anyways it can all be fixed just gotta find the glitch

[DeadSled]

After thinking more about it last night Harko i find that these are the issues..

1. I'm not sure if the door top sits flush with the trim, or tucks underneath as i cannot remember. Its been about 3 years since the car had doors on it, so i can't remember for the life of me.

2. When the door tucks under it hits on the roof like where the rubber sits in, and is close to being right, but then while the rear is all the way under the roof the front is still flush.. so i'm not sure how or if the front half of the door needs to go inwards as in.. towards the inside of the car. I'm not sure how you do that.

Also in regards to the sills having a curve.. when my old man did the sills for me years ago he cut all the outer sill out of the car but left the section that the pillar was attached to and attached to the floorpan so he had a reference of where it had to go, and welded it all in around that.

I will have to get some pictures this afternoon for you, although won't be working on it again until monday arvo. I may fill the gap where the pillar got cut out of the sill with a spare sill section but i'll get pics of the door predicament for you. If i have to shorten the door window frame thats easy. I have to cut and weld new bits anyway as part of it is rusty in the top middle of the window frame.

[Blacky]

A picture tells a thousand words.

[Harko]

Sounds like thats all you need to do - cut the frame , adjustment on your door is though the hinges ,shim it if you need to.

[DeadSled]

Tim,

Throughout doing this I have been consulting with a mate of mine by the name of Colin Chapman and he told me that cutting the b pillar out without bracing was fine and also said while the body might move it would be an immeasurable amount.

Harko,

After talking with Col it would appear that the door possibly has a slight twist to it from welding it too fast. While I'm very much proficient at welding 3mm upwards ( I am a boilermaker / fabricator by trade) the panelwork side of it (outside of rust repairs) is fairly new to me.

He said that by cutting the skin from the door frame would likely let the door frame go back to sitting properly and will relieve the stress from the door. I will give this a go otherwise I'll make a third door by tacking together two pieces, then as per Cols directions hang the door, get the gaps right and tack it into the car then tack every 100mm or so and dress the tacks and let it cool on it's own and repeat until the door is fully welded. Then cut the tacks holding it to the body.

[Smooth customs]

[quote="DeadSled"]Tim,

Throughout doing this I have been consulting with a mate of mine by the name of Colin Chapman and he told me that cutting the b pillar out without bracing was fine and also said while the body might move it would be an immeasurable amount.

Nick
Has Col seen how you have this body set up?
Ripping into a job like this without proper preperation and thought will only lead to problems and dissapointment.
Just because it looks easy in the magazines and on the reality shows dosent mean it is.


The first and most important thing to do is set the body up, level it and brace the shell. check and recheck all measurements to make sure it is a square before starting surgery.

[Harko]

Bummer , after all this time welding I still get carried away occasionally but it teaches me every time I do it ,Not to

You can paint up that door same as the car and use it for your display board

[Harko]

Id reckon so long as theres no stored energy from an accident it probably wont move ,so you might get away with it now but later next time put a couple of cross bracings in .

[Blacky]

when I did mine we braced the body , used those screw type axle stands and got it dead square before cutting anything.
I cut and shut 2 doors , braced them too - got the frames fully welded then made new skins to suit.

[DeadSled]

Paul,

He hasn't seen it but I'm pretty sure knows it's like this. The trestles the body is sitting on are exactly the same height although the ass end is sitting on the bump stops not the chassis.

Blacky,

I've thought of doing what you did and cutting the crappy front skin off the door and having Col roll up a new one but he said making another door and doing it his way is only going to cost me time and a cutting disc and a bit of welding wire and gas. Making new skins will cost me a few hundred. I asked him about bracing the body before I removed the pillar and he said that because it has the roof still on and sills fully welded and all it'll stay square and won't move.

I'm thinking of making another door first but may rip the skin off this one just to see what happens. Col believes that it's the weld in the front skin that's caused it to twist slightly as the weld shrunk. If I follow his methods on the next door I'll be fine.

The first door is only shitty because I'd never done one before and did it without asking anyone for help, I just wanted to see if I could do it at all.

[Trev]

Basically i can get the door flush with the sills, and the gap around the window frame looks good but then on the inside of the car the edge of the door is like half an inch from the top of the sill,

Sound like the gap between the door and sill is big enough for the scuff plate to go in? Put up a pic!

[DeadSled]

I never thought of that. I do not have scuff plates for my car so that's something I didn't even think of. I guess if I can gap it to the outside it'll be fine then? Thoughts?

[DeadSled]

I will put up pics tomorrow night but thinking either make a new door or cut the skin off this one and see what happens. I know it's to do with the door not the car.