Valley in my door skin weld
 

I really took my time and was careful welding in this outer skin. It was a challenge to set in the correct position due to the back side bottom of the door already being cut away, but I made templates from my original door and felt pretty good when it was all done. I tacked in the back patch panel last night and when I clamp the two together I have a pretty good valley in the middle of the door at the weld. I don't want that much filler in the door. What can I do to correct this? Can I pull the panel at or near the weld to pull it out? Cut it out and start over? Thanks.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Any time you weld the metal shrinks in the heat affect zone, which warps the panel and will cause a valley or low spot. You have to stretch the weld/HAZ the correct amount to reverse the shrinkage so the panel has the correct shape again. MP&C has a really good method of stretching welds here:

https://www.bangshift.com/forum/foru...hing-mig-welds


It also looks like the inner bottom may have been misaligned before tacking it in place. Panels like that are best fitted with the door on the truck so you can have the door properly adjusted, then trim the lower panel so that it fits the door opening correctly. Once the inner panel is properly fitted in place, then you can weld the outer skin on. I like to make taller patch panels for door bottoms so that I can more easily reach the back side of the welds to stretch the weld beads, depending on where the inner access hole is.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Thanks! In the photos above the inner panel is not tacked in at all. It was still the original metal.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Hard to tell how big of a “valley” is there. Can you put a straight edge over the worst valley? Also, is the original door edge and the patch panel aligned flush?

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

If you looked at a top-down view of that area of the door, it would show an ever so slight crown, or an arc. When you weld sheetmetal the weld and Heat Affected Zone will shrink when it cools. So absent any planishing effort, along this length of the weld the shrinking causes it to lose some of its length. So in essence, you arc becomes a straight line, or as you noted, is pulled into a valley. Planishing or stretching of the weld is needed.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Copying the rear profile to the front shows it well.... looks like the front has more of a valley than the rear..


Attachment 1914323

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Yes, I see it now after you zoomed it in. That cannot be filled with any type of body filler, and expect it to last. I think this is a good example of planishing as you go would have yielded much better results. I can’t tell if there is any avenue to planish, but he does state that the back side of the door has been cut away so a bit of hammer on dolly is in store, it appears.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Hopefully he can still get to it I found that was the hardest part of replacing my door skins is accessibility for planishing

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

I'm at the point where I think I will replace the whole skin. I'm not a metal fabricator or body man, so stretching this weld would be a stretch for me I'm afraid. I have a good buddy that owns a body shop, but I don't want to tie up his guys. So much to learn about this stuff for sure.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Sounds like itd be easier to find another door

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Even a full skin has to be welded. if you look at my home page go to album and you can see where the whole skin stopped, but you can get to it for planishing

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Yep. $$$

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

I think that bodyglue is a better alternative for doors.
If you want to weld, spotweld with about two inches interval, cool it, grind it, hammer and dolly as you go. A slow process that will give the best results.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

In order to use body glue you have to offset one panel and have an overlap, the combination of the to layers of door skin and the panel adhesive creates a thick area that shrinks and expand definitely than the rest of the panel. The results will be a ghost line in the paint where the seem is.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Yes, you are right. Every method requires knowledge and skill. I have´nt experienced ghostlines. Personally I dont like bondo since it tends to sink after a while if you apply it in thick layers. Led is a better alternative if u know how to prep the surfaces before and after.

Re: Valley in my door skin weld
 

Well if you’re using panel adhesive you ant using lead lol but to lead a panel that size you’d have a lot of warping