47-55.1 1953 3100 "Honey-do"

[rnrdthefox]

More pics... Everyone likes pics right...

[rnrdthefox]

Now the passenger side. Step and repeat with additional work on the door post.

[mongocanfly]

nice repair work..
question...whered you get the knurled magnets...those look nice...the ones i have are aggravating at times

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

nice repair work..
question...whered you get the knurled magnets...those look nice...the ones i have are aggravating at times

Sorry, I don't know. They were tossed into a box of taps that I bought at auction. They are very strong. Thanks.

[rnrdthefox]

Ok. Let me catch up to where I'm at. I've got the fab work done for the Miata handles, Escalade electric door locks/latches, and electric windows. To be honest, I didn't expect this phase of the project to take so long. But, I was trying to make sure the windows, locks and handles would all work together so I spent A Lot of time bouncing back and forth, measuring, and studying things, before I made major cuts.

I found one link online where a guy did the Miata handles and Toyota door latches so that gave me hope there was room to do what I wanted.

I started with the door latches first. I made a cut about 9.5"s top to bottom to remove the stock latch.

[rnrdthefox]

Next I started the fab work for the extension pocket to hold the latch. This only added about half and inch beyond the original width of the stock latch. I made sure I didn't go beyond the lip that rises to form the side of the door. That's an important limit. This gives the Minimum depth to keep the window tracks in the stock location. There are a couple "issues" that have to be overcome for what I'm doing and I will get to in a bit.

I found a half inch bar made the correct radius.

[rnrdthefox]

I'll have some pictures for the finished pocked before being welded to the door in a bit.

One thing I struggled with was getting the three holes lined up for a nice tight fit to the top radius and the opening for the latch. It needs to be solid without movement so it doesn't loosen up over time from all the opening and closing. I didn't have any transfer punches the size I needed, so I made some. This is just one more thing that adds time with the first door.

Of course I could have ordered some, but I do most of the work on the weekends, and I didn't want to waste a weekend. And there is the fact that when I bought the lathe and mill I told the Boss they were for exactly these occasions. She asked how many "special parts" will it take to pay for themselves. I said a lot, but that's not the point.

[mongocanfly]

Doing some really good work there....
The guys that are really good at metal work are amazing..MP&C and the astronaut have several builds down in the alternative tinkering section...always good to see what they're up to..and I've started watching pro metal workshop on utube...another master at his trade..

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Doing some really good work there....
The guys that are really good at metal work are amazing..MP&C and the astronaut have several builds down in the alternative tinkering section...always good to see what they're up to..and I've started watching pro metal workshop on utube...another master at his trade..

Thanks. I've seen the Pro Metal Workshop guy. I bought his shrinking disk after I saw one of his videos. I didn't even know what a shrinking disk was a few months ago...

[6DoF]

that stuff is an artform and takes patients, looks good.

[gigamanx]

Nice work on the patch panels. Slow and steady! Following along to see how the build goes.

[rnrdthefox]

Time for an update. I haven't tackled the dash yet and will get a game plan for that in a bit. In the meantime, I wanted to make some progress in some other areas.

I took the doors to the media blaster along with some of the trim. Here are a few pics and what I found. Overall I was happy with the job. I had some rust holes show up on the inside of the drivers door. I also learned that I need to clean the weather stripping adhesive better as the blasting won't take it all off. Overall the doors came back with a clean foundation to work from.

[rnrdthefox]

I decided to replace a complete section of the drivers door where the rust holes were. I have to say the internal bracing is a poor design IMO. It collected dirt and water over the years and rusted from within. Here is what I found.

[rnrdthefox]

I ended up using one of the pieces that came off the power window track to graft into the existing structure. I figured it wouldn't be seen and just need to be solid. Then I welded a solid patch back over it with several spot welds. On the left side, I just filled in the holes. One thing I don't like about doing welding on a clean bare metal door is the welding splatter that has to be cleaned after the fact. Because of this, I'm going to do some more finish welding on the cab before I send it out to be blasted.

[rnrdthefox]

I did get the doors into epoxy primer which was the goal after blasting. Now they can sit for a while until I'm ready to start body work on them. With the white epoxy, I can see all the little dings and dents that need to be fixed along with the weld seams with the patch panels. The body work will most likely start this winter.

[mobileortho]

You did an awesome job and your skills exceed mine by far! BTW, this is the link I saw that made me want to install them in mine.
Miata door handles on a AD pickup

[rnrdthefox]

Quick update. I've been jumping around a bit and doing some smaller stuff. First, I built a filler panel below the bed side and roll pan. This was my first test of 16ga metal on a cheap harbor freight bender. I found one for cheap on Craigslist and decided to give it a try. It worked ok. I got those tacked in.

[rnrdthefox]

Next up was getting the driver's rear fender in Epoxy primer. First I had to replace the inner brace where the running board attaches. Then spray it on the few remaining good days left this fall. Also got the inner tubs in Epoxy. Some pics.

[rnrdthefox]

I also had to go back and add some material where I went a little too wide on the cutouts for the tires on each side of the bed. I hate rework like this, but I wanted to be able to bolt the inner tubs all the way down to the bottom.

[rnrdthefox]

Since the inner tubs changed the location of the middle bed support, I took some time to make a couple mounts for the frame. Nothing fancy, just functional and enough room to get a nut on the bolt end. I may end up welding the nut in place to remove some hassle later.

[8man]

Nice work.

[rnrdthefox]

Originally Posted by 8man

Nice work.

Thanks.

[oldman3]

Nice clean work...Jim

[youngrodder]

Nice metal repair work. Looking good. It takes a ton of time.

Marc

[youngrodder]

Nice metal repair work. Looking good. It takes a ton of time.

Marc