Metal work on "A" doors

Got tired of looking and bought a pair of very sad Murry doors. After getting them home I think I should have passed. Turns out they must have been thru a range fire. The "best" door is warped in two places in the center of the panel. I think the under coat inside the door contributed to the damage. I have a pair of coupe patch panels that i could use but, I think if there is a way to straighten this door I'd rather try that. I really don't realish welding the full width of a door. These "warpes" seem to be size of a 8 to 10 inch fry pan and uniform in shape. Is there a way to treat the area as a whole rather than by spot shinking. I'm a relative novice with metal work and would be greatfull for any tips. Thanks - Norm

 

You could try a shrinking disc, on a grinder. I was turned on to them by folks here on this board. Prior to using one, I used a a few different shrinking hammers and a shrinking dolly to accomplish the same thing. I had very good results from this technique, but it was a ton of work.

Frankly, I was surprised. I could have saved hundreds of hours. Oh well, live and learn.

 

Hi Norm,

Do you have any pictures of the damage? Usually there is more to metalwork than simply shrinking or stretching.

John

 

Hey Norm,

I'd start your repair with the removal of all of the paint and as much of the rust as possible that's on the door panels now. Sometimes, old filler is beneith the paint and can make corrective work a problem. If the front and back areas of the door skin are straight, and the big problems are the high, or stretched metal in the center of the skin, that's a good problem. You can straighten the skin from the undamaged areas to the stretched ones.
I wouldn't do any shrinking of the panel until you're sure you've bumped down all of the metal that can be bumped to normal conture i.e. pre-damaged state. Once you've done that and are sure that only high/stretched metal is left, shrink the highest/floppy areas first and work outwards toward the undamaged areas. As you shrink and dolly the panel flat, continually check you work against the outside, straight arears of the panel, and adjust your efforts accordingly.
From what you're discribing, replacement panels would only be trading one devil for another. Be sure to check out HAMB member John Kelly's online photos/viedos on straightening & the shrinking of damaged metal. Also, check out mindover( also a HAMB member) for his great work on this subject.
Good luck
" Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "

 

Yah, I do. don't think You'll be able to see much. Now, the bad door, plenty to see there. The whole story is that I'm going to rework them for my very badly rusted Cabriolet. Anyway Here are the pictures. Thanks for the response. Norm