Hi all, Looking to make some door skins for a roadster pick up I'm building, I have fab'd up the inner door portion mirroring a 28 Tudor door, My first attempt at the door skin was over stretched a little for the frame and I just couldn't get the beltline right. (a 28 29 would have been way easier!) Has any of you done this before with hand tools, I know that you can get repop skins etc but this is a bit of an oddball job. I set up an upper and lower die in 20 mm mild for the shape and I am building an air hammer/ Planishing set up but I'm not sure if I am heading down the right path. Any tips?
this is going to take some splaining not that you're dense just i'm more of a show you kind. (hard to do in type) i start with a piece of over sized sheet metal bigger than the door skin by a couple three inches all around at least. then you have to get a duplicator gage (flat piece about 4-6 inches long with movable spines sticking out each side). press this into the belt line in the quarter panel (or cab corner nearest door in your case) to get the exact size and shape of the belt line. now transfer this to several pieces of scrap heavier gauge sheet metal weld them about 2-4 inches from each other to a piece of heavier metal but it needs to be only the width of the belt line. start tacking the new door skin to the newly cut curved slugs. i start with the top or middle just make sure you tack every slug in the same place( i.e. all middles or all ends) with a couple of extra hands and a good piece of plywood on the floor. door skin face down on wood tack the pieces and have a buddy help bend and hold the new door skin as you tack (tack only as needed sometimes only two one on each end or three with one in the middle are needed) once you have the desired shape slip it into a sheet metal brake up to the belt line get a nice crisp straight line above and below the belt then cut of the backing piece and then remove the slugs. i've seen people leave their "jig" in but then you have to make another for the other side. then , trim to fit. hope this helps you, i think i've confused myself. i've also seen people hammer form it over pipe then finish with a planishing hammer but without alot of experience with a power hammer you can stretch metal way out of shape. my way sounds way worse than i ever imagined. i should probably delete this and leave you alone but this is the most i've ever typed in my life so i can't bear to delete it. sorry
zefyr6 Should be able to make a bench top guide set up to do this with the dies you've made. Something to keep the upper and lowers aligned while you lightly hammer on the top die while feeding the sheet through (it's a two man job unless you've got some real ingenuity & dexterity) - kind of a poorman's pullmax. Guides could allow the top die to float, or you could connect them with a sturdy hinge( the further from the workpiece this is, the more parallel the dies will be) Check out metalmeet.com for more ideas on this - Stan Lobitz has a louver punch setup along the same lines. The setup described above in the brake sounds good too, but limits you to flat panels. Barry
Thanks Guys, just to illustrate a little what i have got, its messy but I am starting to realise where I went wrong I put the curve in, then the beltline hence the over stretching and I wasn't really patient enough with it, brute force = many hammer marks and stretching Iwill consign this one to the patch bin and try again I am using 1mm cold rolled plate does that sound thick enough?
blt2go, I appreciate the lengths to which you went to explain your method, I know it can be pretty hard when you can just do the job to explain it to someone, I train people new techniques at work all the time so I know it can be a pain, so many thanks to you! I am pretty sure I see where you are goin with it. Cheers
no problem, with a two part belt line like that i tend to do it in two pieces. (small bead then large bead) sometimes you can cut the duplex shape in your slugs start at the top and when you get to the dividing line use a straight edge to make a sharp crease then move on to the larger curve. i always get my body lines first then work within the body lines to create the convex/concave what ever the case may be. you're right it just takes time and patience. looks like you have it under control, good luck and keep building.
Here is an option for you. I produce the beltline pieces on my Pullmax. I could run you a piece long enough, and all you have to do is weld it to your skin. Not trying to spam you, just help you out!
Hey, thanks for the offer pm me a price. my only issue is shipment to Oz.... but always keen to check this stuff out. Definately not spam! Given the extreme pricing on roadster doors down this end of the world I am willing to consider anything. But I do want to learn more metal fab stuff too. Let me know any stuff thats on offer as my fellow club members are building model A's and we all need patch panels. Cheers
What about something a little more complicated, as in where the beltline splits into 2 smaller lines and wraps over the rear deck? That part is missing on both sides of my roadster. Any advice on how one would go about making this piece? Here is a picture to show kind of what is missing...
You might be able to make the beltline where it splits into two with a hammerform but that would be a complex piece. Rod and Custom did an article on making a repair to the beltline on a 32 3 window. You might be able to do something like that in 2 parts then weld them together. http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com...fabrication_1932_ford_three_window/index.html
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