overseas doors
#16
Deskining/reskinning a door should not be a major ordeal if done correctly and with the right tools. To deskin you need a spotweld drill bit and a thin stiff bladed puttyknife type tool. One that is made for scraping paint rather than one designed for applying/smoothing plaster or such, the blade should not flex much at all when pressed hard against a surface and tapered/sharpened from one side like a wood chisel. A reworked small (6" long) flat prybar sometimes called a "wonder bar" after the trade name for it's original bigger brother, can also be handy for lifting the bent edge of the doorskin. Grind the end that is bent to a right angle to the rest of the bar straight across to remove the V notch, then resharpen with as long as possible taper on the inside surface, leaving the outside surface flat.
Remove all the weatherstripping and sealant residue around the door with the scraper and/or a Clean and Strip wheel (3M product), heavy or age hardened sealer can be softened wth a heat gun to make removal easier. Find and mark all spot welds (recessed dimples) with a magic marker. Using a special spot weld cutter bit, drill out each spot weld only as deep as necessary to cut thru the skin layer of metal. Use you modified wonder bar tool and ballpeen hammer to tap the tool between the skin and door frame at each spotweld site and lift gently~ 1/8" to break free the spot weld. DON'T try to lift the edge up completely all at once, but work your way along the edge until all the spot welds are free. Repeat the process a couple more times along the edge until the portion of the skin than was folded over the edge of the door frame is bent out at ~ a 45* angle. Repeat along all edges of the door. Now use a pair of duck billed vise grips (ones having wide flat jaws like two spatulas) pushed under the flange of the skin to work one or two sides up nearly to a right angle without kinking the flange. Grab the flange tightly with the duck bills and push/pull the flange towards the face of the door until the skin is free and can be carefully removed from the frame. Always work in progressive small even steps to avoid stretching or kinking the flange of the good door skin.
The door you want to save just the frame will be much easier to deskin. Use a grinding wheel to grind thru the folded edge of the skin to be replaced to remove it, while leaving the flange in place attached to the frame temporarily. Now you can drill the spotwelds, grind thru them with the edge of a 1/4" grinding wheel or use a air chisel with a muffler cutting chisel bit to cut the spot welds and remove the remaing flange. Grind the edge of the frame smooth and straighten as required with a hammer and dolly or the duck billed pliers.
While the skin is off it would be a good time to clean off the inside of the door and skin and rust proof it with a high quality weld thru primer.
To reskin, place the frame face down on top the skin. Use a flat dolly and body hammer with a flat rectangular face to bend the flange down onto the frame with light taps. Again, work gently in several passes around the entire door until the skin is smoothly clamped into place. You may want to hang the door back onto the truck to check that the skin is centered and flush all the way around before welding it in place. Plug weld the skin to the frame thru each drilled out spot weld hole, jumping around the door to avoid overheating and warping the skin or the frame. Grind the welds smooth and finish with a paintable seam sealer before priming and painting/ replacing the weatherstripping.
BE PATIENT! trying to do too much too fast and you'll end up making more work for yourself.
Remove all the weatherstripping and sealant residue around the door with the scraper and/or a Clean and Strip wheel (3M product), heavy or age hardened sealer can be softened wth a heat gun to make removal easier. Find and mark all spot welds (recessed dimples) with a magic marker. Using a special spot weld cutter bit, drill out each spot weld only as deep as necessary to cut thru the skin layer of metal. Use you modified wonder bar tool and ballpeen hammer to tap the tool between the skin and door frame at each spotweld site and lift gently~ 1/8" to break free the spot weld. DON'T try to lift the edge up completely all at once, but work your way along the edge until all the spot welds are free. Repeat the process a couple more times along the edge until the portion of the skin than was folded over the edge of the door frame is bent out at ~ a 45* angle. Repeat along all edges of the door. Now use a pair of duck billed vise grips (ones having wide flat jaws like two spatulas) pushed under the flange of the skin to work one or two sides up nearly to a right angle without kinking the flange. Grab the flange tightly with the duck bills and push/pull the flange towards the face of the door until the skin is free and can be carefully removed from the frame. Always work in progressive small even steps to avoid stretching or kinking the flange of the good door skin.
The door you want to save just the frame will be much easier to deskin. Use a grinding wheel to grind thru the folded edge of the skin to be replaced to remove it, while leaving the flange in place attached to the frame temporarily. Now you can drill the spotwelds, grind thru them with the edge of a 1/4" grinding wheel or use a air chisel with a muffler cutting chisel bit to cut the spot welds and remove the remaing flange. Grind the edge of the frame smooth and straighten as required with a hammer and dolly or the duck billed pliers.
While the skin is off it would be a good time to clean off the inside of the door and skin and rust proof it with a high quality weld thru primer.
To reskin, place the frame face down on top the skin. Use a flat dolly and body hammer with a flat rectangular face to bend the flange down onto the frame with light taps. Again, work gently in several passes around the entire door until the skin is smoothly clamped into place. You may want to hang the door back onto the truck to check that the skin is centered and flush all the way around before welding it in place. Plug weld the skin to the frame thru each drilled out spot weld hole, jumping around the door to avoid overheating and warping the skin or the frame. Grind the welds smooth and finish with a paintable seam sealer before priming and painting/ replacing the weatherstripping.
BE PATIENT! trying to do too much too fast and you'll end up making more work for yourself.
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