Repro doors for 53 effie

[leverhead]

Any suggestions for repro doors for a 53 F-100? My orig doors are decent but the hinge jamb side is pretty banged up on both doors. With the bulkhead inside the door blocking access for repair, the only way (I can see) to properly fix is by dissecting and straightening/replacing the door jamb....dont think I want to go to the trouble right now. Looking at mid-fifty's repros...supposedly made here is US (OC, CA). Any door experiences or suggestions? Thanks.

[Steve Bennett]

I bought one of the repop driver's side door @ the Supernationals in May. Finally got around to hanging it last week. I am used to having to "tweak" after market parts, but I can honestly say this door fit better than the original. My only regret is that I only got the driver's side and repair parts to fix the passenger side. Wish I had bought both sides!! Hope this helps, Steve

[leverhead]

Steve,
Thanks for the heads up. Do you remember who the vendor was....or the mfg of the repop? Thanks.

Mid-fifty just sent me a dummy invc with a ship chg (for both door shells)of almost $400 to ship 1 state away. Jeez.....

[carnut122]

Many vendors go to shows/swap meets where you can pick up the doors and save on shipping. One vendor is out of Oklahoma. I suspect all of the doors are made be the same manufacturer which I believe would be in Taiwan.

[leverhead]

You are right on. Just got off the phone with a company called counterparts in OC, CA. Their division that handles restoration parts says they are made in taiwan. They import them then forward them on to the retailers. Thanks.

[Steve Bennett]

I have bought lots of stuff from Mid Fifty and they are really good and knowledgeable people to deal with. I bought my door from Classic Auto Parts out of Oklahoma while at the Supernationals in Pigeon Forge this year. I wouldn't hesitate to deal with them again. They quoted me $89 to Fed Ex the door from their place to Mississippi for what it's worth. Hope this helps, Steve

[leverhead]

Steve,
Thanks for the heads up...just ordered 2 doors from them...$400 each + $89 to ship. Good deal....and good news for anyone needing repro doors. Regards.

[carnut122]

Pleas post back about the fit once you've tried them out. I kinda wish I had bought repros instead of redoing mine.

[leverhead]

Will Do! Should be here monday....Regards.

[leverhead]

OK.... so I've finally got to mocking up the new repro doors. I've been playing mainly with the driver side.
I ended up finding 4 original hinges that I took to a machine shop and had media blasted and reamed for oversize pins. This helped the alignment a lot.

For those who are interested, here are my findings so far:

Initially the fit was actually pretty good. I did not have to move or shim the hinges around and the door gap is pretty close. I will have to grind some spots down and add some welding rod to other places (mainly the top) to adjust the gap a bit, but I expected this. Not too bad.

The profile where it meets the rear of the cab is right on. I had to spring the bottom rear corner a bit (took less than 5 min) to bring it out a tad.

The profile where it meets the cab side/cowl area is a little off. It sticks out a little (maybe 1/8 inch or so) for about +-10 in. With some dura-glass and hand work I should be able to even it out.

The door latch/striker alignment was right on. Door opens and closes easily without shifting (this is without the rubber....but there is a proper gap for it so I dont see any problems there). All the mounting holes for the latch parts and vent window seemed to be just fine. I had to dremel the top latch hole a bit to remove some extra metal to get the latch in but that was it.

I did have to spring the top door frame (front and rear) to get it to line up with the same plane as the cab. It sprung easily and is right on now.

I did not mock up the window as I will be installing electric so I dont care about the regulator, but judging from everything else, I dont have reason to believe there would be a problem there.

The e-coat is good. It passed my laquer thinner test so I dont have a problem scuffing,sealing, and painting over it.

The metal is a little thinner than stock (what a surprise) so the door is a little lighter. Actually a good thing. It also comes with the door seal lower retaining strip attached.

The passenger side was about the same as the driver (maybe a little better) so same drill….but I'll finish the driver first!

Doors arrived undamaged – Fedex freight – Big boxes – no crating.

Classic auto parts has lowered the price to $400 per door. Shipping was $89. Reasonable.

Here is a pic ( I’m not a paying member so I don’t believe I can post pics here):

https://midfifty.com/gallerypicture....&GALLERY_ID=78


I hope this wasn’t too long but I wanted to be thorough. Hope this helps. Regards.

[sdetweil]

you absolutely CAN post pics, just not INLINE attachments..

what that means is you have to upload them onto some internet storage
(your fte gallery, profile, garage) or some other site (photobucket.com)

and then link to them in a post

if you edit your post above, and change the 'url' to image at front and end the picture will show here instead of the link to the picture..

Sam

[carnut122]

Thanks for posting. I kinda wish I had bought two new doors-oh well.

[cmoritz]

leverhead..good to hear the re-pos fit well,..do they have the floating hinge nut plates mounted in the door also..I would suspect they do.
If I may suggest, to anyone taking the doors on and off multiple times, go to RandyJacks gallery and check out his method of fixing that plate in position after final adjustment.I followed his procedure and it was a breeze to re-stall freshly painted doors,in the exact same place the next time around..perfect fit...too easy!
And an added benefit for those with tight work areas..who needs doors on the cab when your in and out of the cab, fitting all that extra stuff anyway? Hide them somewhere where they won't magically start "denting" ...LoL

[leverhead]

Sam,
Thanks for the info. I tried to change from 'url' to 'image' to no avail. I'll use the FTE gallery next time.

Carnut,
Thanks for the heads up. I wouldnt have known about these guys without you and Steve Bennett pointing me in their direction.

Mertz,
Yes...they have the floating plates mounted in the door...and you can bet I WILL be drilling indexing holes there before I remove the doors for work!

Regards.

[Steve Bennett]

I have installed both repop doors with similar results as leverhead. I'm very happy with the fit. I am now contemplating a repop hood. Anybody tried one? Comments? Thanks, Steve