The lower driver side door hinge has been ripped away on my Tonner. No doubt the west Texas wind caught it too many times. It has spider web fractures that will be difficult to weld. I think I could cut an inside window and use panel adhesive but don’t know if I could access the area to clamp, and don’t know whether the 3M glue would be strong enough to hold. Anybody attempted a similar repair? A replacement door is the other option, but this original is rust free. Stu

 

sadly you could try welding it, but IMMO you just may find it easier to start shopping for a donor door, as it will never be as strong.
good luck man, care to build a 29 sedan delivery from sedan parts? zero rear door frames or skins anywhere ,

 

Yeah, I’m watching the auction site and CL, and expect I’ll be adding Hershey to my fall schedule. I’m used to dealing with unicorns having the M-Hs, but don’t envy you trying to save/create pie wagon doors for your panel. Stu

 

hersheys a good spot, try placing a wanted in the hamb or the ford barn,
with model a''s dealing with having to both a carpenter and metal worker was the fun , there's zero parts for sd's rear door, it's all custom

 

Looks like there is a little rust that did not help that door area.

Can you get to the inside of the door?
I am guessing yes or how do you replace the hinge?

I would remove the door and the hinge from that area and clean it inside and out.
I would push everything back in place as needed then weld the cracks.

I would than find think sheet metal and shape it to that area inside the door to go above and below the area.
I like your gluing ideal maybe you can use wood say 1x1 wedged in from the other end to push on the patch till the glue sets up.
You would be using this part to spread the load over a larger area.

Once the glue is set up you can drill the holes for the hinge and hope the bolts are long enough for this next part.
You can either use large flat washers to spread the load out and / or make a plate to cover the bolt hole area like a big 3? (or is it 4?) hole washer and then the larger flat washers.
This should spread the load over a larger area so this should not happen again.
If done right other than the welding of the cracks from the out side should not be seen.

Yes its work but from what I see from my chair that is the only way for a fix.
BTW how is the top hinge area any cracks there?
Maybe add a load spread plate there too?
Dave ----

edit: just got thinking you may not need the 3 or 4 hole plate or large flat washers as the nuts are on the thick hinge part?
But you need to re-enforce the door area before the hinge is bolted to it or it will happen again.

 

Thanks for your input. The inside of the door is not a flat surface. I’m also working on a patch for a 52 door and suspect the 47 is built the same with an inner “U” channel to which the hinge and skin are riveted and spot welded. The access panel on the 42-47 is much smaller than on the later model too adding complication. I think I’m resigned to a need for a better door, but it seems the nice ones are always the passenger side for obvious reasons. Stu

 

i'm working on a 32 close to the same issues, save this on has had a 3 inch chop. ,something we can never match again, we have had to find and drill out the spot welds on two panels at the door bottom inside to get at the hinge area so we could reinforce the edge. weld it back up . up side to a 32 is they still share model a assembling ways the hinges are bolted to the frame

 

Not seeing the doors in person I just went with what I thought would work.
Could you make the panel shape from the out side and then trim to fit the inside?
Dave ----

 

Agree that I’ll have to engineer a creative fix if I don’t find a nice replacement. Stu

 

Seems to me the better plan might be to open up the affected area by drilling out any spot welds on the skin to shell then carefully pulling back the skin, cut out a section to be able to access and repair as necessary the inner structure, which must have some kind of issue seeing that much external damage. Form a new piece of sheet metal to replace the broken section that was removed and weld it all back up. I don't think trying to save that work fractured metal would be an ideal option. Reattach the hinge with carriage bolts, carefully keeping the original position, obviously, and be good to go.

 

Thanks Wayne. Agree that welding the spider web would be bound to fail. And that the rivets would have to be replaced with carriage bolts. Cutting a window as you’ve outlined would allow access. If the hinge were to be straightened, reinforced, and otherwise made right the sheet metal of the jamb would have no structural role. This fact is why I’m attracted to the 3M adhesive instead of relying on my welder. Finding a nice used/NOS door is still a goal. Stu

 

Gluing the new outer shell skin should work as long as you first glued a backing piece to the shell. A 1" strip of metal glued in place to the shell would allow the patch piece to be placed flush and fit as original, not sticking out or overlapping anywhere.

 

Yup, agree. There’d need to be an inner lip to attach the patch to. I’ve also thought it might be prudent to do the patch as a two part fix to allow the section with carriage bolts to be in place prior to filling the other piece of the hole. Stu

 

I'm not sure if I follow you there exactly. If the inner structure is put back correctly, the skin and shell should be able to be rebuilt to the point that when everything is done, the hinge should slide into place and bolt in after the fact without disturbing or distorting anything else. It's the way the door would have been built at the factory. This would also allow you to do any finish work (if desired) without having to work around the hinge or the bolts. That's always a pain and a good way to compromise the quality of the finished repair work. My 2c.

 

Inside the door is (I suspect) the “U” channel I mentioned above that the hinge is riveted to. Using bolts would mean I’d need to have access for a wrench to hold nuts from the rear. Thus the second window. I’m hoping too that Mc Master Carr has some carriage bolts that are better quality than hardware store Grade 2 stuff. Stu