I bought a set of second hand doors to make into half doors for summertime driving & wheeling.
Bit light on pics tho sorry.
Started by removing glass etc. Cut the linkages down that connect handles/locks etc to the mechanism (not too short!) so that they didn’t get in the way.
Then, measured & drew a line where I wanted the door to be cut down to (inline with the tub) then I offset that line by 10mm up, and cut there.
I also cut the inside of the door around the edge where the “door card” fits. You can see where the steel “flares” inward.
Cut tabs down to my original line, which is to be the ‘fold’ line.
To cut the doors down inline with the tub I had to cut out around the door handles, where the steel “flares” out.
Using some G clamps, i clamped flatbar steel along the fold line & bent over the tabs with a hammer. I tried using duckbills (sheetmetal working tool, like a set of vice grips with flat long 'grips' on them) but there was too much leverage & flex in the flimsy door to get a nice bend on the line.
I then folded up a small piece of sheet to fill the gap & line up with the other folded tabs on top & tacked it in.
I had some sheet folded in the press (about 50 x 100mm) to use to cap the doors.
Sat it on top of the arm rest piece & traced a line along the front & cut to size.
I welded this piece in fully first, & think I was lucky I did, as it “warped” & sat lower at the front “inside” corner (ie it had twist in it).
There for when I cut the piece for the upward angle piece, I was able to allow a gap at this inside corner so I could “pull” the corner of the long horizontal piece back up to meet it when I tacked it in to get rid of the twist.
Then I did the same with the angled piece, it was a little trickier as I “angled” it in at the top so my door was narrower near the dash for clearance for the A pillar of my cage.
And also the tricky “top” piece… and welded the whole thing up using the mig, just doing ‘tacks’
& smoothed
Test fit
I then (with great difficulty) had to sand back all the dirty sticker marks
Bogged (hardly any!
), sanded, spray putty’d, sanded, (then spray puttyd, sanded again, stupid stickers!) & primed the doors.
Theres a linkage in the latch mechanism that goes to the door handle (I think?), its shaped with an S bend in it and has a thread to the end with a plastic snap fitting (cant quite remember now). It works in a verticle plane (ie grab hold of it and pull down, it should operated the door latch as if you were pulling the handle.
I removed it & cut it at the bend that is closest to the mechanism. (end of the linkage with the loop in it). Re installed it, lined up up pointing upright under the arm rest of the door & marked the still where it pointed. There I drilled a hole for the linkage.
I then hunted around for something I could use for a button. Ended up fixing some shells over it using some bonding stuff. You can use anyting, weld a small bolt to the linkage, or some threaded rod & screw on a button head nut type thing…
Once its all in & hooked up, when you push the linkage down it operates the latch just as if your pulling the door handle.
Painted
