Passenger side
I started to fix the doors, just to have some variation. Welding the body is getting a bit boring…
So, having not done any of this before, I just cut the old door skin off.
…Well, ofcourse I had to figure out how it’s attached, but it turned out to be quite simple. I didn’t bother to preserve much of the old skin, as it was badly out of shape and corroded useless. So I just cut it of like this:
Here you see how the fold of the door skin is easily separated by grinding away a millimeter around the door edges. There are only a few little welds here and there. Around the window frame the skin is sealed by soldering.
Just remember Not to do it like this to an undamaged panel. It is basically destroyed useless in the process. If you intend to re-use the panel, you have to carefully grind off just the weld spots and then bend the fold open little by little.
Here’s the stroker door without the skin. This allows for cleaning, repairing and repainting of the door body:
After cleaning. The bottom needs some repair and the lock area was changed because of some collision damage (the lock mechanism didn’t align properly). After this, the “new” skin can be put on.
Driver side
Well, this should be a bit easier. I will use the Saab 93 door I got earlier. But it also needs some modification as the roof of the 93 curves down more than the 96.
So, here’s what I decided to do:
I cut away the window frame and the bit from the body that is different between 93 and 96. I tried to position the cuts so that the welds will be either covered by upholstery or as easy as possible to clean up.
That looks like a neat fit 🙂
I will tack the piece in place and then attach the door to the car. I can then shape the window frame as needed (to make the shape fit the door frame) and cut it to proper length and tack it.
Only after the function and shape of the door has been verified and adjusted, can it be welded properly.