Question About SWB Door Skins

[mshaver51]

I've been working on the doors for my SWB project. I've had them media blasted and the doors are generally rock solid. No rust in the bottoms of the frames, and very few weak spots, at all. The doors had at least 2-3 coats of paint on them, with the last being bright red.

There is some weirdness on the driver's side door, however. In the center of the door skin, there was a large patch of bondo that the media blastdidn't remove. There was no noticable distortion inside the door. No dents, and even the traditional overspray of schutz through the opening in the inner door frame, suggesting that the door had never been 'worked' to any great extent. (I'm in the process of stripping the bondo out now). However, the steel is bright and healthy throughout.

I also noticed that the door skin had a "flex" of about 1/4" when it was laying on the table and I pressed my hand on the door skin. The 'flex' bothers me because I'm afraid that it will cause the paint to fail. The passenger door has no such problem.

I know the SWB cars had no reinforcement in the doors, but the flex and the bondo bother me. Does anyone have any experience with this arcane phenomenon?

As always, "thank you."

[robmog]

you seem to be describing the classic "oil can" effect of stretched, overworked metal.
a skilled metal man would fix his with judicious application of heat and hammer and dolly work to shrink it back to original..
a newer technique involves a shrinking disc, a stainless steel disc on a grinder.
you can see these techniques on you tube, not really for novices though.

[mshaver51]

YES!!! That's the perfect description -- "oil can effect"!

I need to find one of those "skilled" guys here in indpls. Most of them seem to be 'crash damage insurance' guys.

Any suggestiions from the 'early 911s' community about such skilled people in the Indianapolis area?

Thanks, robmog.

[haycait911]

'oil can' is when the panel goes 'kaboink' when you push it in then out. it does sound like you have too much metal there though ( stretched ). shrinking will tighten it up. old school torch+dolly+hammer+water still works the best. get a steel yardstick and check the shape. compare to the other door. then find a decent bodyman.

[Esposito]

An experienced tech can remove the flex in less than 2 min.
An inexprienced tech will turn your door into a piece of bacon!
Be very careful who you take it to.

John

[mshaver51]

I have two old-timers that I trust to either know the technique or tell me honestly.

I really appreciate what this community can do. Thank you.