Has anyone here re-skinned a door?

[glock35ipsc]

I am thinking I will go back with OEM doors. The Goodmark doors just seem too flimsy compared to the real deal. I still have the original driver side door that was hit, it is straight (not tweeked) but the outer skin needs replaced.

Anyone done it before? Is it a pain, or should I have someone else do it? I would buy the tools to do it correcty (remove and install the lip).

Thanks!

[19673ontree]

it's not that big a deal
#1 take a grinder and grind all the way around the old skin lip this will release the halve's and the skin will come off ,
#2 clean and coat or paint or ? put something on the inner structure then apply the new skin by bending the lip over the way the old one was , don't worry if you ding it up or don't get it even , after it is all bent take a hammer and a flat piece of metal or dolly and flatten the lip all the way around , using a straight edge at the bottom you can get it almost perfect
#3 some put a few spot weld's here and there that's up to you ,,,,,,,

[special-K]

I think that`s what I`d do,too.Or,just do that bottom piece up to the belt-line.Especially on a truck with the trim.I can`t see junking a factory door for the little rust in the outer corners.

[glock35ipsc]

It's a rust-free door, just has a few wrinkles in it from when I was hit. Like a tard, I sold the other door but I still have the driver's door. The door otherwise is perfect, which is why I though I would reskin this one:

[kelsfine69]

I would look for a good used door. IMO once cut apart,its never the same. And once you figure in the skin and time you might be farther ahead in the long run.

[sevt_chevelle]

Doing a door skin is no big deal. With the skin off you can fix any misalginment in the door shell, etc.
There are two links were I do a door skin removal and install. Althou they are not 67-72 trucks, the SAME methods apply...Eric

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2096451486
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2097633569

[19673ontree]

after seeing the picture I would fix that door , if it is rust free like you say that door can be easily fixed , much faster and cheaper than a new skin , those dent's are not bad enough to junk the door ,

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by sevt_chevelle

Doing a door skin is no big deal. With the skin off you can fix any misalginment in the door shell, etc.
There are two links were I do a door skin removal and install. Althou they are not 67-72 trucks, the SAME methods apply...Eric

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2096451486
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2097633569

Thanks for the links! Good stuff! Do the skins come with the edge already bent over at a ~90* angle, or is it entirely flat?

[sevt_chevelle]

The skins for your truck will come pre bent at 90, they are a complete OEM type door skin. All the ones Ive seen at Mane's and chevy duty are heavy gauge steel, I would not hesitate to install an repo door skin from what Ive seen.

[see ten]

I had to have the doors on my K10 reskinned. I couldn't find any ones any better than what I had and this was "preinternet days". I paid someone to do it so I couldn't tell you how hard it was to do. But it's been over 9 years and they are still holding up quite well.

[72CSTC5]

Many people can not put on a door skin without putting filler on the perimeter of the door, however I can, and I will tell you my trick that an old bodyman out of California taught me 20 years ago. Instead of using the old metal dolly use a 2x4 block of wood coated with about 2-3 layers of tape. It will soften the blow and not put a dent of the door skin side. Take your time too with the door and do not try to flatten the metal in any one spot all the way. Work your way around the door a little at a time. Very easy to do. If you do get a high spot on the door, hit it with a metal file, da sand with 80 grit then 180, prime and paint. It should come out fine. It will also give you a chance to coat the inside of the door for future rust!

[BarryB]

One more thing, don't know if this has been already mentioned. But before you remove the old dented in door skin try and knock out the biggest part of the dent out, because the inner structure was bent too when hit. Probably not much. but it will make a big difference when you put the new door skin on. Just a precaution.
Later

[arkracing]

I would fix that skin! -

Grind the paint off the door and find someone who can use a "stud gun" - basically it welds small pins to door and then you pull them out with a slide hammer. An experienced guy should be able to straighten that door out and get it good enough to only use a small amount of plastic just to skim & block it.

[glock35ipsc]

There are a couple of things at play here.... I want minimum to no filler in this truck, as little as practicle. And I want to do as much as possible on my own, like about 99.9999%. I do have a guy helping me get the hail dings out of the roof, but that's because I HATE body work, and really suck at it! I have a stud welder, and have used it quite a bit on the cowl and the bed side where I installed the fuel filler.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a "control freak" that won't let anyone else touch my truck, but one of my goals with this truck is to be able to say I did it all by myself. Not "this shop did this, this shop did that", and so on. So between fixing this skin or replacing, I'll probably replace it. I already know I will not get it straight enough to just skim coat it, at least not within this year! Hell, it has sat at this stage for about a year now just because I didn't want to touch the roof! So I finally caved into letting someone elso do it. But that will be the only thing on the truck that will be done by someone else!

Thanks for all the tips on how to do this. I ordered a full skin this afternoon, and will give it a shot here in a week or so. I like the idea about the 2x4 also, thanks!

[special-K]

I had this Portugese body guy get all the damage out of a`48 Chevy car roof(kids climbing on it)useing just a torch.I got it back expecting the old fuzzy(1/2 dry rotted) cloth headliner torn out and it was all intact.The guy carefully drew all the dents out with heat,never touched the backside.That was the most impressive metal working I`ve ever seen.

[19673ontree]

I've noticed a couple remark's here and there about body filler ?
people don't worry about that anymore it's just part of old car truck restoration , as long as it's put on a clean solid surface it will never give any trouble , and with the way these truck's panel's are off here and there it's a must have !!
just watch the TV show's where they fix up old vehicle's , overhaulin in particular they have million's of dollar's at their dissposal and the whole country watching what they are doing and guess what ! the car's are COVERED from one end to the other with body filler top to bottom !!!
DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT !!
that door in the picture is fixable ! one afternoon of work and yes a little filler and it will be good as new !!

[arkracing]

My reasoning is that the new skin might be heavy guage - but the fit probably won't be as good as the OEM.

as far as "I want no filler" - It will never happen - the nicest paint jobs in the world have filler. If you HATE body work than why attempt to put a skin on the door?

[glock35ipsc]

For me, body work = working filler. I hate working with bondo.

Actually, the only place on the truck where there will be filler will be the roof (someone else doing it), back of the cab where I installed the 3rd brake light, and a small section on the right cab corner. All the rest is new sheet metal, and if there were dings, and there were very few, I have already worked those out and will need no filler.

So, maybe I have to lower my standards to 98.9999%

[sevt_chevelle]

Well since you hate body filler then here's a few links for ya.
You should be able to have access to the backside and work the metal properly. Personally I would not use a stud gun on that damage.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2093955818
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2103083895

The following text was writting by Wray Schelin

I 'll share with you how I remove a small dent . An easy example will work
best, so lets say, its the rear fender of a XK120. The dent is in the
middle of the rear section of the fender, and its is about the size of your
fist, sunken in about 3/4" in the center. All paint and undercoating should
be removed first. I would first select a dolly that has a crown that is
close to the fender; in this case that would be a medium crown. Using a
glove to protect my fingers I would palm the dolly and lightly tap it
against the bump on the inside of the fender; carefully watching the
progress of the rising depression. I would use this process until I got the
dent up to within 1/8" of the surface. This will happen within minutes-
this is called roughing out the dent. Next I would hold the dolly tightly
against the center of the damage , on the backside, while I use the slapper
on the front, tapping the circumference of the dent. This is a dolly off
action, the slapper and dolly are not clashing with each other, they are
beside one another. I would keep tapping away with the slapper, moving the
dolly tightly with some force, against the lowest area of the dent. Slowly
the dent will rise to very close to the surface level. The slapper does
this operation very effectively because it has such a large surface area,
compared to a hammer. With a hammer you're hitting a smaller area and you
might dent the area you're hammering against because it will yield easier
than the center of the dent.

Roughing and slapping the dent has reduced the dent by about 90% and
progress was swift. The next stage of metal finishing requires the bag of
tricks and the tools. The problem that you encounter at this final stage
is, you have trouble seeing what you're doing because your actions have to
be small. When you were roughing you could easily see the metal move closer
to the surface; but now you might only have to move the metal forty
thousands of an inch or less to reach the true surface. At this stage a
common practice is to use a pick hammer. In my opinion a pick hammer has
many drawbacks: one- you need room to be able to swing it; and generally
the hammer itself might be 6" or more across the head. Two- it is very easy
to over hit with a pick hammer and cause irrepairable damage. Three- more
likely than not you will not be able to strike the low spot, instead you
will hit the high spot worsening the problem. The safest bet is to retire
your pick hammer. This verdict also applies to the bulls-eye gimmick tools
which use a C shaped frame to guide you to the elusive low spot. If you go
down the bulls-eye road you will find your garage populated with many
expensive sizes and versions absolutely needed to remove all those pesky
dents and dings. You will always be one bulls-eye tool short.

What I do at this stage is coat the damaged area entirely with the 1/2"
wide red magic marker ( thats a US trade name for those who might not be
familiar with them- there is no magic, its just a felt ink marker) Next I
draw the fine body file over the area, just lightly skimming the surface,
this will quickly reveal the high and low spots. The object now is to raise
the low spots. You can do this by placing a dolly with a high crown surface
tightly against the low spot. You will only be guessing at this point
unless you have x-ray vision . You find out where you really are with the
dolly by lightly slapping the surface, with the the slapper a few times,
trying deliberately to strike the dollies crown. If you are successful -
and you probably will be, because of the slappers large working surface-
you will hear the ring of the contact of the metals. Slide the slapper to
the side, but leave the dolly where it is. You should be able to see a 1/8"
diameter ( a 1/8" inch affected area will raise quickly with little force ,
the size of the mark made when you slap it determines the speed of the
metal rise. 1/8" is fast 1/2" is slow) clear spot, or slightly less inked,
in a region of the small low spot that you were raising. If you goofed and
hit a high area instead you should be able to see a difference there too.
Whether you were in the right area or not is not important, what is most
important, is establishing where you are and being able to adjust . Watch
the trail marks left in the inked surface and you can steer the dolly, on
the backside, easily to where it is needed. Slap lightly, slowly raising
the low spot. After a few minutes, refile the area and your progress will
become apparent.

You might have to wash off the marker ink ; re-ink, and refile several
times. Each working of the area will reduce the size of the low spots.
Remember that the filing is meant just to scrape off the ink and not to
reduce the thickness of the metal. The force and stroke of the slapper will
be less as you progress. When you have reduced the low areas to less than
1/2" in diameter, and when you rub your hand over the area you still
slightly feel them, you are ready to use the shrinking disc.

The condition of the metal at this point is stressed and springy as a
result of all the trauma inflicted on it. The original damage has been
raised but in the process the metal has been stretched a little. If you
applied bondo at this stage some of the bondo would surround the damaged
area, feathering in the new surface height.

With the marker ink still on, and a wet rag handy, crank up the body
grinder with the shrinking disc and rub the area. You vary the pressure
according to how much you need to shrink. On the first pass I usually apply
light pressure. The metal will quickly begin to rise and expand from the
heat build-up. Remove the disc and wipe the area with a wet rag. With that
operation you have started to shrink, stress relieve and further fine tune
the outline of the low spots. You can now re-mark with ink, file and
further tap out the low spots with the slapper and dolly. Some dents might
require several cycles, but as you hone your technique you should be able
to remove most dents in fewer cycles . At this stage an obvious high spot
might have developed. You can easily remove it by rubbing the shrinking
disc over it; it will heat to a blue condition in seconds, and then cool
with the wet rag. After I'm satisfied that I can no longer effectively
raise any remaining tiny low spots (depressions only a few thousands of an
inch deep). I then install the very dull 120 grit 9" grinding disc and
proceed to work the area with it. The grinding disc will level the area
leaving a almost polished surface, it will heat the area quickly also, so
cool it with a rag after you done grinding. If you have done everything
correctly you should have a very smooth surface , that is stress free and
in no need of bondo.

If you practice these techniques on some old , damaged, and unimportant
sheetmetal parts you will quickly hone your skill.

[glock35ipsc]

Well, I got the old skin off. That took all of just a few minutes! The door had a little dirt inside from sitting outside, but it cleaned up real nice. I ordered some POR-15 this morning to coat the inside with. The skin fits on real good, and is a heavy gauge panel. Removed the Goodmark door and got the old door installed and only had to tweak the lower part toward the front to line up with the rocker panel better. I need to run up to Finishmasters and get the bonding adhesive, then maybe I can get it finished up before we start the cab work.

Thanks a ton for the links sevt_chevelle!! Good stuff!

[67ChevyRedneck]

The frenched antenna looks cool!! I saved the original doors off my 67 for the same reason. They had rot on the bottom, but were straight and solid overall. They need the bottom skin. The goodmark doors fit well, but are fairly flimsy. Compared to stock.

[glock35ipsc]

Yeah, I just didn't like the way they felt either. I shouldn't have much trouble finding a good passenger door around here. Frenched antenna, thanks! I have always wanted to do one of those, and it just seemed like the thing to do once the gas tank was out. Have you got anything fixed on yours yet? Is insurance going to cover anything?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

Yeah, I just didn't like the way they felt either. I shouldn't have much trouble finding a good passenger door around here. Frenched antenna, thanks! I have always wanted to do one of those, and it just seemed like the thing to do once the gas tank was out. Have you got anything fixed on yours yet? Is insurance going to cover anything?

Yup, got the cash today. I'll be getting a new bumper and plate bracket at charlotte tomorrow

[glock35ipsc]

Awesome! I about pooped when I saw your thread, glad the damage was as minimal as it was! Coulda been much worse.

[72CSTC5]

Yeah baby, go go go with the door skin!!!!!!!!