Advice on 2nd hand Panels

[Kirbs707]

Hello all,

I'm after some advice on second hand panels as i'm new to this, i have found some decent, solid and straight 2nd hand doors from a 1977 1500 dolomite, my question is will they fit a 1975 1850hl? Will the lines match up etc i guess with a little fine tuning, i don't know if there were subtle changes to body shape during 75/77 which means panels wont fit at all and if this is the case i will be better off putting the money towards repair rather than donor panels.

Ultimately are panels interchangeable between models/years of this era?

Thanks

Ian

[tinweevil]

In theory all panels are interchangeable. The reality is that Triumph used the same press tools right through the production life of the cars and there was wear resulting in panels changing shape slightly. One of the most noticeable spots for this is the A pillar at the door aperture where there is a series of 90 degree folds. On an early shell these are tighter and more square, later cars they are more relaxed & curved.

Then there's the deliberate differences like under rider holes in the early front panels but that's cosmetic really, the panels are still interchangeable. Extra trim holes came and went.

77 door on a 75 shell - you'll be fine, they will fit as well as triumph doors ever do. If you had a 1970 1500 with rotten doors and were wondering whether to save them at huge effort or swap them for doors off a 1980 car I'd say do the work, save the doors if you possibly can.

You seem to be saying the original doors are savable, would you be more satisfied with it's original doors repaired? Parts for these cars are a finite resource, if they can be saved I encourage it.

[Carledo]

The 4 doors on my Sprint (none of them original to the car) came from at least 2 different cars, 2 were originally blue and 2 yellow, then all were painted Pimento and used on yet another car, before coming into my hands as a job lot to be fitted to my Dolomega Sprint project. only 1 of them, the N/S/R, needed more than normal hinge bolt adjustment to make them fit my particular car to an acceptable standard. The last one needed the top hinge "adjusting" slightly with a block of wood and a lump hammer to get the bodyline spot on, no big deal!

As others will tell you, Dolomite door fit was hit and miss at best, particularly where the rear doors meet the wheelarch, where variable gaps are far more likely than an even one and a good fit is often hard to achieve, let alone perfection! Most folk let it go at matching swage lines, no interference and a door that opens and closes without force. There is a production line picture around that shows this perfectly, the o/s/r gap at the arch would make me ashamed if i'd left it on a customer car!

As with anything to do with old cars, these parts ARE getting scarcer as time goes by, i'm salvaging and repairing doors i'd have binned without a second thought 10 years ago. But for folk without the skills to repair them, there is still a pool of used doors around, the hardest one to get seems to be the o/s/r which unaccountably seems to rot more quickly and comprensively than any of the others.

For me, the break point is the state of the inner door shell, the skin can be replaced (NOS skins are still around, though not cheap and the club can supply a lower skin repair section) A bit of repair to the lower corners is OK with me, but if the rot has spread into the complex curved sections of the lower shell corners, i'll look for a better starting point.

But my viewpoint is coloured by the fact that I do this professionally, time is money to me, I can't AFFORD to spend a dozen hours, even at my relatively low hourly rate, salvaging a dubious door when I can buy a much better used one for around £50.

If you DO go down the second hand route, it may be worth offering your old doors free to collector, someone might see some good in them, even if your own circumstances make replacement more practical.

Steve

[Kirbs707]

Hi Tinweevil and Steve - thanks for your replies, really useful and food for further thought. In an ideal world i want to keep it original however definitely need a new o/s/r skin as its had a bash, the others have rot on the bottom of the inner door shell which would need cutting out and is above my skill level as cant weld so would have to pay someone. I then was surprised to find better condition doors for around £50 mark which seemed to save time and money but wont be original to the car.....and i guess there lay the age old question of what to compromise on when restoring a car, originality v cost/time? I take on board your comments and will ponder on this for awhile.

The bash in the boot lid has actually torn the metal so bought replacement from ebay for £40, as for the front n/s wing i shall welcome our opinions if could be repaired rather than replaced?

[Carledo]

Unless you are doing a nut and bolt concours restoration of a low number Sprint, the originality of the doors won't be an issue for anyone and won't upset the value. Same with the bootlid. If the O/S/R door shell is intact and solid, it's probably best to reskin that one, it's shell rot that makes them scarce, the others i'd replace without qualm.

Regarding the wing, it looks fairly solid and eminently repairable, though a dozer or portapower might be needed to do it justice. This is because of the relative rarity (and consequently higher price) of steel front wings. You would be looking at at least £100 for a usable used front wing and £300+ for a NOS steel one (when you find one). This makes the repair of the existing one a more practical proposition. Alternatively the club do a very good quality GRP replica wing for around £150. I've used them and can attest to the quality, once painted, you'd have to rap it with your knuckles to know it's GRP. But of course, it's nowhere near original once you go that route, most of my cars are so highly modified that originality went out the window long since. Others are more picky and that's fine!

Steve

[ragtop]

I would say the wing is repairable, yes it needs a porta power ram to push it out but it it would be easyer than fitting another wing. Do you need a centre bumper i have one here. ?

[cleverusername]

As with anything to do with old cars, these parts ARE getting scarcer as time goes by, i'm salvaging and repairing doors i'd have binned without a second thought 10 years ago. But for folk without the skills to repair them, there is still a pool of used doors around, the hardest one to get seems to be the o/s/r which unaccountably seems to rot more quickly and comprensively than any of the others.

For me, the break point is the state of the inner door shell, the skin can be replaced (NOS skins are still around, though not cheap and the club can supply a lower skin repair section) A bit of repair to the lower corners is OK with me, but if the rot has spread into the complex curved sections of the lower shell corners, i'll look for a better starting point.

But my viewpoint is coloured by the fact that I do this professionally, time is money to me, I can't AFFORD to spend a dozen hours, even at my relatively low hourly rate, salvaging a dubious door when I can buy a much better used one for around £50.

If you DO go down the second hand route, it may be worth offering your old doors free to collector, someone might see some good in them, even if your own circumstances make replacement more practical.

Steve

I have repaired my drivers side front door when half of the bottom of the shell had rotted away. This was made possible by someone on ebay selling sections of a door shell on ebay. It wasn't too hard once I got everything lined up but you're right, I wouldn't like to try and make a repair panel from scratch.

[cleverusername]

I would say the wing is repairable, yes it needs a porta power ram to push it out but it it would be easyer than fitting another wing. Do you need a centre bumper i have one here. ?

The thing that concerns me a little about that wing is it looks like it has filler under the paint, judging by the way it has cracked. i wonder how good the metal would be underneath?

[Kirbs707]

Thanks for your replies, ive bought a boot lid and two rear doors from ebay, hopefully collect from the understanding seller when and if we come out of lockdown ! I shall inspect the wing closer and see if we can repair as would prefer to keep rather than go down the fiberglass route.