The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I have ordered a club lower repair panel for the OS rear door. My question is this, is it designed to be folded on like the original or welded?

I understand that the top part will be seem welded, just not sure how to fit the bottom.

It has flanges to the two sides and bottom, so it can be folded as the original skin, but may benefit from a tack or two.

Initially fit it with the door fitted to the car so you get the bottom shut line correct.

The bottom and ends are folded, just like original, to make an original looking "invisible" repair.

At the top edge, its best to cut the panel a little lower and put a "set" or "joddle" into it so the new outer piece fits flush, this helps avoid distortion and reduces filling to a minimum.

Below, a front door that I did recently, the theory is exactly the same though, but in this case, I cut the door lower and put the set (which you can JUST see on the middle pic) in the repair section, so it stiffens that panel (the swage in the door stiffens the original) Then just drill or punch a row of holes in the bottom edge of the door skin where it meets the repair, plug weld through, dress and a skim of filler finishes it off. One more thing, I found it useful to cut a piece of wood to length to space the joint between the skin halves from the door shell, again, this helps avoid distortion in the panel.








There are 2 relatively inexpensive hand tools that are worth buying for doing this job, the first is a combination joddler/hole punch and the second is a door skinner, which is little more than a long handled wide ended pair of pliers with a flat block of some sort of plastic on one face to turn over and crimp the flanges into place, again without distorting the panel. Rather than welding or tacking the skinned panel back to the doorframe, I now use a good bead of Tiger seal to glue it on the flanged bit. I'll take some pix of my tools next time I'm down the shop and post them.

HTH, Steve

This sort of stuff is gold Steve, I was wondering how they should be done, get it in the magazine! I'm going to have to give this a go at some point on the 1850 but I'm too chicken to attempt it myself on the Sprint (there was some bubbling I noticed the other day to my dismay).

Galileo wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 6:51 pm This sort of stuff is gold Steve, I was wondering how they should be done, get it in the magazine! I'm going to have to give this a go at some point on the 1850 but I'm too chicken to attempt it myself on the Sprint (there was some bubbling I noticed the other day to my dismay).

Plus one for that, this sort of information is invaluable, if only there was a Steve Carledo in every area.

Thanks for the info. I have a joggler, hole punch, but it is the cheap machine mart one. I have found it struggles with the thicker club panels (not a complaint, it indicates they are made of quality steel).

Will look into a door skinner, love a new tool to play with.

My door is complicated by the fact the rot has got behind the door skin into the door. My plan was to remove the skin and then use the access to repair the structure before re-skinning.

Unlike the front, the rears already have a joddled top edge.

If you ask me why one does and one doesn't, I won't attempt to explain, just trust me it's best to leave things as they are!!!

xvivalve wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 8:52 pm Unlike the front, the rears already have a joddled top edge.

If you ask me why one does and one doesn't, I won't attempt to explain, just trust me it's best to leave things as they are!!!

That's simple, the front ones fit either side, but the amount that needs relieving from front and rear ends differs from side to side. Doing the relieving and putting the joddle on the fronts would make them handed, thus doubling the production cost!

Steve

new to this wrote: ↑Mon Oct 08, 2018 10:07 pm I have both the jogger and door skining tool, I find it easier to use a hammer and dolly to turn the skin over a bit then use the door skining tool

Dave

Me too, just get it to around 45 degrees with the hammer (I have a proper panel hammer, using it means a dolly is not really needed, but i've had a lot of practice over the years!) then use the skinner, but don't try and do it all at once, go round 2 or 3 times. Patience is key to doing a good job. And remember, the better job you do fitting it, the less time and effort you waste filling it!

Steve