41 Chev pickup build

[chrisnz]

Made these hinges after mocking them up with cardboard to check the swing. It was critical that the door move away from the cowl area when opening. I got some 50mm x 10mm flat, bent a right angle into it and then welded a machined tube onto it. That accepted the 10mm shoulder bolt, which acts as the pin.
The internal housing is 75 x 75 x5mm modified to suit the A pillar. I set all this up on a steel plate at the original hinge centers and then used a long pin to line the two up to stop binding



Then cut the A pillar up to accept the hinges



Made a press die to make the hinge covers.









Permanently welded the housings to the A pillar.

Both sides were done at the same time. With these completed, the doors can be tackled next

[Gojeep]

Nicely done

[chrisnz]

Originally Posted by Gojeep

Nicely done

Thanks Marcus

[chrisnz]

Door fitted with hinge pockets temporarily screwed into place to check swing.



Top hinge support rail with dimple for the electric window setup



Lower hinge support and new door bottom




Electric window motor mounting



Outer hinge pockets





Door braced up, ready to rebuild area to suit late model anti burst locks

[chrisnz]

After completing the door lock area, I turned my attention to the door striker area. While rebuilding that area, I lowered the door frame 2" to allow for my roof chop. I wanted to keep the repairs localized.


Early stages


Completed left and right sides

[dwmh]

Nice work Chris, it's going to be the business. You've obviously planned it all out.

[chrisnz]

Originally Posted by dwmh

Nice work Chris, it's going to be the business. You've obviously planned it all out.

Thanks David. I have got an overall plan. I just need to piece it all together.

[chrisnz]

These bodies originally unbolted through the floor and A pillar. Then there was a cover plate that hid the bolts on the pillar


I deleted the bolts and fitted a new piece in place

[chrisnz]

Made a press die out of 16 x 16mm to make a top hat style extrusion. These top hats go between the floor and rear cab brace. I guess they originally gave the floor some extra strength.





Then we had to make the seatbelt mounting points





Now that the cab is strengthened up I can look at getting the outer doors tidied up.

[chrisnz]

After looking at a heap of roof chops, I thought the best way forward for this cab, was to lower the roof the 2", but rather than split the roof and move the front portion forward, I decided to lift the A pillar up to increase the radius. I wanted the door top to flow nicely. That meant that the A pillar, in relation to the cowl, was laid back more. So to do the door top, the same process was needed



This panel was made in the swager using different radius dies. The larger radii was put in first, dressed up, then the smaller detail line last. This panel was needed to make the contour line meet up with the top portion





To get the opening to flow, I cut a paper pattern of the original glass area, took the 2" chop out, realigned the inner edge of the skin and then transferred that onto an MDF pattern. I used that pattern to rebuild the top door skin to. The glass is having it's frame ditched for a cleaner look. The lower skins will be completed next. These will be made because I am fitting the XJ6 Jaguar exterior door handles, need to delete the original door hinge cutouts and there is rust in the lower skin