Over the past few days they have been working on the fit of the driver side door, checking how each panel and part fits next to one another. All the gaps and seams between the panels are uniform and the drivers door now opens and closes smoothly and also sits squarely in the door opening.
In looking at the almost complete door all the seams and gaps are very uniform.
We still have a little metal work to do on the cowl and upper door edge. The area at the top of the cowl where it meets the top of the door is an area that on some roadsters is poorly restored. I’ve seen many where the detail in this area is something to be desired, general all out bad! We hope to do much better. In all fairness this area when built in the factory was shaped and then leaded. Over time it typically fractured and broke down and then was filled with bondo, sanded and painted over.
Again from this angle you can see the small gap in the metal between the top of the door and cowl which will be dealt with shortly. If you look closely at the top of the cowl edge you can see the fracture in the steel which at onetime was repaired with a brass bracing rod. This will be cut out and rebuilt properly.
When we tried to place the top cap in place behind the drivers door the top of the rear quarter panel needed to be slightly modified so the cap fits properly.
The seam along the back edge of the drivers door is very uniform from top to bottom.
At the top of the cowl edge you can see the remnants of a brass bracing rod and a little Bondo from its last reincarnation. This will be cut out and rebuilt properly.
The Cowl A-Pillar wood fits snuggly to the cowl just waiting for the installation of the metal that encases the wood from the top to bottom. I will document the installation of the metal in a future blog.
The door now fits beautifully and latches securly. Ignore the leather door check strap – it’s wrong. It will be removed and I will show you the proper installation of the door check strap in a future blog. I have numerous 34 roadster body reference photos and you can see one sitting on the floor. These photos are absolutely invaluable when restoring a car of this vintage.
The door is looking good except for the diagonal metal strap which is actually upside down and needs to be flipped over to be correctly installed.
The door latch fits absolutely perfectly the only thing missing is the metal that incases the wood from the top to bottom of the cowl A-Pillar.
The folded over metal edge down the B-pillar still needs to have holes drilled down its entire length. Originally this metal was nailed in place and we will again nail it in place.
The top of the door still needs a little metal work to complete.
The inside door edge is almost complete a little more metal work, a few screws in the door latch and we’re done!
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Steve, I’ve talked to you before. I live in Gilmer, Texas, remember? Anyway I am in the middle of replacing my door wood and patching the ugly. My doors did not have the original metal strap that goes on the inside for reinforcement. Do you know if Ed Solari makes these pieces?
Thanks, Billy
Billy I just emailed you a dimensional drawing of the roadster door inner metal brace strap.