Scout Man's Half Door Project

[scout man]

These are turning into a big project. I kind of knew they would, as I am in no way going with an easy design. My intention is to match the door inserts that came on the SSII scout package.
They look like this:

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So I found a good square picture of them, blew it up, put a grid over it, and transfered it to the door. Mine ended up a 1" to 4.25" scale.
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Started cutting it out...

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[Rob]

Wow, that looks like an ambitious project. Can you buy the inserts, or are you going to fab something up yourself?

[scout man]

I decided to shave the door handles too. I converted the lock button on top to be the door open button. All you have to do is push the button down, and the door will pop open.
I plan to fill in the holes and smooth them out.

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Here is where it sits right now. This is like 1.5 days of work. Granted, there has been a lot of sitting and thinking done on this door, so the other should go much faster. Still a lot of fine detail to pay attention too.

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My one concern right now is that since I have cut so much out of the door, it is very flimsy. I am hoping that once I finish skinning the cut out part that it will be much more rigid again. It will definitely help conciderably, but I am wondering if I need to put some more reinforcement inside the door before I seal it up. I am not even sure how I would reinforce it though.

[scout man]

re-post

[scout man]

Wow, that looks like an ambitious project. Can you buy the inserts, or are you going to fab something up yourself?

I dont actually intend to go any further than the half door itself. I am not going to deal with the inner cloth door at all. I will just leave it open for the summer.

You can actually buy the inserts like what I am making, but they are $495 or so dollars, and they install permanently. I am going for that look, but with actual doors.

[Rob]

Gotcha. Sounds good.

Pete and Sean might have some thoughts on reinforcement.

[Fordguy77]

Looking good steve!

[scout man]

yea, I kind of expect them to chime in here. the problem is the two ends of the door flex independantly right now. once I close up the gap in the middle it will stop the side panels from flexing independently, and will probably work ok, just not sure if it is enough for long term use. The intention is more to step through them anyways, as oposed to opening the door everytime, but I know the fiance will definitely open the passenger door a lot, as she has hard enough time getting in and out as it is. When the door is shut is should be plenty rigid. I am mostly worried about closing the door.

[Roostercruiser]

Sweet Steve a homeade SS door

[Brody]

My one concern right now is that since I have cut so much out of the door, it is very flimsy. I am hoping that once I finish skinning the cut out part that it will be much more rigid again. It will definitely help considerably, but I am wondering if I need to put some more reinforcement inside the door before I seal it up. I am not even sure how I would reinforce it though.

Finishing the radius with metal should help a lot. If it doesn't, consider running a piece of 1" or 3/4" across the top of the opening that you cut. Of course you will lose the ability to simply step in and out, but won't lose the visibility. Something to consider if the doors are going to get opened and closed a lot....

Another thing you may want to try is to take some mild angle and run that all the way across on one or both sides of the lower cut out, doing a few rosette welds to anchor it. The upper part will still be a bit flimsy, but you may also be able to use some of the angle as a stiffener here, too.

Just a couple of random thoughts...

[Brody]

My one concern right now is that since I have cut so much out of the door, it is very flimsy. I am hoping that once I finish skinning the cut out part that it will be much more rigid again. It will definitely help considerably, but I am wondering if I need to put some more reinforcement inside the door before I seal it up. I am not even sure how I would reinforce it though.

Finishing the radius with metal should help a lot. If it doesn't, consider running a piece of 1" or 3/4" across the top of the opening that you cut. Of course you will lose the ability to simply step in and out, but won't lose the visibility. Something to consider if the doors are going to get opened and closed a lot....

Another thing you may want to try is to take some mild angle and run that all the way across on one or both sides of the lower cut out, doing a few rosette welds to anchor it. The upper part will still be a bit flimsy, but you may also be able to use some of the angle as a stiffener here, too.

Just a couple of random thoughts...

[scout man]

thanks pete, thats about where my thoughts are at the moment. I think finishing the radius will go a long ways. If that doesnt cut it then maybe I will weld some angle on the inside (cabin side) of the door, and fix it for the second one.

[Haku]

My thought was that you could maybe figure out a "tube door" with small tubing that fits inside the "half door" part. Make a little latch and such so you can open and close it for getting in and out. Looking good though.

Josh

[scout man]

My thought was that you could maybe figure out a "tube door" with small tubing that fits inside the "half door" part. Make a little latch and such so you can open and close it for getting in and out. Looking good though.

Josh

yea, that crossed my mind at one point... but no. Just not worth it to me to do all that. I think a door within a door would be kind of rediculous anyways.

[Haku]

haha......not as rediculous as if you made a half door for the tube doors that go in your half door. :)

Josh

[scout man]

well, I have the first one skinned 3/4 of the way. I am not looking forward to the other door, as this one is taking forever, and killing my back with all this bending over to work on stuff.

[Mporter]

Looks good. Making me want to get my ass in gear for mine.

[scout man]

still not finished with door one. These are going painfully slow, but I am happy with how they are turning out so far. I would have made it a little further today but I ran out of welding wire, so I called it a day. Door one should be completely finished tomorrow. Then I leave town for 11 days, so maybe when I get back I will be ready to tackle the second one! Here is how it sits right now. It did very much stiffen up when I finished the center radius, so I think they will work just fine without additional reinforcement. Needs grinding and sanding still, and I only removed half the paint so far, and obviously a few holes left to fill.

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[southpaws3]

:thunb:H!LL YEAH!!!

[Roostercruiser]

im gonna do it the old fahion way im two weeks and just take them off like gmlovers blazer.

[scout man]

yea, problem is with scouts, I have heard a lot of people say that once you wheel them without doors you may never get doors back on again. They tend to hinge right at the edges of the door since there is such little metal there. In fact, I already have some cracks there. That and I dont like not having a bit of a lip at the edge of the floorboards... i would lose a lot of stuff I am sure. I tend to drop things.

[southpaws3]

yea, problem is with scouts, I have heard a lot of people say that once you wheel them without doors you may never get doors back on again. They tend to hinge right at the edges of the door since there is such little metal there. In fact, I already have some cracks there. That and I dont like not having a bit of a lip at the edge of the floorboards... i would lose a lot of stuff I am sure. I tend to drop things.

x2 iwould love the doors off but i loose too much sh1t too .... that why i have 4 windows to role down

[Roostercruiser]

I wheeled our scout doorless . Ijust put a piece of 1x6 board and screwed it down. Doors went on fine and closed again.

[Brody]

Those are looking really nice, Steve! Ain't it grand welding all of that thin metal? Hard to do, for sure. Glad to see that they stiffened up. I was hoping that would be the case.

I have to do a complete reset when I take my doors off. One of the first trips I did the first time I had the tube doors on my heap was to make a trip to the grocery store. I put the grocery bags on the floor and seat like I usually do, hiked a turn a little fast, and ended up with my groceries scattered all over the road...with, of course, busted milk containers, busted eggs, etc., etc. You will also find that the rig is now self cleaning, so anything that is paper or trash (or receipts) that isn't anchored down goes out the openings...

[scout man]

Ain't it grand welding all of that thin metal?

Thats a lot of what is killing me on time. Granted, it would probably be easier if I had a better welder, but I have to go in really small spurts so I dont blast through the stuff. And yea, thats a lot of welding. The other thing that is killling me is the angles and stuff on this door. THere is no section of this inner radius that is straight.

[Fordguy77]

Thats a lot of what is killing me on time. Granted, it would probably be easier if I had a better welder, but I have to go in really small spurts so I dont blast through the stuff. And yea, thats a lot of welding. The other thing that is killling me is the angles and stuff on this door. THere is no section of this inner radius that is straight.

Don't you just love the stitch welding process?

[scout man]

Todays progress. More or less done. I obviously still need to fill the holes from the handle and lock, but I didnt really have a good way of doing that today, so I just primed it so it wouldnt rust while I am gone for 2 weeks. I am pretty happy with how this one turned out, since it was my first real body work, and thin metal welding, but the perfectionist with me doesnt like some of the seams and stuff. I may go back and resand/rebondo some of it when I get back.

Experienced fabricators... how would you plug those holes on the outside surfaces? try to cut a piece that fits inside just right and weld then sand it.. or fill it with screen or something and bondo it? These may be a touch out of my welding abilities since it is on a surface that will be painted and have to look nice.
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[1freaky1]

Steve those are looking really good!

[scout man]

Thanks sean!! Any thoughts as to how you would plug those holes one the front?

[Brody]

A couple of choices on the holes, both using the same principle:

You can get a regular cone head wood screw that is really close to fitting the hole with a little standing above the metal (a metal screw will work fine, too, but tend to be harder) and weld it in, then grind it down. You can also get some mild steel rod and hold it in the hole, weld it in place, cut it off, then grind it down.

For another option, you can also just fill weld the hold and grind it down, running the bead in circles around the edges of the hole until you have just a small spot to bump fill.

Any of these will work. The top two are faster and easier, especially if you have trouble welding thin metal. All will require a little bondo to final finish, but I think you would be happy with how little it ends up needing.

[scout man]

Pete, I am actually talking about the hole on the top left of the pic... the one that is about 1.5 x 1 inch triangle shape. The little holes I got. Now that I am thinkng about it more, I think I just need to cut a plug to the right shape and do it right... i think I was just getting lazy yeesterday as this door is taking way too long and i want it to be done.

[scout man]

DONE!! (for now) Still a little bit of detail left, and obviously final painting... but I am going to just run them for now. It is summer after all!
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[Chris]

Looks good Steve, time to try them on the trail now!

[scout man]

Thanks!! I was hoping to have them done for todays run, but i took me most of today still to get them this far. My parents are in town till tuesday or so, then I leave town around friday... so I might be setting up a wednesday run so I can go enjoy them.

[Haku]

Looks great dude. I'm jonesing to wheel, but I think my rig might have to wait till after Wednesday. Hoping to have it done by Monday or Tuesday, but you know how it is with my projects and their deadlines. Looks really good though. I'm definitely gonna be jealous and might have to follow suit here soon.

Josh

[Brody]

Those are looking really, really nice, Steve!

[scout man]

So I opened the drivers side door tonight and the latch broke... which is really frustrating because everything that I fabbed in there I made really certain to make it tough, because I knew I would be sealing the door up for good. Well, what broke seems to have been something stock, that I didnt mess with. I am thinking it might be the spring inside. what sucks is that I now need to cut something open to get in there and fix it. I am sure I will figure something out tho....

[1freaky1]

Yeah you always want to have an access panel on something like that where it has mechanical things inside. Don't you just love how that happens tho after all the hard work. They do look really good Steve.

[scout man]

Yeah you always want to have an access panel on something like that where it has mechanical things inside. Don't you just love how that happens tho after all the hard work. They do look really good Steve.

Thanks!

Yea, I knew I should when I was building it, the problem is there really isnt a good place to do it. The best place to put it for easy access would be inside that inner arc, but would look like crap. And the most hidden logical place would be in the cabin-side of the door just behind the lock... but I happen to know there is a large hunk of steel inside the door that would still be in my way, and would be very challenging to cut out.

I am thinking at this point about cutting the latch mechanism out from the edge of the door, so that it pops out, where it is supposed to fall inside the door to take it out. I dont know if that made sense, but its the best way I know to describe it. Then I would try to set it up so the door latch bolts on from the outside of the door instead of bolting on from the inside of the door... :blah:

[Red Rhino]

Looks great dude. I'm jonesing to wheel, but I think my rig might have to wait till after Wednesday. Hoping to have it done by Monday or Tuesday, but you know how it is with my projects and their deadlines. Looks really good though. I'm definitely gonna be jealous and might have to follow suit here soon.

Josh

Hey whats up? Is the truck almost back together?

Bryan

:hijack:

[Haku]

Gonna start reassembly tomorrow afternoon. Feel free to come by and help if you like, I'm sure Grant and I will still be at it into the evening. Would be cool to have your help since you helped me take it out too.

JH