Half door build thread

[rwright07]

soo i decided that i wanted to make some half doors... with the Miller EconTig that my roommate and picked up a few weeks ago.

I figured it would be a 1st project to develop my tig welding skills. Nothing integral like a cage or anything, the welds just need to hold the skins on... any maybe, hopefully get decent at tig welding by the time things are said and done.

here are some pictures, i didnt think about starting a thread till i had finished the 1st one

 

[colbystephens]

what are you doing for a latch?

 

[rwright07]

stock latch for now, we'll see if it holds up.

otherwise i will probly cut a little more off so that the vertical rod running to the stock latch is exposed above the cut, weld in a plate with a hole for the rod, and put a ball on top like i saw somebody doing.

theres no frame supporting it, 20 gauge sheet all TIG welded. It is still very stiff. I still need to finish one of the slanted parts and then the caps, but i was thinking about holding off on the caps until i determine whether the current latch setup will work.

Rick

 

[dremu]

Hey, that looks familiar ... except your welds look more like welds and less like boogers. (Actually I think mine looked more like phlegm )

I notched a hole in the back, and bent up the original door handle rod as a pull for the latch. It's just inside the back of the door, so it's easy to get to, but out of harm's way. Pix to follow.

-- A

 

[dremu]

Driver's side latch with door closed (circled is the latch pull)

And the passenger side with door open

The giant square hole at the bottom is from my first attempt at a latch, which consisted of a bolt through the door into the old latch threads. Opening the door required skinning my knuckles on that metal while using a ratchet to undo the bolt and drop it into the door The pull latch is obviously simpler, and would only require the vertical slot part

-- A

 

[rwright07]

cool ideas. I will hopefully get mine finished up today and put up some more pictures.

i am going to leave the stock handle (well 1/3 of it with the button) for now and see how it works

kinda wishing i had gone lower with the cuts... i only took it to the body line/ arm rest height... It is still easy to climb in/out w/out opening them but i duno

if i were to do it again, i would likely take it 5 or 6" lower

 

[chevyuser74]

i might have to make some now.

 

[StevoandaRedK5]

i might have to make some now.

i have a set cut, but since i don't own a welder and have more pressing things to work on, they haven't been finished... pics in my build thread if you want to look, i plan on using the stock latch

 

[chevyuser74]

i began to make some a couple years ago, i cut them up, but time went by and they ended up in the scrap pile

 

[rwright07]

i have a set cut, but since i don't own a welder and have more pressing things to work on, they haven't been finished... pics in my build thread if you want to look, i plan on using the stock latch

yea i have had this set ready to go for a while. i had tried a little bit with our flux core machine, but it just blew holes... new story tho when we got this Miller TIG machine.

gotta do it tho

 

[rwright07]

allright, i got the welding done... just need paint now.

how do you guys think i ought to paint these? if i painted them red to match, would the skins get too hot in the sun?

 

[colbystephens]

paint them to match! no matter what color you do, it's going to be an arm burner.

 

[rwright07]

ok here are some photos of the finished and installed product:

 

[rwright07]

the white needs another coat, i didnt let it set up long enough before taping it off to paint the red, as i had to book it to class

other than that i feel they worked out rather well.

 

[StevoandaRedK5]

looks clean bro! now that it's warming up i need to get mine finished...

 

[colbystephens]

time to go get those doors messed up so the paint matches!

 

[chulisohombre]

looks good.i need to make some for my first gen blazer.

 

[cuervo]

Don't over look one of the best ways to learn Tig welding is just making passes on flat stock. Don't try to join stuff together at first. Learn heat management, puddle control, and dipping your filler rod in and out. Once you can make a bead on flat stock then start on joining stuff together.

And as everything, pratice your craft often.

BTW, the doors look nice.