Thursday, March 26, 2009

Project Truck Update: Door Salvage

So, now that I've got the door on, I need to fill in the innards. It's a good thing I just mounted the shell first, because with the innards (especially the heavy pieces of glass) the whole door weighs about 90 pounds.

Sat down to start stripping the old door for parts.

Even after a lot of Liquid Nails (smelly, but effective), some of the bolts didn't come loose.

They were clutch-headed bolts. After going to the hardware store looking for something to connect to them (keep in mind, they've barely been used in 20 years), I found something.

Even with the right tool, still no dice. What to do with stuck, stripped bolts? Weld them! That's right, I took a piece of scrap metal and welded it to the bolt head.

Worked like a charm. Those bolts were stuck badly, but were no match to a big hunk of steel welded to the top. I also didn't take the time to cover up, so I ended up welding in shorts and shirt sleeves. I've got a tan above where my gloves were below where my shirt sleeves were (from the UV rays of the welding arc). Of course, who needs protective equipment when you're unfazed by beads of molten metal showering your body!

And here are what the innards look like once you strip them into the door.

One last thing: I got a coat of paint on the passenger's side door.

UPDATE-

Stripped another door. Now I have a nice box o' spare parts for the doors:

2 comments:

Tim said...

Safety, Clay, safety! Who's going to drive that nice truck if you kill yourself in the process of fixing it up?

Peace,

Tim

Clay said...

Bah, safety slows things down.

Besides, now I have a nice tan.