Door Removal Procedure

[rothsean]

Does anyone have a good door removal procedure? I want to replace the weather stripping that is riveted on. I have spent the last 2 hours trying to install the new stripping, but no luck.

[Elvis]

huh ?

take the door out for doing this ???

in a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the hardest job,
drilling out the rivets is maybe a 4-5
and taking off the doors getting them back in is a 8-9 !

how did you try it so far ?

[rothsean]

huh ?

take the door out for doing this ???

in a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 is the hardest job,
drilling out the rivets is maybe a 4-5
and taking off the doors getting them back in is a 8-9 !

how did you try it so far ?



I got the rivets out. I am trying to get the new weather stripping in along with the metal face piece that goes on them. It is a pain, the weather stripping bends and there is no room to get the metal piece in with the door open. I have to close it slightly to get it lined up with all 3 holes ready for the new rivet, then I open the door more and it all changes.

Any ideas?

[thirdmanj]

I got the rivets out. I am trying to get the new weather stripping in along with the metal face piece that goes on them. It is a pain, the weather stripping bends and there is no room to get the metal piece in with the door open. I have to close it slightly to get it lined up with all 3 holes ready for the new rivet, then I open the door more and it all changes.

Any ideas?

What if you just remove the torsion bar? Would that provide enough access then?

[rothsean]

What if you just remove the torsion bar? Would that provide enough access then?

That would help, is that easy?

[thirdmanj]

That would help, is that easy?

The torsion would have to be taken down incrementally, and you'd really need at least two people I'd think. But that combined with the strut removed, should allow you to hyper extend the door enough to access the holes.

[jawn101]

Isn't the "normal" procedure for replacing those strips to use small sheet metal screws instead of rivets anyway?

[dmc6960]

Isn't the "normal" procedure for replacing those strips to use small sheet metal screws instead of rivets anyway?

Depends on the condition after the old rivets were removed. If the door skin got deformed at all pulling an old rivet out instead of being drilled, they may not grip a suitable screw anymore. Plus there are no "drop in" screws which would work here. They would need to be carefully matched up and cut down to nearly nothing.

The simplest solution here given the difficulty stated would be removal of the stainless T-panel. That will provide you ample access to insert the new weatherstripping sufficiently to open the door back up with it mostly in place and get the new rivets started.

[Rich]

The simplest solution here given the difficulty stated would be removal of the stainless T-panel. That will provide you ample access to insert the new weatherstripping sufficiently to open the door back up with it mostly in place and get the new rivets started.

+1 on T-panel removal for this job. No need to move the doors. It will cause more problems than it solves.

A related tip. It will help if you use some 3M 8088 or similar spray contact adhesive to help the seal and the retaining bar stay aligned hole-wise until you get the rivets or screws into place. You can shove them forward together from the rear with the T-panel off.

PS, be absolutely sure that none of your drilling or replacement work touches any part of the torsion bar. Work around it and, better yet, tape it off just to be sure.

[rothsean]

I just bought some short and fat sheet metal screws, they worked great! It will make is easier for changing next time too.

Crisis averted.....

[thirdmanj]

I just bought some short and fat sheet metal screws, they worked great! It will make is easier for changing next time too.

Crisis averted.....

Be sure they're very short. Otherwise you'll end up with little bumps from the screws.

[Ron]

Be sure they're very short. Otherwise you'll end up with little bumps from the screws.
+1.... :rant:PO!

[D Knight]

What size did you get? I've got a few different sizes in stainless and I can't get them to start.

[kings1527]

Be sure they're very short. Otherwise you'll end up with little bumps from the screws.

I personally did this exact job on the restoration of the BTTF "A" car. Here's what works and you have two options:

1) Remove the torsion rod to expose the rivets. This will give you plenty of room to get a rivet gun in there to re-rivet. Drill out the rivets and remove the old weather stripping piece. Your new stripping attaches to the original stainless connector. Re-rivet and you're good. This is what I did on the "A" car since the torsion rods were out at the time. It came out great.

2) Without removing the torsion rod, you can still drill out the rivets but you won't be able to get a rivet gun in there. You'll have to use screws and like thirdmanj and Ron said, be sure they're very short. And they only have to be tight enough to hold. Not super tight at all. You don't want to make it look like the t-top was shot up with a BB gun from the other side. As far as size goes, we had a few sizes there that weren't the right fit but I can't remember the size. You might want to even consider grinding down the tips and make them flat if you go this route. That'll help shorten them, too.

[David T]

Another tip to drill out the rivets. Get a short dowel and drill a hole in it and then slip it over the drill bit with just a very short piece of the drill bit exposed. This way when you drill out the rivets you won't do deeper into the door than you have to and dent the outer skin. Removing the torsion bar is the better way to do it just so you can't damage it but it does add a lot of extra work to the job. Before removing the bar mark it and the anchor with a pencil so you can put it back to the same spline (unless of course it needs to be adjusted). If you choose to not remove the bar, get a piece of hose, split it lengthwise, and slip it over the torsion bar to protect it.
David Teitelbaum

[jawn101]

I personally did this exact job on the restoration of the BTTF "A" car.

A statement only a true badass could make. Carry on...

[kings1527]

A statement only a true badass could make. Carry on...

Haha! It was a lot of labor mixed in with over 28 years of love~! :thumbup:

[mluder]

I've heard that it can be done by just removing the door struts and maybe the t-panel and then hyper extending the door. Leave the torsion bar in place and be careful. David T's advice about the split hose sounds like a good idea.

Cheers
Steven

[MML]

This is something I really need to get done asap, my driver side strip is only being held on by 3 or 4 rivets...

[rothsean]

I used sheet metal screws from my local hardware shop. They are 10x3/8 size. They can go all the way in and not leave a mark, but just to be safe I cut off about 2mm from the tips with my wire splicer, it has the screw cutter holes in it.

I test fitted them measured them against the weather stripping and metal piece thickness. There was only about 2 or 3mm remaining so I figured that is short enough. They look good too.

[Bitsyncmaster]

I think I used #8 machine screws on mine. I seem to remember grinding a tap to put a thread on the existing hole.

[Rich]

2) Without removing the torsion rod, you can still drill out the rivets but you won't be able to get a rivet gun in there....

Perhaps not all rivet gun heads are created equal?

I did both sides of mine with the torsion bars in place. Plenty of room for the rivet gun head to fit without coming close to the torsion bar or anything else. Again, tape or sleeve the torsion bar to temporarily protect it whenever working in that area with tools.

Unrelated to that, yes, pulling the strut out and propping the door a bit higher than normal will make the job a bit easier by improving the angle for drilling and replacement. You will want to drop the door a bit when sliding the strip out and back in so the door wiring boot isn't pinching it. You may also want to drop the door a bit when attaching the strip so the wiring boot isn't fighting you.

[kings1527]

Perhaps not all rivet gun heads are created equal?

I did both sides of mine with the torsion bars in place. Plenty of room for the rivet gun head to fit without coming close to the torsion bar or anything else. Again, tape or sleeve the torsion bar to temporarily protect it whenever working in that area with tools.

Oh, good to know. Where did you get your rivet gun from? Or who makes it? I need to do this on my car now and I'd rather rivet it in.

[Rich]

Oh, good to know. Where did you get your rivet gun from? Or who makes it?

I used this very cheap and almost-disposable tool and I wish I had found a better one.

LINK: http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-riveter-set-38353.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-riveter-set-38353.html)

It didn't grip every rivet shank well every time and sometimes it locked up. But it did the job eventually. And clearance from the torsion bar was not an issue.

[kings1527]

I used this very cheap and almost-disposable tool and I wish I had found a better one.

LINK: http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-riveter-set-38353.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/hand-riveter-set-38353.html)

It didn't grip every rivet shank well every time and sometimes it locked up. But it did the job eventually. And clearance from the torsion bar was not an issue.

That's awesome. I'll pick one of those up for my project, too. I'm glad it'll fit in there without doing anything with the torsion bar. Thanks for sharing!

[jawn101]

That's awesome. I'll pick one of those up for my project, too. I'm glad it'll fit in there without doing anything with the torsion bar. Thanks for sharing!

Another option if you want to have a higher quality tool that will have somewhat more limited applications is one like this for riveting window regulators in place:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049E4VJO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have it. It's very nice. I haven't used it for this job but it definitely seems like it would be up to the task.