VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Wood door framing

I'm rebuilding the entire wood cab and doors on my 31 Chevy truck and am having difficulty with the doors. The sheet metal skin on the door itself is attached primarily with furniture nails except at the hinge post, where the skin appears to be spot welded to the metal frame. Does the skin come off with the metal frame attached or do I need to break the spot welds? I've looked at the books I have available but it's not real clear. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated!

If you can replace the wood without cutting the weld then that would be best. Possibly you could remove the wood without cutting the weld and may have to change the style of joint to reassemble. I believe the factory assembled the wood frame, added the skin and then welded it to the frame.

Steve,

Because most of the connectors were rusted in place, I found it much more convenient to drill out the spot welds on the light gage door frame. The sheet metal door panel slipped right off - the reinstallation should be much easier after reverse engineering the door panel removal! The good news is that the sheet metal is in pretty good condition!

You are very fortunate to have good metal to work with. Were you able to find some u-bolts?

Yes Steve - I believe I did! I'm traveling now but should have a package when I return with the correct U-bolts. The truck is coming together nicely and I'd post a picture or two but I can't reduce the size of my file (Apple format!).