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Body Modifications, Part 4
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Door Modifications
One thing you will find on most of the fat fendered style cars is that the lower front corner of the doors will not clear the front fenders after installing hidden hinges. This is due to the new pivot centerline of the hinges. To remedy this, Mark decided to radius the corner of the door. After some trial cutting and checking clearance with the fender,the final shape of the radius was made using several French curves. The outer door skin was then trimmed to match, also shown is a pattern of the filler piece for the body. The inner door structure was also radiused with enough setback from the edge to allow for weather stripping. A filler piece of sheet metal was then welded to the door to close out the door structure.
Adding the filler section to the body also provided an opportunity to improve on the original door sealing design. Mark elected to add a new lower door sill to provide one complete perimeter-sealing surface for the door. A piece of ½" square tubing cut to fit the door opening provides support for the sill and the lower outer sealing surface.
Using a set of shrinker / stretcher dies, some right angle sheet metal pieces were curved to form the door edge. Another larger right angle piece was curved to form the new sill. All the parts were tacked into position and gaps and clearances checked before final welding.
After grinding all the welds smooth a coat of primer was applied, followed by a fillet of seam sealer, followed by another primer coat.
Hood prop installation:
Displaying the coupe with the hood open prompted Mark to use one of Lokar’s Universal Prop Rod assemblies. They are available in either a 3 or 6 position style. Mark added a rod end to the prop rod housing to accommodate the tapered shape of the coupes hood.
The supplied bracket was welded to the lip on the hood or it can be bolted on with the supplied hardware.
The finished installation now allows for the hood to be held open for both service and display at shows.
Copyright © 1999-2004 Bob Shetrone