Hello All,
It begins !

First step spend 4 years thinking about it.
Then run your doors over the rock enough times that you dont care if you cut them. ( Lower 2 works well for this. )
Find a replacement set from the junk yard just in case.



I made a Mylar template and decided where I wanted to cut and how large to make the hole.



The template has several double dash lines drawn on it, these are body lines and edges. ( Reference )
The cut lines have small holes punched in them, use a sharpie and connect the dots.
This also allows you to transfer your shape from one side to the other, cardboard or 6mil plastic also works.
I cut a 1/2" above the finished line and then flanged the edge to add some strength and make the welding easier.



Trying to weld the edges of 20ga. steel, is a pain, the filler piece sat on top of the flange.



I cut using a cut off wheel in a 4" grinder , 1/4" air grinder and air nibbler.
There is quite a bit of structure across the top of the door and in the mirror area.



Just go slow and nip away with the grinder.
Oh ! Gut the doors of all seals, Glass, door panels etc.



I made a cardboard template, taped it in place and had a friend test it for " hang out "
The template was transfered onto 20ga sheet metal.





On the inside of the door there are 2 big openings for the window regulator to be installed.



Once I cut across the inside there was no structure so I had to add a piece across the rear inside edge.
Then I cut the inside handle area of the original door out.
This was rotated up into the flat and placed where the lock rod wanted it to be.



The lock rods had to have the ends rotated 90 Deg with channel lock.
I welded in the armrest support bracket initial thoughts were to keep the armrests.

Now the fun part, lots of little tack welds, tack move 2" tack move 2" tack move 2" ......... you get the idea.
Wow this is a pain in the rear.
Next grind with 1/4" grinder or 4" flap wheel, go slow it is really easy to blow through the material and welds.









Do not heat the metal up until purple, too hot , the slower you go the less filler you will need later to remove the waves.

The window frame was left to give some structure but mainly to give me a place to attach my window.



Once the rubber was removed there was a U channel that has sharp edges.
I was going to just cut the rubber and reinstall it, then I decided to cap the U channel with metal.
I made a U channel that would go over the existing U channel, 1/4" legs and 1/2" wide.
I drilled holes in the U channel every few inches and this is where I plug welded the channel to the door frame.
Across the top of the window was straight , but the front and rear has a curve, I notched the U channel,
Every few inches and bent it to follow the curves in the front and back.



This is part one, I exceeded the picture total.

See part 2

Added below, link was broken.

Nitro450exp.

 

i'm kinda confused, how do i see the pictures? they don't come up for me. thanks, -Zach

 

Hello,

Fixed settings on the Album, did this fix it ?

Nitro450exp

 

Work fine now!

 

works good now thanks very much!!

 

X2, Thanks for the write-up. Awesome work!!! I guess I have no excuse now, time to make some half doors.

 

looks great!

 

Added it here it, went missing. (Link broken )

This is part 2

Now the door handle.
It is in the stock location, but I cut it off about 1 1/4" from the push button.
This means you have lost the second bolt that holds it on.
I made a little L shaped tab, that is secured under the screw that holds the plunger in the handle.



This is on the back side of the handle on the front edge.
This allows me to tilt the front edge of the handle in and have this tab go behind the sheet metal of the outer skin.

Then just install the bolt on the remaining factory stud and the handle is done.
This is not difficult but it is very fiddly, you are dealing with tight spaces and the rods don't make the hadle very moveable.

Now bondo and paint.
I used very little bondo because I was somewhat patient and slow with my welding and grinding.





This keeps the heat and warping down, but there is bondo around the edge of the opening.
I used flexible sealer, body shop caulk, to seal the edge of the U channel and door frame.
This can just be painted over.



The bottom edges of my doors already had Line-X on them so I only painted inside and up to the edge of the Line-X.
Now the question, why not remove the dents ?
Well they are where the door beam is so no wany to do the body work without removing the beam.
The metal is so streached it will not shrink back.
They are from Tellico Lower # 2, If it remains closed by the Feds, no way to go back and get some more.
Chicks dig dents and scars !

Door panel was made from 1/8" masonite board, grill for the speaker is from the original panel.



I used vinyl and carpet from the local Automotive fabric supply.



I added some extra padding on the top of the door panel to act as an armrest.
The top panel is sewn onto the door panel and acts like a flap, it is held down with Velcro.

The window are BMW convertible top material, It is lined and has a waterfroof membrane, not cheap.



I think it was ~ $ 30 a Yard, window material is also convertible top clear plastic.
I also applied a ribbon called Binding around the edges of the window and openings in the top material.



The top material probably would not fray or unravel because of the membrane but the binding gives it I finished look.
I decided to make the plastic window the full size of the pattern, I aslo decided to put the black top material on both sides.
This makes the windows 3 layers thick and fairly stiff, they pass the 70 mile an hour test.



The window clips around the edge of the door frame using a plastic J clip.



This is also available through specialty automotive trim suppliers.
You just hold the window on the frame pull down while guiding the clip to grab the edge of the frame and then snap the 5 snaps along the bottom edge, this requires alot of stretching in cool weather, I use a vice grip as a handle.



The seperate lower window was in case I had to add a wire or bar to stiffen the window from flapping.
It look like I did not need to do that.
There is a sticky sealer tape that is sewn through, wherever there is sewing this tape is designed to seal the needle holes.
They have proven to be very water resistant, last 2 outing it rained buckets and I stayed pretty dry.






Well I think that is most of it.




Enjoy!

Nitro450exp

 

so sweet nice work

 

This is awesome. Great write up too!

 

I love this write up. I had an idea similar since I didn't want to switch doors every other day if it was rainy. I personally think this should be stickied or submitted as a tutorial. It would also be cool to get some links for providers of the canvas material, j hooks, and other related stuff. I would love to build these one day. or at least build similar ones as best I can. again, fantastic job. this is possibly the most complete half door write up I've ever seen.

 

looks cool, i dig it!

 

Hello,

Thanks for the comments.

Here is the fabric supplier I used, there may be a similar one in your town.

http://www.duboisfabrics.com/

This is where I got the Convertible top material and window material and all the other materials ( Binding , sew sealer tape etc ).


Nitro

 

Personally, I really don't like the half door look. But I do have to admit that yours does look pretty damn good and being on a 2 door is only a plus.
Good Job

 

Awesome job - both the fab and the idea!