I cringe every time I post what I am doing on here. Compared to the work you guys do it is daunting to put my stuff up. Still I have always gotten great suggestions from you all so here goes. I have been wrestling with the door openers for quite a while. My issue is when I got the door aligned then the least bind in the latch mechanism would also cause a bind when you tried to used the door pulls. The old school half moons looked great but I went ahead and searched around as best as I could to find a solution for me. I found these ratty handles at the hardware store. I figures heck they are threaded and if they work I can get a machine shop to make be a better set, or do it myself., Anyhow I installed the first one on the driver's side. I have used it for about 8 months. The door stays solid. It is aligned and pressure to pop the door is negligible. I think extending the leverage on the little tab at the top of the latch has made a good difference. Today I put on the passenger side and the door just works better now. I have a lot of fitment let on the passenger side, probably going to take some carbon fiber and fiberglass molding as the door skin seems warped. But the handles and latches work. IMG_0869.jpg
Big problem is the mess I made of the panels that came with the kit. Whenever I try to tighten the panels down they interfere with the latches so I just cut everything away so that nothing contacted the latch or handles. Door is amazingly smooth on bot5h side. So I figured I would make a panel to cover the door panel up front. I am thinking carbon fiber though I might well go to aluminum. So I cut out a template IMG_0856.jpgIMG_0857.jpgIMG_0858.jpg
I used an old piece of styrofoam to transfer the shape of the template to. Then cut it out with a hot-knife. Once cut I sanded the e3dges and measured the handle travel access. One of the problems is to put the handle on before or after the panel. Ion the end the handles will protrude through the paned enough I can get a wrench on them and tighten them down .IMG_0860.jpgIMG_0861.jpgIMG_0862.jpgIMG_0864.jpgIMG_0866.jpg
I think I can make a plate to dress this up and I will do some handles out of billet aluminum. Worse case I will either remake the whole panel or buy two more from FFR
LoL do they make pleated Giraffe Hide? Where can I get some. Being in Texas I was going to trim it with Jalapeņo Christmas lights, flashing of course, along with fringe lace and Gothic Printing
So as the saga continues, I was looking for my carbon fiber and found some really nice sheets of abs plastic. I went ahead and cut a blank out of a sheet. I figure I can use this for the carbon fiber bag process.
Still leaves me with the dilenmna on the transition between the traditional panel and the new plate, I figure I will turn an edge on the carbon fiber perimeter that literally fits over the existing panel and the only thing I have to resolve is the strip down the middle of the panel
Welp, any of you guys that are astute and know composites probably got a chuckle out of the absence of the release film in the bag. At least I now know how to do the bagging and I understand the importance of the release film. So for round two I decided to just do both and to carbon fiber skin ABS Plastic cut pieces.I also am using much tighter grained carbon fiber fabric and changed to slow drying harder. My original intention was to build the part like Micarta is built, put it in a mold and then put pressure on it. This time however I tried a different approach. I cut the parts out in ABS plastic then cut a dry layer of fabric to go over the Plastic. I Sprayed some adhesive on the surface of the plastic and smoothed the Carbon fiber cloth over it, then wrapped the edges and glued the cloth to the back. I covered the back in tape so it would completely cover the back and the plastic right up to the edge. That way when I applied the Resin I could go bought to the outer edge of the bottom without getting the resin on the backside of the part.
I found out quickly I didn't know much about air bubbles, I am still learning on that. I did however manage to get a good thick initial coat on the parts. I had intended to use wax paper in lieu of film to lay on the top of the part and roll it. I didn't and would up with a couple of bubbles I will have to repair as I go on. Anyhow, got the resin on and dry I presume the textured output was due to either bubbles or too much adhesive. I waited several hours until the resin was set but tacky, then put a second coat of resin on it. This time I used a hair dryer to keep bubbles out of the finish. Once the second coat had cleared I pulled the tape and trimmed the back edges of the parts. I have also sanded the face of the part to smooth out the low areas. I will go with another couple of coats of resin to build it smooth then polish it off.
So, narrowing it down I am finding my talents most suited towards a good 2-3 coat epoxy finish, sanded, with 2-3 clear coats. Over time I may learn to do it better but I am pretty stoked with the results.
Door latches are really quite simple. Most latches only require a very small movement of a lever arm to unlatch. I used Watson's neat knobs that can be placed anywhere, since they have a cable to pull on the latch arm.
With suicide doors, safety pins are a must, IMO. I've suffered from a door blown open at speed and it's not pretty. Even with safety pins you have to remember to engage them!
There are some poorly made latches being sold and I think that AutoLoc is one of them. I like their electric operators, but I found that the latches required far too much cable pulling force to open and they were also prone to opening on their own. I switched to latches made by Tri Mark. A light pull on the neat knob opens the door and they seem to latch more easily.
Thanks Dave, I have already ruined my door panels so I am at a point of trying to just get something that works and doesn't look hideous. I have tried bear claw latches from three different vendors, I also have two sets of electric door poppers, nearly $600 worth of stuff in that alone. I also have the cable pulled oval door interior handles that I think came with the original kit. The issue I have found is any remote cable pulls and many inferior latch kits will be prone to allowing you to bind the pivot arm, increasing the wear and pressure on the latch and the surrounding door trim. I suppose the best approach would have been just to give someone that has a lot of experience a couple of grand to mount and straighten the doors. My current solution is not much different from what you are recommending just no remote location. My 5 year old grandson can open the door with one finger and the latches engage fully when closing them. I like the billet handles in the lever release kit. Fact is if you look at the installation instructions that is pretty much what I had to come to grips with to solve my problem. I might buy the kits just to get the billet knobs and supporting nuts and bolts.
I don't have near the talent most of you guys have but I am having a ball learning things like laying carbon fiber and working with fiberglass. When I finish this setup the carbon fiber panels on the latch mechanism will match up nicely with the kicker panels from Mike which I have also skinned in Carbon Fiber. Point well taken on the safety pins.
The door latch setup on the '33 is goofy, IMO. I've never seen any hot rod body that doesn't have the latch mounted inside the door, so all of the mechanics are out of site. That does require a fair amount of inner width, but to me, the exposed latches are not attractive. I have seen cars with latches mounted in the kick panel area, with the strike bolt in the door. That setup makes an electric operator a must, since the manual latch knob might be very inconvenient to operate.
This is a trimark large bear claw latch with an autoloc operator bolted to it with two 10-32 screws. I added an additional arm for the manual latch cable. It barely fits inside this door that I'm working on, for a friend. These doors came with no provisions for operable windows.
I chose to use .050 aluminum to cover my doors, side panels and back panels. This pic shows the neat knob and my home made grab handle.
Love that car Dave. Really like the pedal room and the console work you have done. The doors look clean. I am looking at a shroud for the latch area, which is why I am screwing around with the CF in the first place. Starting to mock fit my panels now. Wish I had a friend who could set up my doors and windows.
Got the kick plates another step closer. This isn't the final product but sort of the last stage prototype, explaining the additional holes etc. Once I get everything fitted and installed I will make e end pieces. One of the issiues I ran into is that with the kick panels installed, there is a gap between the bottom of the panel and the edge of the body fiberglass at the front part of the sill where the curve is. I am going to make a two part insert that can cover that and work the transition.
Got a better set of handles and fabricated a more efficient way to mount them. Still need to shorten the support rod to move the handle in. Once I get everything aligned and tight I will remake the Door panel piece.
I am looking for suggestions on for different seating, I live in Wyoming and it is 2 hrs to the next sizable town so I need some comfort for those long trips. Recommendations, tips and tricks for seats and harnesses would greatly be appreciated.
The seats and belts in the above pictures look like they would be better than the race seats I have.
Thanks
Originally Posted by DaveS53
The door latch setup on the '33 is goofy, IMO. I've never seen any hot rod body that doesn't have the latch mounted inside the door, so all of the mechanics are out of site. That does require a fair amount of inner width, but to me, the exposed latches are not attractive. I have seen cars with latches mounted in the kick panel area, with the strike bolt in the door. That setup makes an electric operator a must, since the manual latch knob might be very inconvenient to operate.
This is a trimark large bear claw latch with an autoloc operator bolted to it with two 10-32 screws. I added an additional arm for the manual latch cable. It barely fits inside this door that I'm working on, for a friend. These doors came with no provisions for operable windows.
I chose to use .050 aluminum to cover my doors, side panels and back panels. This pic shows the neat knob and my home made grab handle.
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Originally Posted by DaveS53
