Full disclosure, massive update coming. Lots of pictures and a bit of reading to do, so if you don’t have time to read through it all now, you might want to check back another time.
You’ve been warned.
Since drilling the holes for the new mirrors and taking them off and on a couple times, I noticed a disturbing issue when blocking the doors. Despite our careful tightening down each time, the outer sheetmetal skin was showing signs of distorting, as seen here:
This is caused by air gaps somewhere between the outer skin and the inner structure we had assumed was tight against the outer sheetmetal. First mistake. Obviously having this distortion is going to be problematic in keeping the outer sheetmetal straight, so something had to be done.
This isn’t necessarily the right way to do it, just the way I did it. It’s also documentation just as much for me as a record of the steps for doing the driver’s side as it is for you guys for entertainment/informational purposes.
First off, this is the passenger’s side, and this is the area that I have to work in:
Not the easiest place to access as you can imagine, but hey, I enjoy a challenge right?
First order of business was to strip the old paint back, and mark out some cut lines. The area is inaccessible without cutting some access first. This is the least obtrusive.
The first cut was through the first layer of sheetmetal, which is actually the outer skin where it wraps up and over, and then is spot welded to the inner structure.
Here is the first section removed:
Next was to cut away the same section, but this time of the inner structure:
Now we can at least see the area that needs attention. Now I had to remove the contoured area of the inner structure that is causing the issues. This was a very difficult and nerve racking process, you can’t cut too deep or you’ll cut right through the outer skin. Not to mention the extremely poor access. It took a combination of small air powered cutoff wheel and body saw, and a boatload of patience, but I managed to get it done:
Next, I cleaned up the outer skin’s inner surface, we don’t want anything between it and the reinforcement I’m going to be installing.
Now time to make the reinforcement. I took a piece of solid 3/16” stock and cut it an inch wide by a little over 4” long. This will provide plenty of strength to the area, the backside of the mirror, and prevent the sheetmetal from distorting.
I drew a center mark along the length of it, that way when I held it up underneath I could verify it was centered in relation to the holes:
A bit of drill press time and chamfering later, and I had a usable piece.
Here’s the view from the backside:
We’re nowhere near done yet, now the reinforcement needs to be attached to the inner structure. After cutting off the lower piece of the previously removed inner structure, I was able (barely) to tack weld it to the reinforcement while it was in place:
Based on the void, I made a piece to fit…
…then welded it to the pieces and ground the welds flush.
Time for another test fit:
Doesn’t look like much I know, but it’s actually fitting together not too bad at this point. That took care of the bottom, but the same had to be done to the top. The only difference being, this filler piece was welded back to the inner structure rather than the reinforcement piece:
Dayum, that’s UGLY! Best I could do with the restricted access though. I’ll address the ugliness later. At this point, we’re ready to start welding the reinforcement in, so next I treated both sides with a generous application of zinc coating.
Continued >>>
You’ve been warned.
Since drilling the holes for the new mirrors and taking them off and on a couple times, I noticed a disturbing issue when blocking the doors. Despite our careful tightening down each time, the outer sheetmetal skin was showing signs of distorting, as seen here:
This is caused by air gaps somewhere between the outer skin and the inner structure we had assumed was tight against the outer sheetmetal. First mistake. Obviously having this distortion is going to be problematic in keeping the outer sheetmetal straight, so something had to be done.
This isn’t necessarily the right way to do it, just the way I did it. It’s also documentation just as much for me as a record of the steps for doing the driver’s side as it is for you guys for entertainment/informational purposes.
First off, this is the passenger’s side, and this is the area that I have to work in:
Not the easiest place to access as you can imagine, but hey, I enjoy a challenge right?
First order of business was to strip the old paint back, and mark out some cut lines. The area is inaccessible without cutting some access first. This is the least obtrusive.
The first cut was through the first layer of sheetmetal, which is actually the outer skin where it wraps up and over, and then is spot welded to the inner structure.
Here is the first section removed:
Next was to cut away the same section, but this time of the inner structure:
Now we can at least see the area that needs attention. Now I had to remove the contoured area of the inner structure that is causing the issues. This was a very difficult and nerve racking process, you can’t cut too deep or you’ll cut right through the outer skin. Not to mention the extremely poor access. It took a combination of small air powered cutoff wheel and body saw, and a boatload of patience, but I managed to get it done:
Next, I cleaned up the outer skin’s inner surface, we don’t want anything between it and the reinforcement I’m going to be installing.
Now time to make the reinforcement. I took a piece of solid 3/16” stock and cut it an inch wide by a little over 4” long. This will provide plenty of strength to the area, the backside of the mirror, and prevent the sheetmetal from distorting.
I drew a center mark along the length of it, that way when I held it up underneath I could verify it was centered in relation to the holes:
A bit of drill press time and chamfering later, and I had a usable piece.
Here’s the view from the backside:
We’re nowhere near done yet, now the reinforcement needs to be attached to the inner structure. After cutting off the lower piece of the previously removed inner structure, I was able (barely) to tack weld it to the reinforcement while it was in place:
Based on the void, I made a piece to fit…
…then welded it to the pieces and ground the welds flush.
Time for another test fit:
Doesn’t look like much I know, but it’s actually fitting together not too bad at this point. That took care of the bottom, but the same had to be done to the top. The only difference being, this filler piece was welded back to the inner structure rather than the reinforcement piece:
Dayum, that’s UGLY! Best I could do with the restricted access though. I’ll address the ugliness later. At this point, we’re ready to start welding the reinforcement in, so next I treated both sides with a generous application of zinc coating.
Continued >>>
