So the relief cuts did allow the lower flange to relax and move around. So much so that I added one more cut to the row to get it to relaz for almost the complete length of the flange
The first attempt to add tacks to start the process of filling the cuts did not go well. While I had achieved the movement I wanted, trying to simply weld everything back together was not lifting the flange up to where it would fall into a straight line.
The cure involved a visit to my buddy's shop to see if he had any square and round bar. Found some 5/8ths square and 3/4 round and proceeded to cut it into the lengths I needed and fabricate an "H" shaped dolly with 7" long legs, one round, one square. By then using a pari of vice grips I could locate it at the point where two of the faces intersected in a bend and "adjust" that bend using a third pair of v-grips with "P" shaped jaws.
Did that for a while until i was more or less happy with how all the cuts lined up and how the lower flange seemed to lie and then reset the bar guide into place to see if the whole thing was actually lined up. Apparently I had managed to get it to play nicely with itself (insert series of sniggers here😏) so I left the guide clamped in place and moved on to other things.
Other consisted of mostly sorting stuff into tote boxes; you know the drill so moving on again.
The current plan is to head back into the shop tomorrow and lay a few tacks here and there to hold things together as they are and then pull the guide to see if it all stays the way it was while clamped. If so then back will go the guide and a few more tacks will get added to the stack; Lather, Rinse, Repeat. For additional kicks there are still few thin spots or blowouts where the old metal couldn't tolerate the addition of heat and wire to them so they need some MIG wire love as well. This might just turn into a prolonged exercise of add some tacks, check the shape, add some tacks, check the shape, add some tacks, check the shape......................................
I will be glad when I can finally clean this thing for the last time, throw a coat of OEM grey at it and then set the new skin in place. The Only reason I am being so picky is that if the inner skin is not right then the outer skin will end up being twisted and warped; I am NOT going to sacrifice a brand new door skin for which I had to wait almost two years to get, just because the inner skin has issues. If I can't get the inner skin as close as possible to correct, I will finish gutting it and turn the corpse into wall art. I have the passenger's side still to go and have a candidate in stock for that if the current door can't be saved/reskinned.
Pictures?? Nope. No way am I allowing the camera anywhere near the shop while i am fighting the good fight with this recalcitrant lump of obstinacy. I don't need it to become collateral damage because it got into harm's way for some reason.
Nick
