PANEL GAPS How to FIX the RIGHT way, tutorial classic car

[@theodavies8754]

Thanks for sharing your skills and workarounds. I'm just a clockmaker so it's great to see people with a proper job.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

A clockmaker! That's an interesting job, very skilled. I started my career as an engineer, turning, milling, grinding etc. I would imagine the workings of a clock have to be very precise and perhaps small depending on what size clocks you make.

[@sfraser12]

Great video. I've been scratching my head about inner A panels for a while for my pickup. Very little on this that I can find on you tube. This helped.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Hi, yes I'm a professional restorer. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to take on more work at the moment. 6-12 month wait currently.

[@abarth1010]

Really good video, it's good to hear you run through the different options and why you picked the one you did, the logic behind it etc

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thanks for the feedback 👍

[@dirkdutzmann9250]

Whow, impressing again!😮 That was a lot of work for the doors! And I could learn a lot too!🧐 Many thanks for your uploads!🖖

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you, it was much easier from an editing point of view to talk as you go along. Hopefully more details are also captured. This video seems to be doing better so perhaps I'll do them this way from now on. Thanks for the support 👍

[@darrenhearn1365]

Hi Ben, nice job that. Many years ago I removed a door skin from a mk1 mustang, repaired it and 're-fitted it ! Seeing this brings back a lot of memories, thanks.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you. Never worked on a Mustang, are they well built? Don't see many American cars here. I did do some work on a Ford F100 pickup, think it was 1970s. Was nice to work on and pretty cool.

[@darrenhearn1365]

Well I am in the uk, but I've worked on all sorts of things (cars commercials and military!) They are well built, thick metal hence being able to fold a door skin back!

[@jodaddysdodgegarage3533]

Great technique. I have seen others simply grind and tack the door edges to fit. I will use this on my cars!

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thanks, I used to do that but it's not a good way of doing it. Rust in between panel overlaps causes porous welds, heat distortion is much worse and you can't keep a uniform/straight edge very easily. It takes longer to do it the way I demonstrated, the only way to better it is to make a complete new skin. No doubt some people would take the new skin option but that's coach building rather than repair work.

[@shanemcmahon-v9v]

Great video. Very useful. I always wanted a solution to door gaps. Would love to see more auto resto fabrication techniques. Great tips on priming too. Would love to see more on priming and sealing repairs, as its probably more important than the actual repair. Cause whats the piont if its gunna come back anyway. Ive heard in hard to reach places to seal behind a repair they use cavity wax. From what ive seen it does a great job. Im unsure the extent of prep this product needs but im sure its minimal. Once again. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

@shanemcmahon-v9v Exactly right, every overlapped joint needs to be sealed before top coats. What I do is prime with etch or epoxy primer then seal with tiger seal, then top coat. Cavity wax is a must in all areas where paint and sealant cannot be applied and no prep for that is needed. That's the best you can do and will last if done thoroughly. Regarding more videos I've been having a little break but I intend to make more, thanks for the interest.

[@michaelhallas6450]

That is a nice quality repair .

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you 😊

[@davidcooper708]

Great video please keep them coming 👍

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Appreciate that, thank you. Yes more planned. 👍

[@alastairwatson3201]

Very instructive. Thanks.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

You are welcome! 👍

[@TheIronHeadRat]

Thank you for the video 👍

[@bensclassicbodywork]

No problem 👍

[@cherrypicker8897]

Excellent work. Thanks.

[@davidcroft659]

Thanks Ben. Superb content as always. Cheers!

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you 👍

[@ParsimoniusConk]

I've got this job to do, thanks for the info Ben 👍🏻

[@mikedaniels1697]

Yes I like to see more like this video

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thanks for the feedback 👍

[@tires2burn]

I always thought you adjusted the door by lining it up with the solid quarter panel. Thats why the front fenders and core support have shims for adjusting the front door gap.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

That's correct, in this case removing a shim could have helped the situation slightly except there weren't any shims behind the hinges to remove. No adjustment was possible.

[@tires2burn]

@@bensclassicbodywork I didn't say anything about shims on the door hinges. Read again and think about the front of the frame being lower than it should be.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

@@tires2burn oh ok, are you talking about adjusting the height of the A pillar ? This is a Monocoque chassis, no shims to adjust anything like you might have on a vehicle with a separate chassis.

[@tires2burn]

@@bensclassicbodywork Your right. I was thinking frame.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

@@tires2burn It would be the right decision to move the 'A' pillar upwards and shim the top door hinge to bring the door down at the back. That would be the optimum way of fixing the car but as you might well know a very large amount of work. I haven't done much with separate chassis vehicles, most I have are monocoque. I did do a morris minor convertible where I had to move the 'A' pillar up, that was a big job and I didn't get it where I wanted it. Nightmare in the end.

[@Star69ca]

гарна робота і добрий приклад як треба робити. дякую

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you 😊😊👍👍

[@stefanomastropietro9040]

Great video! More please 😊

[@moesizlac2596]

The first thing you said was that ithis car was a couch built hearse. So did the couch biilders mess with the B pillar, or was this just a "built on a Friday" kinda manufacturer problem? So, in either case, would the "correct" thing to do be to re-position the B pillar, but it's just too much of a can of worms?

[@bensclassicbodywork]

@@moesizlac2596 Hi, yes the rear wing is aluminium and part of the coach built modifications. I think it wasn't quite right at the bottom but I also think the front wing should have been a bit higher at the front. The front wing wasn't part of the modifications to become a hearse. Also I'm not sure the sill was right either because of the large gap at the back compared to the front. The problem is of course to modify all three of those things is a lot of work and certainly not cost effective considering the value of the vehicle. The title of the video fixing gaps the right way was referring to removing the door folded edge and making a new folded edge, rather than just cutting the door and welding the edge back up. The 100% right repair method would be to do fix the rear wing, front wing and sill.

[@davidbrown-55]

Very nice. Did you treat the weld from inside the door?

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thanks. Will do, Yes it's important to check there aren't any pin holes in the welds, I do this by shinning a torch from the inside with the workshop lights off. If no pin holes are found then I will try to sand any sharp edges on the inside and paint. Lastly cavity wax the door. Some people apply sealant to the back of the weld instead of checking for pin holes. If there aren't any holes you don't need sealant.

[@lafarms]

Will the window still fit? The original opening was shorter.

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Hi, the window glass from the A60 doors won't fit but we have the glass for the Hearse which is modified glass to fit. Will definitely check that the Hearse window glass fits and operates freely before painting.

[@pid363]

Great work but why not just repair the original door, the new old stock doors never fit well on Farinas. I was told the reason they are surplus doors is because they didnt fit when new they just bolted another door on when on the production line

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Interesting. 👍 The owner bought the new doors thinking that would save time. What he didn't realise is the hearse has a different roof, then the gaps also needed to be modified. He might have been better off fixing the old doors as you suggested but they didn't fit well either.

[@lafarms]

Move to Canada! I have a job for you!

[@bensclassicbodywork]

😍👌 I know you do! Ha

[@quadtraxxx]

Very good Mr Ben! 👍👌😉

[@bensclassicbodywork]

Thank you. 🙂 different video style on this one as I was asked for longer more detailed videos. Will see if people like it or just go to sleep. 😉