Side doors or awnings, you decide…
The next big project was to get the side doors working. There are two of them, hinged at the top, and together they run the entire length of the box on the right side Either one of them probably weighs 150 pounds. They had both seen some abuse of one sort or another. Some previous owner had given up on the rear one and caulked it shut. It was probably a good choice since the large industrial pop rivets that held the hinges on were pulled directly into the FRP, where they split and splintered the wood.
Someone had gotten a little smarter about the front door where the rivets used 1/8” thick aluminum backer plates. The front door however had other problems. Various people had made half baked attempts at door latches, and at some point the door popped open and was dragged across something, probably the side of a building. As a result the door was slightly tweaked, but mostly the heavy duty aluminum outer frame was bent. All of this was minor enough that I didn’t really notice it (much) when I bought the truck, but now it was mine and had to be fixed.
I didn’t even really want side doors. They just came with the truck. The previous owner had suggested that I could turn them into awnings, kind of like industrial strength slides. I was intrigued enough with the idea that it didn’t kill the deal. I was also thinking that I might want to put windows in behind them so I could see out when the awnings were open, but still have a naked box truck when they were closed. I later decided that wasn’t worth the effort, though I could still change my mind. I had to do something with them though, either caulk them shut or turn them into awnings. I started to make awnings, and once I get going I tend to find a way, even long after the whole idea stops making sense, so I made awnings.
The front door had two very powerful gas struts that would open it past 90 degrees. It was great for access, but put a ton of stress on the hinges, and besides, I wanted awnings that sloped out and down, not up. As I reworked the geometry I found that even one gas strut was enough to open the door as far as I needed it to open, which was handy since I had two doors and two struts. Of course that meant the door was supported on only one side, so I made a telescoping prop for the other side from two sizes of EMT (steel electrical conduit tubing). I made a steel spring pin out of piano wire to “catch” the EMT at full extension. The door/awning now opens/closes easily with just one hand.
The front door had a big hole in it from the previous latch handle. Fortunately it turns out you can patch FRP. I routed out the opening to a smooth sort of rounded corner box, and then laid a piece of scrap FRP in behind where I could trace out the opening. I cut it to shape, and then sanded the edges until it was a tight fit all around. I glued it in with CA Cyanoacrylate glue (AKA super glue) but not the cheap department store stuff. I used the good stuff from my local hobby shop. Time will tell whether it seals the edges and protects the FRP from delaminating due to moisture. I used the CA because I knew it would wick into the joint and further into the pores of the plywood on both sides. It’s not invisible or anything but it’s way better than that raggedy hole that was there before.
The frame on the front door was repaired with steel and aluminum brackets and lots of 1/8” stainless steel pop rivets. I also used some epoxy putty to fill in some of the cosmetic divots. I’ve never done any real auto body work but I imagine it is similar. A little white rattle can paint was good enough for this project.
I cut through the caulking that held the back side door and eventually got it open. That led to repairs to the hinges which amounted to carriage bolts and large fender washers replacing the rivets. The door frame hadn’t been damaged so I didn’t need to reinforce it as much, but I did install the gas strut and the telescoping support on the other side.
To be continued…
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