1950 Liner "Weeble" - Rebuilt the door-in-a-door from scratch - Part 1
We are splitting this in to two postings due to the number of photos.
In late October 2017, we started work on the door. The original door was resheeted inside and out by Dave before we bought it and he said that it was found in a cow field after cows had walked all over it. The door-in-a-door was not there and once we took the inside sheet off, we realized there was no hope for this door. One frame rail had been spliced in 3 pieces, the other had two door knob holes and all had corrosion.
Original door:
I measured the frame rails and went to a local metal shop and had them bend 6 8' main frames to match the original.
Photo of the new rail against the old:
Next was how to get the curve in these frame rails. We took a 2x6 and drew out the curve of the doorway of the shell. Then using a jig saw, cut out the curve on 2 2x6's and a 1/4" sheet of plywood. Stacked these together to have a snug fit for the frame rail. Then we made a block for the top of the rails using the same stacking but curve it convex and put sides on it to help keep the frame sides straight. Then put the frame raile on the template, heated the sides witha torch and tapped on the block to coax it in to the curved shape.
The 2x6's stack in to a template:
A straight frame sitting on the template:
After heating and curving:
A picture of the block on the frame rail:
with the two side rails curved, we made some "C" channel and angle out of aluminum and made the bottom and top inside frame for the door in a door and reinforcing.
Door frame:
Test fit:
Next, we took the original curved frame that went around the top of the door and cleaned it up. There wasn't much corrosion so we were able to reuse this one piece which was great. we attached is and insulated the sides. We put reinforcing aluminum where the hinges would be going.
Insulation and outside sheeting:
Part 2 coming shortly.
In late October 2017, we started work on the door. The original door was resheeted inside and out by Dave before we bought it and he said that it was found in a cow field after cows had walked all over it. The door-in-a-door was not there and once we took the inside sheet off, we realized there was no hope for this door. One frame rail had been spliced in 3 pieces, the other had two door knob holes and all had corrosion.
Original door:
I measured the frame rails and went to a local metal shop and had them bend 6 8' main frames to match the original.
Photo of the new rail against the old:
Next was how to get the curve in these frame rails. We took a 2x6 and drew out the curve of the doorway of the shell. Then using a jig saw, cut out the curve on 2 2x6's and a 1/4" sheet of plywood. Stacked these together to have a snug fit for the frame rail. Then we made a block for the top of the rails using the same stacking but curve it convex and put sides on it to help keep the frame sides straight. Then put the frame raile on the template, heated the sides witha torch and tapped on the block to coax it in to the curved shape.
The 2x6's stack in to a template:
A straight frame sitting on the template:
After heating and curving:
A picture of the block on the frame rail:
with the two side rails curved, we made some "C" channel and angle out of aluminum and made the bottom and top inside frame for the door in a door and reinforcing.
Door frame:
Test fit:
Next, we took the original curved frame that went around the top of the door and cleaned it up. There wasn't much corrosion so we were able to reuse this one piece which was great. we attached is and insulated the sides. We put reinforcing aluminum where the hinges would be going.
Insulation and outside sheeting:
Part 2 coming shortly.
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