1960 Pacer Entry Door

[gduff]

A few battle scars but she is in pretty decent shape for a 51 year old trailer (I was born the same year as the trailer was made, does that make me vintage?) It will take some time to get the trailer in usable condition, but I think it will be worth it. The first thing that needs to be fixed is the entry door. The previous owner screwed the smaller door to the larger door at some point. The bigger problem is the hinges are bent and the bottom hinge is pulling away from the trialer. At some point, metal screws were installed in the hinges. There has also been some attempt to put weather stripping in the door and that may have caused some of the problems. Any suggestions?

[silverleeper]

You can try to straighten them but if that doesn't work try here. Airstream Door Hinges

I drilled out the pop rivets in my 60 and put in Olympics 3/16" Olympic Shaveable Rivets. If the screw holes are not too big this might work for you.

I did use solid rivets in the spots where Olympics would not work.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

You have an awesome little trailer there. Congrates
Those screws are not going to hold it. I recommend you start fresh. The door is nothing to cut corners on. To do it right, you will need to get inside the wall. The screws have probably created a hole too large for rivets of original size and a back up plate will probably be needed between the hinge and skin.

[silverleeper]

Frank is probably right about the backing plates...It's allways the little projects that turn into a major job.

Here is a pick of my pop rivet fix. On the left side on the second set of double rivets I used solid rivets with a rivet squeezer. I had thought that a previous owner put the pop rivets in the hinge but it may have been factory from the looks of yours.

[gduff]

Thanks Leee and Frank. Would you remove the interior wall and put a patch on the inside? Seems that if the patch was on the outside, it would be too think and throw the hinge off. I will try to order new hinges since the current hinges are bent and I believe both of you are correct in that you can't cut corners on the door. I think part of the problem is that rather than fixing the doors, the previous owner just tried to add more weather stripping and that threw things off. Do either of you know what type of weather stripping should be used?

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Inside the wall is a plate or an aluminum channel that the rivets go into. Occasionally that plate is not there. I would get inside the wall so that you can buck these correctly. The patch in between the skin can be .032 aluminum and that nominal thickness will not throw the hinge off.

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by silverleeper

I had thought that a previous owner put the pop rivets in the hinge but it may have been factory from the looks of yours.

Yeah, I thought it was just for us low-cost model Pacer owners that we got pop rivets on the hinges, but its "good" to hear that I'm not alone.

On another note, I am rebuilding the door on a model one year older since the PO put some pretty bad scratches in it and then did some pretty bad Bondo repairs. However, the only reason I haven't started (aside from the endless list of other things to fix) is trying to find a cheap bead roller for that outside 3/16" bead imprint on the edge of the door and door within a door. Anyone here know of a way to do it by hand instead of buying the $150 machine that I'll use once every 10 years?
EDIT: Nevermind on this portion, unless anyone has any other comments aside from the ones I just found here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f381...lip-29238.html

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by worldinchaos

Yeah, I thought it was just for us low-cost model Pacer owners that we got pop rivets on the hinges, but its "good" to hear that I'm not alone.

On another note, I am rebuilding the door on a model one year older since the PO put some pretty bad scratches in it and then did some pretty bad Bondo repairs. However, the only reason I haven't started (aside from the endless list of other things to fix) is trying to find a cheap bead roller for that outside 3/16" bead imprint on the edge of the door and door within a door. Anyone here know of a way to do it by hand instead of buying the $150 machine that I'll use once every 10 years?
EDIT: Nevermind on this portion, unless anyone has any other comments aside from the ones I just found here: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f381...lip-29238.html

This is the perfect tool for the door edge. I have one and used it for that job. EDGE ROLLING TOOL from Aircraft Spruce

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

This is the perfect tool for the door edge. I have one and used it for that job. EDGE ROLLING TOOL from Aircraft Spruce

Perfect!! Now it's time to order this tool and some more aluminum then. Did you use 2024 T3 .032?

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by worldinchaos

Perfect!! Now it's time to order this tool and some more aluminum then. Did you use 2024 T3 .032?

It works on that and most grades of aluminum.

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

It works on that and most grades of aluminum.

I was just making sure that's what you actually rebuilt the door with. It seems to be the thickness of choice for most above-the-bellypan applications, but the stuff currently on my door is definitely much thinner.

[the544man]

You can buy new hinges and door seal from vintage trailer supply. A lot of coin but steve offers good advice and service. I also found a brand new bargman lock cylinder from Fletcher trailers too Good luck and buy nice not twice! Take your time on it. Cheers. Ted

[Shacksman]

Originally Posted by worldinchaos

I was just making sure that's what you actually rebuilt the door with. It seems to be the thickness of choice for most above-the-bellypan applications, but the stuff currently on my door is definitely much thinner.

I did use 2024T3 .032 to repair the door on my 63 Bambi. It was used on most of the older trailers.

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

I did use 2024T3 .032 to repair the door on my 63 Bambi. It was used on most of the older trailers.

Maybe mine is the cheap door only used on the small "economical" Pacers.

I'll do the reskin with .032. Thanks everyone!

[dejahardy13]

Originally Posted by Shacksman

This is the perfect tool for the door edge. I have one and used it for that job. EDGE ROLLING TOOL from Aircraft Spruce

I looked at the link. I'm a real newbie with few skills in this department. I don't have a clue how this tool could be used to get the door back into shape.

How does it work? What do you need to have to use it?

Thanks!

deb

[worldinchaos]

Originally Posted by dejahardy13

I looked at the link. I'm a real newbie with few skills in this department. I don't have a clue how this tool could be used to get the door back into shape.

How does it work? What do you need to have to use it?

Thanks!

deb

I ended up deciding to just live with the door the way it is for now, since that is an awful lot of an aluminum for a purely cosmetic repair, which I can do at any point in the future. However, I will probably still buy the roller for the door within a door which should technically have the rolled edge, although it is not as obvious. My thread in my signature shows what I've done so far, which is essentially just to flatten the metal and repair. Everything still seems in alignment.

As for the roller itself, I'm pretty sure you can just hold it perpendicular to the metal sheet and roll it around to maintain a consistent indentation in the edge.