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gas doors / hammerforming/ and a gas door question

3K views 18 replies 7 participants last post by  tech69 
#1 ·
so I'm doing a 1955 300 and I was doing mud for about a week straight, and I always lose my mind when I do it for too many days in a row, so on Friday I just knocked out a door in the morning and decided to mess with this gas door.


The customer wanted this but there's no lump in the door on the car, and he couldn't find another gas door.



I thought this would be a great idea to try hammer forming. I've always heard about it but never saw a situation arise where I determined it needed. So I lined it up on the car and marked it where I thought it should be. I also measured the height of the lump on a gas door in the parking lot. It was 1/2"



clamped and ready to rock!





so basically I just hammered into the void with the pick end of my hammer and loaded the pick with so much tape it never broke thru. Turned out great!




now the other problem...no matter how I adjust it, spoon it, etc, the thing opens too much. It will scratch the paint and rest right on the gas door opening. I'd rather not cut a slice into the opening cause it opens so far that the gap would be ridiculous just to make it work. So I'm thinking maybe if I hammer down the metal curled around the pin where it pivots maybe it would tighten it up? Or perhaps even a little chain to stop it before it hits. Any suggestions? I should have taken a pic of the backside, my apologies.
 
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#3 ·
never thought of that. Wouldn't that also make it sink in that same amount when it's closed? Or at least in the rear where there's no rubber stop.
Kind of scared to try to be honest but it does sound promising. Now that you got my mind thinking like that, I think the darn thing on the bench was able to open all the way physically possible. So not sure if that would work.
 
#5 ·
I think I might try your idea of shortening the hinge, but first I'm gonna take it back off to check the amount of travel. I can always adjust it and spoon it around after if it doesn't fit the best after doing that. the main issue is the back hitting. will probably cut it and just overlap it with two tacks to mock it up and while on the car, then take it off, scribe, cut and final weld. Not so intimidating once I thought about it for a sec. Thanks for the response.
 
#7 ·
yeah I know but I'm not worried about that for mock up. Just to see that it obviously clears, which I guess could effect that too, but there's a lot of wiggle room where it mounts and they can easily be moved around with a spoon by dare I say bending the hinge a little? But the final weld will be an open butt weld. That's just an idea so I can quickly check out the fit and start over if need be while it's on the car/
 
#8 ·
I don't understand where it is hitting, you mean down in the bottom of the hole when it opens the leading edge of the door is hitting in the bottom of the recessed area of the quarter? If that is the case you need to move the pivot point nearer the edge so it swings out more like a gate, if the hinge pivot point is back away from the edge the front swings in like a door the car swing in the front edge. So moving the pivot point forward is what it sounds like you need.

And that pivot point needs to be as close to the skin of the lid as possible. The further away from the skin the more the lid will move forward before going in at the front needing a wider gap.

Is that where you are, am I understanding this?

Brian
 
#19 · (Edited)
yep! I took it off and looked at it closely. The hinged got pulled back(towards front of car) as well as pulling the pivot point away from the skin. Both those together were causing it to hit.

So I first straightened the hinge arms. This would have brought out the gas door and back a tad. You can see where one arm was bent so bad it cracked paint.



Then I dealt with this side of the hinge to push the pivot point tight against the skin and forward. So after straightening the first hinge it would have brought the gas door to far out, but after moving the pivot point forward and closer to the skin it brought it back in and more level with the surface around the gas door opening, thus undoing the prior damage to the hinges on the gas door



Also had to plug weld to out skin due to broken welds, which also contributed to the gas door hitting.



time to get this done! I could have cut slices on the quarter but would rather fix what's wrong than what's right.





 
#10 ·
it just opens too far. Yeah it does hit at the bottom recessed area/jamb of the opening but I think that's cause it's opening too much and when it hits the recessed area it's at the end of it's travel, right before the door completely rests on the opening edge. (The middle of the door rests right on the edge of the opening). It's pretty much what's stopping it. I'll take some pics of the inside of the door on Monday and work around it so I can get more opinions from you and others.I'll take a pic of it opened too.
 
#11 ·
Sounds like a stop off the hinge going back for the door to hit would do the job, as long as it's opening enough to get the new modern clumsy crap nozzle we have to use here in sunny California.:drunk:

Brian
 
#12 ·
The shape of that door is super unique,and it looks like the geometry just might work.... have you thought of trying a short length hinge set on the diagonal in the bottom right corner, to where it would pull out to the right and down ( small hinge with hoops )? that would look insanely cool ? of course a large one with hoops in the orientation you are in would solve teh hitting problem as it would lift the door out and away. Very easy to make with a chunk of sheet metal and some heavy wire.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Well tec, Its all over now ,and theres no going back....You are now a metal shaper...Figuring this kind of stuff out is one of the reasons its so addicting ....Just one problem....when you said "bend" the hinge...Your new term should be "reshape" the hinge....Bending sounds so.....cavemanish
Judging by the pic it looks like the door is a little to far forward and the gao is a little tight so Imagine your sticking a screwdriver in the gap and twisting it so the gap opens up....which way is the hinge going to bend ...the rest is up to you....:mwink:
 
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