Door removal

[iandromiskin]

This may have been asked before or there may be another thread dedicated to this already ??

My question is - very soon I want to remove the four doors from my car to sand them down for respraying and to change the window runners etc, but how do I do it ? I remember someone on this site mentioned something about a metal plate behind the screws on the A post of door, so I was afraid it just wasn't as simple as undoing four screws ??? So how do I go about removing the doors properly and getting them back on when finished

[alex_holden]

It is simple to remove a door if none of the screws are seized. Just undo the screws that hold on the restraining bar, then support the door on a pile of wood or something (they are surprisingly heavy) while you undo all the hinge screws. If you find any spacers between the hinge and the A post, be careful to keep them with the hinge they came from. The fiddly bit is getting the doors back on in the right place so everything lines up and they shut properly.

[mogbob]

The plate retained in the door post is free to move a little , to allow for adjustment.
If you are very unlucky... the metal " ledge " holding the plate may have rusted through and when you undo the last bolt, the plate will drop inside the post.
Putting some thick wire in the holes when you withdraw each bolt will keep the metal plate in place.Ease the hinge off away from the post and replace a bolt to hold the plate secure.

Bob

[Fingolfin]

We've had an awful time getting my driver's door (er, that's the LHD version) off and back on and then off again -- still haven't put it back on this time. BE CAUTIOUS ABOUT THE IN-POST PLATES -- we don't know if my Mog's plates are loose, and don't want to find out! Be sure to use the wire as Mogbob suggested, or a screwdriver or one of the door bolts or something. You do not want those plates to fall, unless you have a very strong, very small magnet!

It is also astonishingly difficult (in my experience) to get at the bottom hinge. The post-side of the hinge isn't terrible, but the door-side is nigh impossible, even with the sill cover off. Of course, if you had bolts that required less torque than ours -- that is, if your bolts aren't stuck -- it might be possible with a ratchet. Er, spanner?

Watch also, if you rotate the door with a single bolt left in the bottom hinge, that you don't scrape the bottom of the door and the top of the sill finisher. I say this from experience. Rotation because we wanted to keep the damned plate from falling!

[ASL642]

I think it's almost a 3 person job, one to hold the door, one to undo the bolts and another to make sure the plate stays in place.

[polo2k]

I just so happen to have been doing some "surgery" and took some pics that may help explain.
The top plate:


The bottom one (has come adrift)


This is how much it takes to get to them by the way if they do drop.


To be honest they are the lease of my problems lol

[ASL642]

You'll get there Ash! just order the grinding/cutting discs wholesale!

[polo2k]

I already am lol
Ive already got the drivers side structurally sound. cheack the restoration thread for progress

[ASL642]

Yep - been watching it and remembering when we did my Traveller! Got there in the end!