I had the doors refurbished by Steve Simpson at Panel Restorations. They were mostly pretty tidy but a bit of rust was cut out of the bottom and new patch panels welded in.
I also had Steve drill out the hinges and fit new over sized hinge pins as they had flogged out a bit with 60 years of use.
Here is the door with the silver zinc spray added by Steve after he had done his repairs.
You can see here the repaired corner
This is the new over sized hinge pin ready to be driven home after the car is painted and I have finished taking things off and on.
The first major change I'll be making is to install a power window kit in lieu of the old wind up windows. I am also putting in new channels. I have chosen to buy the stainless edged channel, just because I think it looks a bit better. I purchased this from Basis in Renwick. Make sure when you buy channel that the exterior width will fit in the channels in the doors and that the internal channel will take the thickness of glass you are intending to use. Also a word of caution.....if you need to bend the channel to fit, make sure you get bendable channel. There are rigid channels also available for cars that have straight window runners. It's cheaper but don't be fooled into thinking you can bend it with any success. You can't! Pay the extra and get the right stuff.
Firstly I fed the end of the channel down into the door through the window opening.
I then located the bottom end into the retaining clip at the end of the channel.
Then it's just a case of working the channel into the curves, up and over the top of the door frame. Really take your time when bending the channel, do it gradually and slowly by massaging the channel to the desired curve. If you try and bend it too quickly or in one movement, you are likely to have the channel pinch and buckle. Just take the time and be patient.
Before you go too far, pass the other end in through the window opening.
Then ease everything into place.
Once I had everything in place I taped the bailey channel to ensure nothing moved before going ahead and fastening it.
I then went back to the start and drilled a small hole through the channel and into the door.
I used stainless screws to fasten the bailey channel to the door. Again start at one end and work your way around.
Now to mount the power window set up. I used a Dolphin brand kit from the States. These are really nice and flat so fit nicely in the narrow doors of older cars. I have used units from an 80's Ford Laser in the past in a 34 Coupe, but even these wouldn't fit in the Pop doors.
I was pretty pleased with the Dolphin kit. It comes with everything you need to plug and play.
Here is the unit sitting in place.
Note the centreline I have marked for the centre of the glass. It's important the power window unit is centred and vertical or the window won't run up and down nicely.
I made a frame from angle iron so that I'd have some strength there. I cut away sections to fit over the existing door brace.
Here it is in place and you can see it will pick up the 3 mount points on the Dolphin unit as well as bolt to the door itself.
Here it is bolted in place. When I mount it for the last time I will get hold of some countersunk head bolts so that everything is nice and flush and won't interfere with the fit of the door card.
Lastly I used the strap supplied to secure the motor unit to the door edge.
Should all be good to go now. The only thing I'll need to do now is maybe pack the mount points away a bit from the angle iron frame I made, to fine tune things and ensure it all lines up with the glass. I will do this later when I am installing the new glass.
