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Sam P. Door Skin Removal/Install

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Hello everyone, I thought I would do a quick write up about skinning a bronco door. I am using a Dynacorn 68-77 Skin that I got from broncoparts4u. The bottom of the skin was rusted through and the door had molding holes that I didn't want to weld up, it also random dents and dings. The total of things wrong with the door made it a good candidate for a skin. From the factory the skin is single sided spot welded around the lip of the skin and also tack welded near the door frame and hinge mounts. There are two sets of three spot welds under where the vent window mounts. It is best to start by looking the door over and finding all of the welds and marking them.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Next I use a 1/8 inch drill bit to drill a pilot hole into just the skin(not all the way through). I use this as a guide for the spot weld drill. Drill out all of the spot welds. I used a spot weld drill where I could and used a 3" grinder where I couldn't get the drill. I then used a body saw to cut the tack that holds the skin to the rear window frame. Then carefully cut the weld bead from the area that sits behind the door hinges. Take this step slow and just remove the weld and try not to damage the door shell. At this time I also cut the accessible spot welds that sit under the vent window. The other three are not accessible at this time. I will show how I cut them out in a later step.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Now for the sparky fun. Take a 3 inch roloc sander/grinder with 36 grit 3M purple disc(you can use whatever you want but these work best hands down). Grind flat on the edge of the door skin. Its hard to see in the pictures but when you grind you will see the skin face and lip split apart and you can just pull the lip off. I usually take a spot weld chisel or gasket scraper and just lightly tap the lip to separate them. Sorry for the shakiness of the pictures, my two cups of coffee must have been kicking in here.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Now the skin should be flappy and loose all the way around except for the 3 welds under the front window frame area. Carefully cut just the skin off in this area as shown in the picture. This will allow you to remove the skin and access the welds from inside the skin. At this point I cut off the support tab that the vent window sits on. It will be welded back into place after the door skin is back on and the spot welds under it are re-welded. Now admire the inside of your door. I took this as an opportunity to rough out some dents in the door shell that would be difficult to do other wise.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
My door shell was a little rustier and nastier than I was hoping so I decided to put a rust converter on the inside of the shell rather than sand blasting it. When it is wet the converter is tan then it turns green and dries black. The outside of the door was already blasted and bare so I went ahead and sanded it, wiped it down with dx330 grease and wax remover and epoxy primed it prior to installing the skin. I thought a chunk of Dynamat would help with some sound deadening. I have found throwing down some spray trim adhesive and some heat from a heat gun helps the Dynamat stick better.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Now its time for the new skin. Its best to fit up the door skin a few times dry to get yourself familiar with how it sits on the door. I found that at the top it was pretty tight and on the final fit a nice wack with the palm of a hand snapped the skin over the shell. I punched hopes in the skin where the spot welds were near the vent window and applied a weld thru primer between where the welds are. You will not be welding the skin lip like it was before because we now have the use of panel bonding adhesives. I use Lord Fusor 108B. It is up to you what brand you will want to use. Your local autobody store will carry most commonly used brands. The one I use has a 45 minute work time. If you have not skinned a door before you might want to use a panel bond designed for a larger panel that has a 90 minute work time. I use a door skinning hammer and rubber dolly combined with a pneumatic door skinning tool. The job can definitely be done with just the skinning hammer and dolly but the skinning tool makes it go alot faster and with less sweat.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Prep the door shell by grinding the mating lip with 36grit on a grinding disc making a cross hatch pattern. Fusor 108b instructions say that when skinning a door you don't have to grind the door skin mating surface. Go ahead and run a bead of panel bond on the door shell and smear it out covering all bare metal with adhesive. I then just put a bead on the door skin. This bead will be squished when the door skin is installed. I also opted to put some seam sealer in the lower corners of the door where dirt and grime tend to settle and cause rusting problems. Then carefully install the door skin. You can see the top edge snapped over the shell by the door frame. At this point I like to flip the door on its face on a body stand to beat over the door lip and finish up the skin.
 

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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Now its time to start folding over the skin lip. I work my way around the door bending the lip 1/3 of the way each time around. Carefully work your way to body lines and corners taking your time to not distort their natural contour. The better job you do now will save you mud work in the long run. The pneumatic door skinning tool works great on flat parts of the door but cannot be used around curves or body lines. A steel dolly might need to be used around the corners to fully fold them over. Once you have the lip fully folded wipe away any excess panel bond because in about an hour it will be hard as a rock. Now flip the door over and admire your work. After the panel bond sets up(it can be flammable) go ahead and weld up the 6 spot welds at the top of the door and the small tack weld by the window frame at the back. The other welds will not be needed due to the use of panel bond. The door will actually now feel more solid and be less prone to flex due to the panel bond. I would advise spraying a anti rust coating inside the door when you are done with paint. I use 3M Rustfighter I. It is a wax based coating that keeps moisture out of seams and keeps your panels from becoming iron oxide.
 

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jn2630

Full Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Messages
237
Loc.
Silverthorne, CO
Great work, I was wondering if you have ever used a tool called a "Skin Zipper"? Heres what it looks like:Skin Zipper

I've always used this, but the fact that its controlled with an air hammer can sometimes leaves the outer panel a bit warped from the brute force. How gentle is your door skinning tool on the finished side?
 
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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
The skinning tool I use is an Astro pneumatic. It is pretty nice on the skin. You just have to let it float and move naturally. After I get a skin on with it I use a 7" soft pad grinder with 180 grit on it and go around the edge smoothing out any small imperfections. I don't usually put much filler on my door skins when their done just sometimes in the corners where you really have to fold the lip over. I then put primer surfacer on the door. I have used an air hammer style door skinner but I havn't used the steck style one shown. The one I used wasn't very friendly to the door and did require putting filler around most of the door.
 

rastiss

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
1,261
Loc.
Wichita falls, Texas
pretty nice write up! imho, you left out one VERY IMPORTANT step! once you get the skin hammered on, you NEED to hang it to check it for fit! once the adhesive is set it is near impossible to twist for proper alignment if necessary. once you remove the outer skin the shell CAN TWIST/distort. if you let it set up and then hang it, you may be screwed! not all adhesives are the same and require different prep so be sure to read the directions. i prefer 3M 08115 currently and it requires the removal of coating on all contact surfaces. generally if the adhesive is urethane based it does NOT want bare metal as urethane draws in moisture creating a "wicking" that can lead to premature panel failure. i have tried about every skinning tool made and prefer my trusty ole skinning hamer and a dolly. skinning tools are not a time save after they leave tooling marks in the edges that require filler. hammer them on with love taps you will rarily ever need any filler. at most an 8"verticle grinder with 80 grit on a SOFT pad to finish.
 

rastiss

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 5, 2013
Messages
1,261
Loc.
Wichita falls, Texas
Great work, I was wondering if you have ever used a tool called a "Skin Zipper"? Heres what it looks like:Skin Zipper

I've always used this, but the fact that its controlled with an air hammer can sometimes leaves the outer panel a bit warped from the brute force. How gentle is your door skinning tool on the finished side?

ive used that tool and not impressed. the finished edge sux. however if you use the "1st step" to start you lip roll it saves a little hammering.
 
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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Hey thanks for the positive feedback. Rasstis I totally agree about hanging the door and checking for fitment. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of the door hung. I usually hang the door and use bondo spreaders around the door to hold it in place. I do have a picture of a Toyota Camry that I skinned a door on at work showing the spreaders holding the door in place.
 

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allenfahey

Bronco Guru
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Messages
2,672
i have tried about every skinning tool made and prefer my trusty ole skinning hamer and a dolly. skinning tools are not a time save after they leave tooling marks in the edges that require filler. hammer them on with love taps you will rarily ever need any filler. at most an 8"verticle grinder with 80 grit on a SOFT pad to finish.

Most of the body men I have worked with in the past dolly their skins on. The ones that don't need filler seem to take more time to dolly them on. The few that I've spoke to said that many body men that need filler don't fold the lip a little at a time and like ratiss said they hammer hard. They said the way they do it is they dolly a little and work it around the skin slowly and softly. Some use an old rubber sanding block as a dolly. The one body man I work with now said he counted the times he hammered a skin on and he stopped counting at 800. When I worked at the Ford dealer I asked 3 body men if they would watch and learn how the Korean body man did his skins. Their pride got in the way and I had to keep priming their door skins. Seemed to me less work not to have to use filler but what do I know I'm a dumb painter!
 
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sp71eb

sp71eb

Sr. Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
578
Loc.
North Liberty, Ia
Yeah really easy telling us bodymen how to do something%) I try to do everything I can to not have to fill a door skin. The way I see it I'm not getting paid to repair the replacement panel so why damage it installing it. Usually it seems I fix more dings and scraches from careless parts venders and delivery guys than anything.
 
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