The dreaded door pillar install

[fuentesfranko]

I've been putting off working on this part of my restoration. The front door pillar.
Unfortunately I have to do the drivers and passengers, as well as the passengers rear pillar.

I've been preparing to do this and I think I'm almost ready to get to it.
I've sprayed rust inhibiting paint where the pillar will go, and also inside of the pillar itself. I will spray some weld-thru primer where the welding will happen.

I've read that it's recommended to use self-tapping screws to put it into place, then mount door, check for alignment, and repeat this 100x until door aligns well.

I'm wondering how many self-tapping screws are needed to be able to hold the pillar with the door?

Any other good tips?

 

[unimogger]

I used about 12-18 screws per pillar. It's not just the weight you have to account for, but you really need to keep it from twisting, cause that gives you a false impression of what the hinges are doing. Painting the inside is good, I get a nozzle fitted with straw, and soak the inside once everything is welded.

 

[jperry1290]

I will keep watching. Currently getting ready to do the drivers pillar, kick panel, and drivers floor. Please post lots of pics and tips.

 

[Madgyver]

Having the floor installed along with the rockers in place helps limit the twisting of the door post while in mock up mode.
I'm ready to weld in the drivers side post as I already committed to the 1st tack weld in place as the self tapping couldn't hold the bottom of the door post to rocker panel the way I liked it to do. I left off to work on another bronco that came into the garage. I'll get back to it as soon as bronco is back on the road.

Here is what I started with...

 

[thegreatjustino]

Good thread to read through here:

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284514

 

[fuentesfranko]

Thanks for the replies!
I've screwed in the pillar, the door was very misaligned and sagging. I was crushed even though I knew it wasn't gonna be right the very first try, but I kind of hoped that I'd be so lucky.

I asked someone on Instagram that works at Classic Ford Broncos about my issue. He advised that because I didn't have the floor or rocker in and the kick panel was not being supported by the floor support, my door was gonna sag. He suggested that I use a jack to raise the Bronco from the kick panel until the door was more aligned, then screw the kick panel to the floor support. I did that and the door is SO close to being perfect. I would be pretty happy with that alignment. The door actually closes and latches with minimal effort.

The guy also suggested that I go ahead and screw in the floor and the inner rocker in place to have more strength in the body before I go ahead and weld the pillar.


I'm currently trying to cut off the rest of my floor so I can throw in the new one.
I also got around to replacing the body mount. Fresh rubber and hardware!

I'm scared that when I remove the jack, even if I've screwed in floor and inner rocker and braced as much as I could, everything will sag again. I guess we'll see.

Would love some feedback or ideas. I hope I'm moving in the right direction.

Here's some pictures of the process:

BEFORE SCREWS

SCREWS IN

TERRIBLE ALIGNMENT AND SAG

ROUND 2 WITH THE JACK SUPPORTING THE KICK PANEL

NEW BODY MOUNTS

 

[Skinnyr1]

I agree with the other comment you referenced. You need that inner rocker to support the kick before you try to align the rest of it. I'd put that in before tacking anything on the actual pillar.

Its good that you have general fitment now, but it will likely move a bit when you weld the inner rocker in. Small movement makes a huge difference. Fix the inner rocker, weld, finish the kick panel, and then fiddle with the pillar again. Its a sandwich of metal in there with the floor brace and body mount holding it all up. The floor can go in last.