Cato Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Moving along... It may look just like what you've been suffering through with the passenger door but now the hard part of the driver door is complete. Fitted, hinged and latched. If you scratch build any parts and need to duplicate them as with these doors, here's a tip I found most useful. Take a photo of the completed part and then diagram it using a simple paint program in your box. Here I dimensioned all the parts, shims and doo-hickys of the first door in its final form. Made building this other door much faster because I didn't have to guess about dimensions and thicknesses: Here are views of both doors. Note the new one looks 'cleaner' as I simplified and refined some parts. The hard parts were getting the hinge posts perfect for angle and depth, getting the sweep curves identical and matching the body lines and getting the door's vertical and horizontal contours to match the body. Note that there is no filler needed on the skin of this new door: Hung in place you can see the various channels that will support the window frame legs, retain the latch and the simple (looking) wire spring.The length of the wire, its anchor position on the door and the slight bend for tension all take a lot of fidgeting to get to play nice with each other. You want a modest tension to keep the latch bolted closed but easy enough to turn the handle a quarter turn to unlatch it. Now just remains fitting the frames, paint and inserting the handle shaft to solder to the latch cam: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Door fit looks very nice. Your hard work has paid off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belugawrx Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 Door fit looks very nice. Your hard work has paid off. As a graphic designer, I bet you have to laugh at my visual aid's crude 'paint' arrows, text and thingies Harry?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry P. Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 Anything that makes what you did more clear to the audience is perfectly legit. Yeah, I don't need the visual aids, but I'm sure there are plenty of guys who appreciate your very thorough explanations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 2, 2016 Author Share Posted August 2, 2016 Small but important... Another long-dreaded task out of the way. After the ordeal (for me) of making the brass side window frames months ago, I finally got them polished. This is required for chrome plating. Since paint hides nothing, chrome hides even less. So the tedious work of sanding file marks and scratches out of the 3/32 square brass channel . Not perfect but the best I could do. When they come back, the Lexan 'glass' will be cut and installed and the door inner and outer panels joined for final time. The various notches and flat strips are for clearance of the latch mechanism and to stabilize the fragile corner solder joins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjordan2 Posted August 2, 2016 Share Posted August 2, 2016 The awesomeness continues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codi Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 The colors you've selected for the car will look spectacular with the chrome. I'm sure you can't wait to see them too! cheers, tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Posted August 3, 2016 Share Posted August 3, 2016 Wow!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twokidsnosleep Posted August 4, 2016 Share Posted August 4, 2016 Good god look at that beautiful door I can't wait to see the chrome parts, we will need these Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasticfanatic Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Craftmanship and atention to detail at its BEST, superb work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Thanks all, very kind of you. Some property maintenance projects in the works, but while the frames are out for chrome (couple of weeks) I'll get the second interior panel done, preparatory to making each door a complete unit. Then body off for paint prep - at last! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Hi CatoDo you know it's possible to plating or chroming yourself at home with some products you can buy, for instance, on that site: http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-paint-coating-electroplating/automotive-electroplating.htmlYou need the common plating module, and the Super Bright Chrome Like Plating kit....It costs 114 sterling pounds, so approximatively 150 USD,without the shipment.I'm probably going to buy it soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Hi CatoDo you know it's possible to plating or chroming yourself at home with some products you can buy, for instance, on that site: http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-paint-coating-electroplating/automotive-electroplating.htmlYou need the common plating module, and the Super Bright Chrome Like Plating kit....It costs 114 sterling pounds, so approximatively 150 USD,without the shipment.I'm probably going to buy it soon This company is reasonably close to you Thierry. We have a company called Eastwood that supplies a nickel plating kit and other supplies for plating. Marvin Meit of MMC plates chrome on brass and bronze for his customers which I am surely one. The work is very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 While waiting... Anxious to see the chrome so finally finished the second inner door panel. If I guessed right, these will mate to the outer skins with the frames and glass sandwiched between at just the right angle to meet the cowl. Knowing me, that's a slim chance... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteski Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 Caswell Plating has a wide range of small electroplating kits for hobbyists (and lots of supplies for larger jobs too). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 While waiting... Anxious to see the chrome so finally finished the second inner door panel. If I guessed right, these will mate to the outer skins with the frames and glass sandwiched between at just the right angle to meet the cowl. Knowing me, that's a slim chance... Very impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 One thing leads to another... While waiting for the chrome bits to return, I turned attention to getting the bodywork finalized. I removed the body from chassis in preparation for drilling the lowers for the running board mounts. For (many) months now, I've had them as well as all four fenders in a storage box, lovingly wrapped in microfiber cloth. Out of harms way and all set to attach the gleaming bits when the time comes. The fenders were painted over a year ago, color sanded and the clear was applied at least three months ago. So everything well gassed-out and very hard finishes. I now needed to mock-up fenders for running board clearance. I decided for a little change of pace, to final-polish the clear since they were all out. Careful inspection showed a few slightly coarse spots in the clear - the dreaded very fine 'leather finish'. Not quite peel. So using 6, 8, and 12,000 grits I wet sanded them out. Then 3 stages of compound; coarse red, Meguiars Ultimate compound and Micro-Finish White as an overall leveling finish. This really brought out the depth of the red. The final touch was 1:1 carnuba wax. Finally, it's very satisfactory. No lollipop kustom kar gloss but very much a well done 1932 period enamel (or nitro-cellulose) look, even though all paints here are lacquer. The challenge now is to get the awkward-to-handle body in a matching state. These will now be stored in this plastic bin, not touching anything or being touched. Until that glorious day (I hope) when they get final-bolted on. Took them outside for some natural light and hung one fender indoors for a little inspiration. It's been covered so long, I forgot how excited it makes me to see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Absolutely stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modelbuilder Mark Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Looking real nice for sure Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoom Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Shining!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasoncamaro Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Beautiful Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyCrank Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 I love the weathering of he engine and its compartment, it's fantastic I love too the paint of the body: a faithfull mirror ! The contrast between the factory aspect of the body and the weathering of the engine is striking: I think the "chauffeur" did'nt raise the hood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Lipstick on a Pig... Or in this case, jewelry on an Old Crock. Bugatti tail lamps on a Rolls-Royce. Just before the fenders go for a months-long nap, I assembled and mounted my brainstorm from last year. You have to trust me on this; they look smashing on the car next to the trunk. But you are certainly entitled to not like them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Tail lights with those great looking lenses are lighting up this thread. )) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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