Opening Doors Part 3

Now that the inner structure is complete , I needed to build out the area on the front of the door.  Since it needed to be built out about 3/8ths of an inch in the hinge area, I cut a one by two and a short piece of 3/8th in plywood and attached it with  a sheet rock screw in the middle to act as the spacer.  

This picture shows the spacer assembly held in place against the door with masking tape actually holding it to the door.  Then I mixed up some fiberglass bondo and forced it between the door and the spacer , having first covered the one by two with wax paper to keep the bondo from sticking to the wood.

I determined where I wanted the latch mechanism to be located about 2 1/2 inches from the top of the door to the center of the latch. I then cut the opening using a carbide rotary file and cut the opening large enough for the latch to work ( release).  When that was complete, I lined up the latch and drilled the 1/4 inch mounting holes in the door.  There was a small gap where the latch and the door came together and so I wrapped the latch with wax paper, mounted the latch to the door with 1/4 inch bolts and then forced fiberglass bondo in between the two.  When it kicked, everything was removed and cleaned up and then reinstalled and final fit.  

This picture shows that the top ear needs to be cut off so that the latch will function without interference .  A disc cutter was used for this purpose.  The left latch is shown for comparison .

This picture shows the way it all came out after the  final fitting and cleanup.  When it comes time to finish the door for primer and paint, I will use ultralight bondo  to smooth everything up and detail the door.  

This picture shows the latch in place and everything working great.  These are the medium bear claw style latches.

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Opening Doors Part 2

After laying up flat pieces of fiberglass on the table, I cut them into strips 1 1/4 inches wide with a band saw.  Next, they were trimmed to length from the top of the door to just where the radius for the bottom was to take place.  I decided to round the bottom corners, but I could have made them square also.  The strips were set in fiberglass bondo and 90 degrees to the door.  I cut a piece of a bondo spreader and sanded a radius on one corner and then ran it along the fiberglass bondo where the strips meet the door.  This gives a nice filet on both the inside and outside.  After the bondo was set, I lightly sanded the fiberglass bondo and then laid two layers of fiberglass mat on the inside and the outside.  This makes a very strong addition to the door.

To get the rounded corners, I cut a piece of 1 oz. fiberglass mat that I laid up , and then curved it around on each corner and attached this with fiberglass bondo and held it in place with a couple of spring clamps.  This was done prior to adding the two layers of fiberglass mat. This way both sides can be laid up all the way around the subframe at the same time.  When everything was cured, I trimmed the excess with an air saw.  I use an air saw because it is small, easy to handle, quick , and a lot easier to control.  With the excess trimmed, I took a long board ( sanding block ) and dressed everything and made it square.

This picture shows what it looks like after sanding and smoothing.

Now I took the fiberglass that was laid up in the 2” angle iron and cut , trimmed, fit, and attached with two sheet rock screws for alignment.  I made cardboard patterns for the corners and then transferred these to fiberglass mat that was laid up earlier.  Here you could use two layers or three.  I used two layers.  These will be held in place with fiberglass bondo and a couple of spring clamps.

This picture shows everything in place using fiberglass bondo as the “ glue “.  Notice the clamps holding the corners and the sheet rock screws holding the long pieces.  Also notice that I added a couple layers of fiberglass at the top of the door to bring it closer to the same height as the sides.  Where the angle fiberglass pieces bond to the straight pieces, there is a natural rolled space,  this is a great place to gain additional strength by filling in this area with fiberglass bondo.  After everything is set up . use a sanding block or small electric sander, and smooth everything out.  When the finish work starts, I use ultra lite bondo to work everything smooth and nice for primer.