Kangaroo visit my -63 door

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

Hi,

I need to have my passenger door skin straighten out (and painted) after a visit from a Kangaroo (he got away). This will be an insurance claim but I am pretty certain that this is the first car the shop has worked on that has a door skin.

Any suggestions to the approach, remove it first or will it be possible to pull it out as is (or should I try to source another skin, I guess that nobody is remaking them)?

[Seafoam65]

               That dent can be repaired, but if it was my car I'd go with a nice condition used door skin, but since

you are in Australia and it costs so much to get something shipped from the U.S., perhaps repairing it makes the most sense for you.

I would definitely remove the door skin if you are going to repair it so the dent can be worked from the inside. The metal is stretched

where it is caved in so it will need to be shrunk with a torch as the dent is knocked out. A really good metal man can probably fix it with

  not too much body filler needed.

Edited April 20, 2016 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[fatbuick]

Hi Jan,

They come out of nowhere don't they. Lucky it didn't hit the front maybe.

The door skin will need to come off to repair it I think and this can be done without having to remove the door but a used skin might be easier than repairing that one.

I can put the word out to Aussie members who may have a parts car if you like.

Contact me by email.

[Jim Cannon]

The door skin comes right off, very easy.  If you have metalwork done on the skin, you should remove it, as there is no reason to try to work it on the car.

 

A used skin is not that hard to find.  Same effort to remove and replace as to do that for metalworking.

 

The T-screws inside the doors will want to turn as you loosen the acorn nuts.  Gently slip a thin screwdriver tip or a flat putty knife in there and hold the screws from turning as you turn the nuts.  Some trim by the front vent window needs to be removed to get to those screws.  I think this is in the factory Body Manual.  Not difficult.

 

The door does NOT need to come off to do this.

 

 

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

Thank you all.

I will contact Tony to see if there is a door skin available in Australia. Are the door skin the same for all of the first generations?

 

I also have a kangaroo to skin if I can find it... This happened just outside of my gate and I am always driving slowly here as this area is infested by those cute but rather stupid animals.

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

Hi All,

I was able to source a door skin in Australia with help by Tony Gentilcore (thanks). Probably from the only wrecked 1963 Riviera Down Under.

I hope to have it painted in the next week or so.

 

Questions:

I guess that I should lubricate the window tracks when I remove the old skin. The manual talks about 630AAW lubriplate + oil (to certain parts) of the door window. Are there any modern alternative to 630AAW lubriplate? This window is running a little bit slow, I guess lubricating the track will work a miracle but maybe  I should open the electrical motor and grease it (if so with what) ?

Anything else that I should look into while the skin is of?

[fatbuick]

Hi Jan,

Glad it worked out. We're enjoying Hong Kong for a couple of days and then Italy until June 4th.

 

What I do is thoroughly clean any old grease from the tracks and then use Nulon Engine Rebuilding grease I think it's called. It's used when you rebuild an engine so it has a good coating before you start it up for the first time. It doesn't go hard like the original grease.

Alternatively you could use a White Lithium Grease spray can.

 

The motors I pull apart, get all the carbon dust out safely with a mask on. Clean the copper contacts on the shaft by putting the armature in a lathe or a drill press. 600 wet & dry works and then scribe all the separation lines out. Bit of grease in the bushes and they usually run faster and stronger..

 

You could check the motors are getting plenty of juice (close to 12V) because old wiring can deteriorate. In my son's 69 Riv years ago we had to put relays in the doors using the original wire as the trip wire and running a new 12V wire from the battery.

 

I'm sure there will be plenty of ways other have done these tasks but that's my 2 bobs worth..

Have fun.

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

On 07/05/2016 at 2:41 PM, fatbuick said:

Hi Jan,

Glad it worked out. We're enjoying Hong Kong for a couple of days and then Italy until June 4th.

 

What I do is thoroughly clean any old grease from the tracks and then use Nulon Engine Rebuilding grease I think it's called. It's used when you rebuild an engine so it has a good coating before you start it up for the first time. It doesn't go hard like the original grease.

Alternatively you could use a White Lithium Grease spray can.

 

The motors I pull apart, get all the carbon dust out safely with a mask on. Clean the copper contacts on the shaft by putting the armature in a lathe or a drill press. 600 wet & dry works and then scribe all the separation lines out. Bit of grease in the bushes and they usually run faster and stronger..

 

You could check the motors are getting plenty of juice (close to 12V) because old wiring can deteriorate. In my son's 69 Riv years ago we had to put relays in the doors using the original wire as the trip wire and running a new 12V wire from the battery.

 

I'm sure there will be plenty of ways other have done these tasks but that's my 2 bobs worth..

Have fun.

Hi Tony,

Thanks, something to do.

Enjoy your holiday.

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

I got the new door skin painted and it looks OK (although it was revealed that the Teal Mist color actually was the same as one from Mazda...).

I have a silly question in regards to moving the large top door skin molding from the old door skin (see picture) to the new.

I cant find any screws that hold it in place. Do I have to remove the fuzzies (is that the correct word) on the back to find some screws? If so: is the fuzzies just glued on and is there a trick to remove it such that it can be reused?

[RivNut]

The fuzzies are stapled on but they will come off with the molding.  There are some small phillips head screws hidden in the fuzzies.   Very small and probably a little rusty.  Remove the screws and the assembly will come off with the fuzzies intact. 

[SwedeDownUnderR63]

11 hours ago, RivNut said:

The fuzzies are stapled on but they will come off with the molding.  There are some small phillips head screws hidden in the fuzzies.   Very small and probably a little rusty.  Remove the screws and the assembly will come off with the fuzzies intact. 

Hi Ed,

Thanks, that worked.

I think I need new glasses.....