21 replies to this topic

[mike.]

Well i'm getting some welding and having my car resprayed (again) over summer. My drivers door skin is coming away from the frame at the top and the passenger skin is showing signs of rust, and the frames gone at the bottom.

I've been hunting for some new doors for ages, alot of the ones on ebay say good condition but infact need reskinning when i ask the seller! The good doors on ebay either end early by an email offer or go for stupid money.

A pair of refurbed doors will cost me £240 if i exchange my old doors - Which according to minidoorcompany are not fit for repair because the frames too rusty. So i'd have to buy another door to send or to be refurbed and it'll then cost more and before i know it i will of spent £300 on doors. I like the idea of lightweight doors but the streetfighter doors they sell, complete with perspex window kits get me on the way to £500 for a pair of doors!

I can get a pair of fibreglass doors for about £170 from TDK racing, then the polycarb window kit would cost £120 ontop of that but £300 for a pair of super lightweight doors that'll never rust is sounding very appealing at the moment.

I'm having an absolute nightmare with this door situation and now its getting to the stage where its going to keep my car off the road for longer and longer. If i've got no doors, i cant send the car off for welding/spraying.


So i'm just after some advice really about what to do. What are the complications of fitting fibreglass doors?

How do my current locks fit?
How do i open the doors from the inside without the handle and lever assembly?
Will my current hinges just bolt on?
How do the mk1 windows open? I still want to be able to use the windows to keep the car cool and grab my KFC drivethrough
General opinions of FB doors?

[andybmini]

In minimagazine there is that green monster of a KAD 16v turbo'd niro'd mini with fibreglass doors. That shows with hinges on the outside, for handles you can just make out something sticking through a hole.

the guy has a website, www.force-racing.co.uk may be worth pinging him an email.

Just seen these, says can be mounted with original hinges and handle

Doors

Edited by andybmini, 07 April 2009 - 08:04 PM.

[mike.]

Thanks

Yeah they all say that they take original fixings.

ABS was the first place I looked but they're getting on for the same price as curly doors. They're way more expencive that other FB doors

[Custom_Minis]

Hi Mike,

If you like, come down to my house where my Mini is and see my carbon fibre doors fully fitted to my estate. If you like them you can take a pair of fibreglass ones away with you for £180.00

The problem I can see you facing is that you won't be able to use the Mk1 sliding system regardless of what anyone may tell you!

I wanted to do it this very same way. The problem comes down to the thickness of the panel, a steel door outer frame channel is 1mm thick, if we do the same in fibreglass the top channel is too weak, especially for road use. We have to make it thicker to be strong. In doing this it means you cannot fit a standard rubber without modifying it. (alot!)

All standard hinges and locks will fit with ease, our doors still have the indents marked ready for you to cut. Also be careful of the doors that don't have the recess behind the handle, ours do by the way.

Regards,
Les

[mike.]

Right so what your saying is the door frame that goes round the top of the glass has to be built so thick that theres no room for a glass channel?

Speaking to the guy at minidoorcompany he said a flat panel is fitted to close up the glass slot, then the polycarb windows sit ontop of that.


So what sort of windows have you fitted with you doors les? I like being able to crack the window open and get a breeze coming in no matter what the weather, so don't know if i could handle having a little 4" hole instead...

How much do your FB doors weigh out of interest?

Thanks

[Custom_Minis]

Right so what your saying is the door frame that goes round the top of the glass has to be built so thick that theres no room for a glass channel?

Speaking to the guy at minidoorcompany he said a flat panel is fitted to close up the glass slot, then the polycarb windows sit ontop of that.


So what sort of windows have you fitted with you doors les? I like being able to crack the window open and get a breeze coming in no matter what the weather, so don't know if i could handle having a little 4" hole instead...

How much do your FB doors weigh out of interest?

Thanks

Yes - you wouldn't get a rubber in there.

I'll be fitting polycarb windows but race type. You could look at a bigger slider, simiklar to the mk1 windows but mounted to the polycarb and not sat in the channel?

I've not weighed but I'd say about 2kg.

Les

[mike.]

So your just going to have a single piece of poly carb?

You can see the sort of polycarb kits on offer here: http://www.minidoor....eetfighter.html

So if i can't have mk1 sliding ones, i'd have to get the fixed piece with the sliding hatch....

With your doors les, is there a hole at the top of the skin for the glass like the TDK ones show here:



Because if so, whats the poly carb meant to sit on? Or how is it held in?

[Custom_Minis]

Yes, ours are open too.

There are a couple of ways to fit the windows in;

You could bond them with a sealant.
You could sandwich them between the frame with allen key head bolts (very race).
You could fix with allen key bolts just on the inside of the door

We could look to cap the hole if you prefer but this will only give the window something to sit on and not secure it in place permanently.

I'll have some pictures up on my build soon.

Les

[shy_mini]

just to add my 2 pennith, my B/F has some he bought from arc angels. they are very solid well made and dont flop about like the tdk ones he has before these. hope this helps.

[mike.]

Yeah arc angels offer 2 types of doors. Flimsy race ones or reinforced road versions. So he's probably bought the road versions.

So do i bother with any form of seal? Or do i just sort of bolt the windows in and the the water drain out of the bottom?

Still not really sure about the idea of all this. I'll have to think carefully....

Pics of yours would be great when you get round to them.

[shy_mini]

Yeah arc angels offer 2 types of doors. Flimsy race ones or reinforced road versions. So he's probably bought the road versions.

So do i bother with any form of seal? Or do i just sort of bolt the windows in and the the water drain out of the bottom?

Still not really sure about the idea of all this. I'll have to think carefully....

Pics of yours would be great when you get round to them.

yes and he also has stuck in windows, no seals with the racing hole in the plastic which slides open.

[Ethel]

You'd defo want some sort of seal if you don't want to get sprayed and dripped on. I can't think of a reason why you couldn't fit a steel frame in to a plastic door, that's essentially how the standard doors are put together anyway.

[mike.]

Well that sounds like an idea. That'd allow sliding windows to be fitted...

Is it possible?

[Custom_Minis]

I think the fact still remains that if you don't want flappy fibreglass doors then you need to increase the thickness of the top frame thus reducing the aperture you have to physically get a window channel or rubber in!

A steel door has a 1mm thick frame in which to mount the rubber - the rubber fits snuggly within this.

A strong road use fibreglass door has a frame thickness of 3mm - the rubber don't fit. You are effectively loosing 4mm of space.

Les

[mike.]

So is it not a solution to fit a window frame from a steel door, to a fibreglass lower door assembly?

Another thing came to mind before... Security! Whats to stop somebody just sliding the hatch open, sticking their arm in and opening the door? Are the hatches lockable?