Elton and Jane, I have reskinned, rebuilt doors on
several cars. Keep in mind that those wooden frames were built to fit
your car. If the wood is not rotten, and usually door wood survives pretty
well, there is no reason to replace the frames. Reglue them as you
mentioned. Usually the hinges get sloppy too. I do not repin or replace
them. Simply take them off, lay them on a flat, hard surface and tap them
with a hammer to compress the brass against the pin. The hinges are brass
and soft and you can tighten them up rather nicely this way.
The inner door flange is tacked to the wooden frame not glued. The tacks
cannot be tightened up unless you grind off the outer skin. You may be able
to run some glue in there to tighten things up a bit. Is your outer skin
rusted through along its lower edge? Now is a good time to reskin the
entire door if that is the case. Keep in mind that when you reskin a door
it may not fit as it did along the drip rail soldered to the scuttle as it
once did, so the rail may have to be resoldered etc. One thing can easily
lead to another as you can see! Good luck!
S. Stierman
69 + 8
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