Rear doors came out well but the inner patch for the front door doesn’t even come close to matching. Any advice from someone whose been through this?
Real Steel Fitment Advice (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Pitter Patter
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- Thread starter
- #3
Yup, they only offer one kind of front door patch. Should fit all front doors 75+ The rear doors are different because they went to a rounded corner in 79+
47coeman
Love those 45's
The ones i got for mine fit nicely, i would agree looks like the wrong year or years.
brian
SILVER Star
i ditched them and went with ccot.....mine like yours were not even close.
- Thread starter
- #6
That’s unfortunate. Thanks for the replies. I’m really hopeful the rest comes together better than this.
CondeCruiser
SILVER Star
If you want to get rid of them , PM me. I could use them for patching up some doors I have.
dmaddox
SILVER Star
I have experienced fitment issues on door bottoms, quarter panels and rear channel (complete). I had to cut and fit and cut again on almost every part to make them work.
These panels (like most others) are not a 100% direct fit. They are intended to be used by body shops and experienced fabricators. The moment you try to fit like for like part, you'll see the tolerances are sometimes 1/2"!
I've yet to find a company that makes a direct replacement body panel that DIDN'T require some manner of fabrication.
These panels (like most others) are not a 100% direct fit. They are intended to be used by body shops and experienced fabricators. The moment you try to fit like for like part, you'll see the tolerances are sometimes 1/2"!
I've yet to find a company that makes a direct replacement body panel that DIDN'T require some manner of fabrication.
- Thread starter
- #9
Totally understand, the rear door patches were a little wider than the doors so they had to be opened up and closed to move them in. Like I get it but… there’s a difference between some fabrication and tweaks vs. trying to match this. The stamped ridges aren’t even in the ballpark. It shouldn’t take that much work just to join these let alone try to match a factory curvature.
Did you make sure you don't have the left and right sides mixed up?
Correct side.
Incorrect side
Correct side.
Incorrect side
- Thread starter
- #11
Hmmm. Mine are identical. Its possible they sent me two of the same. It’s getting there. I have a person more skilled than I tackling this bit. Still lots to do, will have to cut and sink more to match the curve but it will come together. The edges can be pulled in.
- Thread starter
- #12
And thank the flyings spaghetti monster that the other door wasn’t in need of repairs
I just posted a comment regarding CCOT doors panels in my build thread. The insides seem to work ok for CCOT but the outside skin is wrong. The relief along the outer edge is about 1/3" off on mine....resulting in basically having to hammer out the panel and then re-bend it.
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Wimberosa's 40 project
Well.... I've been hesitant to create a build thread on this 40 because I knew it was going to take me years of slow increments. Recently I've found myself with a proper shop and time to commit to it....so I've decided to up the ante and document it. This is a May 1979 build date. I picked...
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- Thread starter
- #14
The real steel rear door patch panels were too wide as well. They had to be opened up and re-folded to get the correct width to match the doors. There’s room for improvement but I am thankful there’s some products. It’s far better than trying to piece in new metal
Has anyone worked with defenders northwest Brian hall in gig harbor washington. It looks like they are scamming us on a restoration project. Here is a link to the complaint that we filed:
Seems like there is more and more problems with suppliers.
- Thread starter
- #17
Finished. Turned out well. Can’t take any credit personal credit for this since I didn’t do this work. The front looks odd in the pic but it has the same concave curvature as the untouched door. Nice attention to symmetry. Dude has skills.
I think my current plan is to thin down and brush on my epoxy primer on the inside of those new panel seams. If yours is like mine there
is rust crud in every seam on my door so I'm swishing Krud Kutter Rust remover around in those old seams.....cleaning it out
with a bit of brake kleen and then swishing the thinned primer down into every crevice. Follow it up with a bit of seam
sealer on the back side of those welds. When you butt weld like that there is a seam on the underside that has voids
in it that really need to be air/water tight so rust doesn't come back in that seam. I'm on a path of insanity though
right now.....so this thought process may have different mileage when I get further into it.
is rust crud in every seam on my door so I'm swishing Krud Kutter Rust remover around in those old seams.....cleaning it out
with a bit of brake kleen and then swishing the thinned primer down into every crevice. Follow it up with a bit of seam
sealer on the back side of those welds. When you butt weld like that there is a seam on the underside that has voids
in it that really need to be air/water tight so rust doesn't come back in that seam. I'm on a path of insanity though
right now.....so this thought process may have different mileage when I get further into it.
- Thread starter
- #19
Agreed. The overlapping untreated metal is an issue. I’ve found rust everywhere. I’m so far into this that I’m committed to my current path. If I were doing it over, I’d take the tub, frame and every panel to a place that fully submerges it in a chemical bath that would eliminate all that rust then zinc dip it. I just have to accept that even with all this work I’ll be the old guy with the rusty FJ40 decades from now
Don't feel too bad. Toyota put nothing in between lap joints all over these rigs and they've lasted this long. Do what you can. It will last another 50 years.
