I used to buy body parts from Reel Steel. Since they have left the market I have searched for a new supplier. First ordered an FJ40 hood from Topnault. (
Topnault Classic Car Parts - https://tpautoparts.com/). Hood arrived right gauge of steel and impeccably packaged, perfect. Next ordered a pair of half doors.
Again right gauge of steel and impeccably packaged.
I ordered a pair of OEM fenders from another supplier. They arrived but the packaging was not the best. Topnault takes the time to package parts correctly. They will have my business from now on.
As the saying goes “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, and as the purchaser of a set of Topnault half doors, it is your opinion that counts, not mine.
That said, ever since I saw Jack Rice’s half doors on his website, I have lusted after a set, and truthfully I’ve become a "half door snob”. What I mean by that is the spectrum of aftermarket half door quality is wide, and I like really nice ones, and ones made of steel.
I bought a set on
ebay that were pure cr*p, and I returned them. But having seen a set up-close, I gained an appreciation of things to look for. I subsequently bought another set on
ebay from a fellow who had bought them and changed his mind. They were much better, but still required some work. (They were a bit more than half the price of Topnault's half doors.)
When I look at the Topnault half doors, I see issues….
This is my opinion only: In a perfect world a set of aftermarket half doors would match OEM doors perfectly in terms of fit, function and look (though obviously different than a full door). That means hinges, latches, etc can be installed and work as they should. OEM Toyota doors have a bracket welded on the inside of the front door jamb for the door limiter mechanism to attach to. (The second set of
ebay doors I bought had some poor attempts at these brackets that were welded in the wrong location. You couldn’t close the doors because the brackets contacted the door posts.) Looking at the photos on Topnault’s website, there are no brackets whatsoever. I am of the opinion having door limiters is a good thing, and lacking them may cause damage to the door and/or body if you open the door and it gets away from you.
Some aftermarket half doors have no place to install an interior latch. You’d have to reach out over the door, and depending on your flexibility, contort your body and blindly grope for the door handle to open the door. It would seem therefore an interior latch would be a good thing. Again, my standard would be being able to install OEM interior door latches. Admittedly, placement of the latch will be different, so the OEM actuating rods would require modification, but the door itself should be made in a way that one can bolt a stockToyota interior latch mechanism in place. Looking at the Topnault website’s photos, I see an opening for the latch, but nothing to bolt the latch to. (The
ebay doors I bought were similar, and I harvested appropriate sheetmetal sections from a set of OEM doors to make this modification.)
Presumably one would like to install some form of upholstery resembling a door card of some kind. It would be easier if the stamped depression was all the same depth for the door card (or similar) to attach to. The photos show that not to be the case.
Nowadays, new vehicles all seem to come with air conditioning, so many people don’t have the experience of driving with an open window and resting your arm on the top of the door where the window retracts. Having had that experience, I know that I want that top surface to be smooth for my arm to rest on. But the photos from Topnault’s website show they have a flange that protrudes up where the outer skin wraps over the stamped inner panel. The inside of that flange is not finished, but it’s very visible whether the door is open or closed.
Many folks may be perfectly content with Topnault’s half doors, and thats great.
The intent of this post is to make people considering Topnault’s half doors aware of issues that I see, as someone who has gone down a similar road.
