Leave the doors on??

[bart40]

I'm getting ready to remove the body off of my 40 four door. (someday I'll tell you all the story of why I'm building a four door instead of a two door when I have both.) This is new territory for me. Question 1: Should I or could I leave the doors on? Question 2: If I take them off, do I need to reinforce the openings. The floors are good and the rockers seem OK. I'll be using a chain hoist to lift the body that should be strong enough either way.

Thanks. You'll be hearing a lot of questions from me as I move through this adventure.

[19Fordy]

Leave the doors on and closed so as to give rigidity of the body. I removed the body of my 40 coupe in 1973 and did not remove the doors. It kept the body rigid and I did not have door alignment problems or a twisted body. I used a floor jack, 2 x4's and cement blocks years ago when I was young and foolish. But it worked. Click on photo to enlarge.

[felix37]

while the doors are on the car and the body is still bolted to the chassis, I would use some 1''X 1'' square tubing and tack weld a diagonal brace on each of the door openings. obviously you want to paint the body the right way and to do that the doors need to come off.

[G.M.]

If the floors are good and you are not replacing them or the sub rails there is no need to leave the doors on. If you are replacing floors you need to have the proper door alignment and gaps then weld supports across the openings to keep them in place. G.M.

[Kube]

I have yet to leave the doors on any body I have removed. If the body is in the condition you state, I see no reason for bracing either as it (body) can't go anywhere. A convertible? That's an entirely different story.
Take the doors off - lighten the load. I'd be more fearful of leaving them on and stressing the latches and / or hinges as the body will flex a bit.
You know you'll need to remove them later anyway...

[louisb]

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The body gains it rigidity from the roof and the rockers on a sedan. If those are rusty then you should brace it before unbolting from the chassis. Now if it was a convertible I would say leave the doors in and brace the body before you remove it. I once saw a '40 convert folded up like a taco because they didn't brace the body and removed the doors before pulling the body. Wasn't pretty.

--louis

[Karl Wescott]

Louisb, GM, and Kube are all spot on, remembering all stated IF the sill is in good condition.

Another consideration is how you rig to lift the body. The tops of the doors are more fragile than the top itself. I would NOT lift a body through the door openings for fear of damaging the doors.

[barnfind]

This may be off topic, but I use a large truck tow or lifting strap thru the body with an short axle tie down strap to connect it to the lifting chain hoist to minimize the load on the roof metal.
If you need a temporary resting place for the body use a well made body dolly, heavy duty jack stands, solid cement blocks, or very large wood blocks. Hollow cement blocks are dangerous.
You may want to consider drilling some 1/8 holes in the door hinges as reinstallation reference points before you remove the doors.
Doors are very heavy and I use an engine hoist with a 8 foot length of 1 1/2 square tubing stuck in the engine hoist arm and wrapped in pipe insulation foam and strapped to the lifting arm. I insert into the the door window opening to support the door weight while removing or reinstalling.
I would probably want to do final paint work on the frame unless you have superb facilities to manage reinstalling(and possibly damaging) a painted body.

[bart40]

Thanks to all. Obviously, there are different views. I'll give them all thought and then do something. What can go wrong?????? Life's an adventure.

[rotorwrench]

Make a map of all the pad pieces or welting that is between the body and the frame. Many were adjusted with different pad combinations to get best door & body to frame fit. I've seen guys take bodies completely apart and put them back together using the frame as the only jig and it will work with patients but it helps to have as much of a road map as you can get to aid you when you put it all back on. Many of these old cars have also had collision repair before so a guy just has to wing it to get the best overall fit of things.

[fordor41]

Originally Posted by Karl Wescott

Louisb, GM, and Kube are all spot on, remembering all stated IF the sill is in good condition.

Another consideration is how you rig to lift the body. The tops of the doors are more fragile than the top itself. I would NOT lift a body through the door openings for fear of damaging the doors.

Ever see pics of Ford installing a fordor body on a the frame? Large lifting bar went thru the window opennings, doors installed, onto the frame with the front fenders installed on the frame. At least that's how they did '41 Fords.

[rotorwrench]

FoMoCo generally had the body pretty complete when they dropped it in place. What always amazed me was how they would put the front sheet metal on first and leave it loose. They would then drop the body and pad it up to make sure the doors would open and shut. They had it down to a science to keep the line rolling.

[blucar]

Having learned the hard-way, I would strongly recommend that you leave the doors on the body if you remove the body from the chassis.. I would also suggest that you cross brace the body with at least 1" square tubing.
I also learned the hard-way that you should check the chassis for square and straight prior to doing any modifications, i.e., front clip for modern suspension, etc. prior to cutting anything..
Recently had a real mess on my hands with a '49 Olds 88.. The doors were removed from the body, and the body was cross braced and 1" tubing welded across the door openings prior to removing the body, mounting the body to a special built "dolly" so it could go to a strip shop...
The frame appeared to be in excellent shape, the body showed no damage, still having 75% of it's original paint.. There was some rust-out in the tail section and left rocker.. The frame was checked for alignment, it was very straight. A slight kink was noted in the right rear cross member... Appeared to be the result of someone, at some time attaching a chain, etc., to this cross member, maybe to pull it out of a ditch in Minn., it's former home state.
To make a very long story short, after the chassis was completed, FatMan front clip, powder coated, new power-train the body was reinstalled, w/out the doors.. The rust-out was repaired, then the doors were rehung.. The cross bracing removed, the car was well on it's way to being done... Wrong.. The hood would not align to the cowl, nor would the doors properly align to the body. and front fenders... What was the problem?
I took the car to a different shop for a second opinion... THE FRAME WAS 3/4" OUT OF SQUARE.. Everything had been installed on a frame that was out of square... The culprit most likely being the kink in the rear cross-member, which had been fixed prior to all of the chassis work being done...
The original fabricator had given no thought to checking the frame for square, he had checked it for parallel and straight, two completely different things than being square.
People that build race car chassis' are very aware of the importance of frame alignment.. I have been told that race car chassis' are set up for what kind of a track they are to be ran on, circle tract is completely different that straightaway drag strips.. It is also quite common to "Stage" a chassis with some "lead" on one side, NASCAR allows a maximum of 1"...
I also recently learned that the common practice of "spitting the wish bones" on the front end of the EV8F's, works well for straight-line drag racing, however, it is not a good idea for use on cars that are going to be driven "at speed" on normal roads...

[Ken/Alabama]

Take them off. The body isnt going to flex. Done it many times.