The Ford Barn

Daves55Sedan · 11-13-2017, 01:50 AM

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Unbeknownst to me, water splashing thru a large hole at front of the rear wheelwell caused the bottom portion of the left rear doorjamb to rot away. These backdoors probably had not been opened in decades. I can't remember when I ever even had a passenger riding shotgun. Guess you need to open these doors every once in a while just to look and see if there's anything wrong. Funny how the hood hinges and driver door hinges are worn out, but the passenger front door and back doors hadn't been opened in I don't know how long. It was at this point in the project, seeing how extensive the rust damage was here, that I thought I should have never started this project at all. When it is this bad, a car really should just go for scrap.
I cut out the portion that was bad and made cardboard templates for cutting out two new pieces of metal. First, I welded the inside piece (near the windlace), then I welded the outer piece on to it. The outer piece has tabs bent outward to meet with the new front portion of outer rear quarter and also bends out at the bottom to meet with the new outer rocker panel. The phot below shows the two new patch pieces welded in place.
Lrdrjamb1.JPG
Getting all these pieces cut and bent right to fit well together as well as to fit flush in the cutout was very challenging. The exposed corner of the outer front of rear quarter piece was formed using a 1/2 inch steel rod with one end ground smoothly around (in the shape of a ball) clamped in a vice while the patch piece was placed on top of the ball end and lightly tapped with a hammer. This outer piece was temporarily installed to make sure that the adjacent door jamb piece and the outer patch would mate with a little overlap for welding.
Lrdrjamb2.JPG Lrdrjamb3.JPG
There was also a rusthole developed at the rear floor under the back seat. The hole cutout turned out to be a rectangular shape and I cut a new piece of metal the exact size of the hole to match. I held the patch piece in place using magnets so that the patch would be flush with the existing floor. After tack welding the patch onto the floor, I removed the magnets and welded the seams some more. There were some small gaps, so I taped over the gaps from the underside and sealed the weld seams with JB-weld. The photo below is looking down at the new floor patch that was welded in place flush with the existing floor.
Lrdrjamb4.JPG
Here is photos of the finished doorjamb and closeup at the corner after painting was done.
Lrdrjamb5.JPG Lrdrjamb6.JPG

11-13-2017, 01:50 AM	#1
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	'55 car rust repair Part 8: Bottom left rear corner of back door jamb Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Unbeknownst to me, water splashing thru a large hole at front of the rear wheelwell caused the bottom portion of the left rear doorjamb to rot away. These backdoors probably had not been opened in decades. I can't remember when I ever even had a passenger riding shotgun. Guess you need to open these doors every once in a while just to look and see if there's anything wrong. Funny how the hood hinges and driver door hinges are worn out, but the passenger front door and back doors hadn't been opened in I don't know how long. It was at this point in the project, seeing how extensive the rust damage was here, that I thought I should have never started this project at all. When it is this bad, a car really should just go for scrap. I cut out the portion that was bad and made cardboard templates for cutting out two new pieces of metal. First, I welded the inside piece (near the windlace), then I welded the outer piece on to it. The outer piece has tabs bent outward to meet with the new front portion of outer rear quarter and also bends out at the bottom to meet with the new outer rocker panel. The phot below shows the two new patch pieces welded in place. Lrdrjamb1.JPG Getting all these pieces cut and bent right to fit well together as well as to fit flush in the cutout was very challenging. The exposed corner of the outer front of rear quarter piece was formed using a 1/2 inch steel rod with one end ground smoothly around (in the shape of a ball) clamped in a vice while the patch piece was placed on top of the ball end and lightly tapped with a hammer. This outer piece was temporarily installed to make sure that the adjacent door jamb piece and the outer patch would mate with a little overlap for welding. Lrdrjamb2.JPG Lrdrjamb3.JPG There was also a rusthole developed at the rear floor under the back seat. The hole cutout turned out to be a rectangular shape and I cut a new piece of metal the exact size of the hole to match. I held the patch piece in place using magnets so that the patch would be flush with the existing floor. After tack welding the patch onto the floor, I removed the magnets and welded the seams some more. There were some small gaps, so I taped over the gaps from the underside and sealed the weld seams with JB-weld. The photo below is looking down at the new floor patch that was welded in place flush with the existing floor. Lrdrjamb4.JPG Here is photos of the finished doorjamb and closeup at the corner after painting was done. Lrdrjamb5.JPG Lrdrjamb6.JPG