1963 Singer Vogue, seeing doors in my sleep!!!

Hi folks, My youngest son came at the weekend to give me a hand. We rehung the doors and adjusted them for the best fit. I took one off today after marking the hinge position. The bottom of the skin is rotten as is the frame behind it. I cut the bottom of the skin away to expose the job in hand, the frame needs some localised repairs. Here are a couple of pictures to show the extent of the rust.








Moving onto the repairs I had to make a few patches and tacked them in. It looks like the proverbial patch work quilt. I then fully welded them, dressed the welds back and applied some etch primer. I also treated a few areas with Hydrate 80 to hopefully keep the rust at bay.










So that’s where I am at the moment, I will need to order some metal to repair the outer door skin as I don’t have anything long enough and don’t particularly want to join it. I will finish this one off tomorrow as much as possible till some new sheet material arrives. I will probably then take another door off and start on that. I know the repairs aren’t pretty but with a little filler they will be fine.
Please feel free to offer advice or criticise, I really don’t mind. All the best for now, Norman 

Door work looks very tidy.

Hi folks, Well after a good day yesterday painting the garage it’s looking a hundred times better.
Today it was back to the door repairs. I finished of the second door bottom applied a thin skim of filler and applied some etch primer. I am awaiting replacement sheet steel for the door skins so that will need to wait. I hope it arrives reasonably flat this time. Here are a couple of pictures showing where I am at.



I am cleaning up the inside of the doors as well as I can, treating the areas with Hydrate 80 in preparation for etch primer. I also made an executive decision today. The window runners for the rear doors are rotten. I really can’t be bothered trying to track down less rusted ones soooo I cut them off where they disappear into the door. I dropped the glass down and applied tiger seal to the window channel and taped the window up till the sealant cures. I have removed the window winder mechanism and the same will be done to the other rear door and window. When I get around to finishing the front doors I will see what the window channel is like, I may need to try and source something half decent. I will keep chipping away at the doors with a view to completing the repairs on them.
That’s all for today, please feel free to comment, criticise or offer advice. Many thanks for reading etc it really helps with motivation. Norman 

Hi folks, Today I have been working on the second door, I have cleaned inside the skin, treated it with Hydrate 80 and sprayed some etch primer in. The next task was to make a repair section for the bottom of the door skin. I made the repair section with minimal tools and I am happy with how it turned out. I then tacked the repair section in followed by fully welding it and then grinding back. A skim of filler should see it looking fine. Here are a few pictures of today’s work.




















I am still waiting on steel to arrive before I can repair the front door skin so tomorrow I will be starting to the boot lid. It will be another challenge with the lip and inner skin corroded and holed in various places. It has a few double curves to overcome which I am not looking forward to tackling. I will report on this later.
That’s all for now please feel free to comment or anything else, Norman

Hi Mark, Yes painting the walls has made a huge difference, it’s just so much brighter in there. I just wanted the area to be cleaner too.
I made a start to the boot lid today and will post some pictures when I have made a bit more progress.

That would be a bit harder as there are straps of wood across the roof joists holding a multitude of junk. I need to have a serious clear out. I was going to move the strip lights to run the length of the garage along both sides. The lighting just now is a mix of decent led, junky led and fluorescent fittings. If money was not an issue I would replace the lot with new fittings.

As an aside and taking the risk of annoying folk, perhaps some folk could offer a few words of encouragement or suggest better ways of doing things instead of hitting the like button. I like many am learning as I go and could use some advice. Anyhow thanks for reading and all the best, Norman

Hi Mark, Thanks for the link, I will look into that. I may have a spare fitting or two, need to look up at the roof joists!

Long time reader here, was thinking last time about posting some words of encouragement as the like seemed inadequate but couldn't think exactly how to put it.
You are doing a sterling job, was really pleased to see any update from you after having a break.

I can't offer much in the way of advice Norman, you're already doing a better job than I could but can certainly appreciate the work you are doing and the updates you're putting on here, I think you're underestimating yourself. It's nice to see you persevering and not cutting corners. It will be a cracker once done.
Must be hot old work in this weather.
Put LED tubes in my garage a few years ago which came from a shop refit. They made a huge difference, but I've got used to them now and they could be brighter.
Many happy returns for this weekend.