TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1954 RHD Barndoor Samba

Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:00 am

A little update: The cab door lowers had been previously repaired to a poor standard, so it was necessary to completely redo the repairs. We templated the door and then set about patterning and then transferring the pattern to sheet steel. As the outer door skin is a varying compound curve, it's very a very tricky panel to make. Luckily we have several English Wheels, so we wheeled up a lower skin to exact standards.

The inner door skins are really tricky to make correctly. The profile is almost a 'P' shape on the pressing, which people mistake to be a simple bead. To overcome this, we made a pair of Pullmax dies to exactly replicate the pressing. All panels were tig-welded then fully planished.

Hope you like the update - doors are now pretty spiffing!

Some of the choice repairs on the door...

Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:02 am

making the Pullmax dies:

playing around testing the profile and adjusting the dies...

Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:07 am

Making the lower inner skin:

skin welded in place:

Thu Jun 09, 2016 2:10 am

Outer skin wheeled up:

tig tacked in place:

Fully tig welded:

Planishing the panel and correcting the profile to get the panel flowing perfectly:

Thu Jun 09, 2016 6:07 am

I love this thread and the incredible attention to detail. I have to confess though and wonder how many hours went into fix that door to such a high standard and the costs associated with it?

Question, what tool do you use to peel the pinch seam open? Basically, where the door skin meets the inner panel?

Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:06 am

Hey Bill. Thanks for the compliments!
Totally agree on time scale to do such work, but it's not as bad as you think. As this is a stock resto, we are keen to keep all the OG panels to keep the Bus as "matching numbers" as possible. Besides, Barndoor cab doors don't grow on trees these days, so finding a good replacement pair is pretty much impossible.

And... We love a challenge!!! 😄👍

Cheers, Matt

Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:02 am

As the engine lid has been repaired so badly in the past, we decided to make one from scratch. Here's the very beginning; blocking out the shape for the number plate recess. Obviously a long way to go yet ;)

Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:14 am

Mon Jun 13, 2016 3:34 am

Yup, that's insane! Great stuff!

Wed Jun 15, 2016 12:19 pm

Very cool build thread guys. Love the progress and keep up the awesome work!!!

Thu Jun 16, 2016 8:42 am

Thank you for your encouragement and kind words guys! 👍

Mon Jun 20, 2016 4:00 am

You guys have my attention, great job diving in and doing it right.

Fri Jul 08, 2016 2:37 am

Any update Matt?

Mon Jul 18, 2016 1:46 pm

^ second. This was an interesting thread

Tue Jul 19, 2016 7:50 am

Hey guys! Been really busy expanding the business and taking on extra space. Some major updates to follow shortly ;)
Cheers, Matt

Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:32 pm

:D Good stuff

Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:20 pm

Awesome work! Thanks for posting :)

Thu Aug 11, 2016 9:05 am

It's been a short while since our last Barndoor Samba update, but, trust me, we've been busy! The challenge this time around was to make a front cab divider/bulkhead. Sadly, the original panel had been repaired so badly that replacement was the only option. This was a massive undertaking, but between Sam and I we've smashed it. I can hear you all asking "why didn't you just buy a green panel?"... well, we tried and tried and tried! Besides, we love a challenge, and this was a good opportunity to show the kind of work we can do at Airkraft. The process was very long, involving casting Pullmax dies from sections cut out of the original panel. We needed no fewer than 3 sets of dies to make the original style pressings and spears. No mean feat! The original body number was in good shape, so we fully documented removing it from the original panel and Tig-welding it into the new panel. Some light planishing dressed it up so that the insertion was pretty much invisible. Now, I must stress that absolutely no body filler has been used on this panel whatsoever. We metal finish all of our panels to the highest standards to reduce the amount of bodyshop work necessary. Anyway, I hope you guys like our new bulkhead - please like our page and share it if you can. Thanks!

First task, make a template out of 3 sections of steel with an exact fit:

Tig weld the 3 sections together...

The sections cut from the original panel to create the cast dies...

Getting ready for battle...

Thu Aug 11, 2016 9:09 am

Marking out the panel...

Preparing for battle...

Setting up the Pullmax...

Forming the beads...

Thu Aug 11, 2016 9:13 am

Forming the pressings...

Getting medieval on the panel's ass...

Marking out the original body number...

Tig welding in the body number...