how to remove doors?

[hepkat63]

Hi All,

want to remove the doors from my 1982 turbo - however, I can see there are potentially a few ways of doing this.   Can anyone that has done this recommend the best way please (photos would help too !!).   Do I just undo the two bolts (top /bottom) and remove, or is it best to leave the bracket on and just remove door?

[slewthy]

Hi Steve,

Do you have a good reason for doing this? Lots can be done with doors still attached?

Anyway, they are very heavy. Make sure you have adequate support or you will damage the door and/or body as they drop.

The 2 bolts accessed from the foot wells are the simplest way to do it but dont forget all the wiring bridging the gap too. Needs to be disconnected from within the door.

Si

[hepkat63]

thanks.  Yes, I will be painting the car over the next month or so - and want to strip the doors off to do so.  Do you mean the large bolts?

[molemot]

Yes...there are two large bolts...the top one is under a steel plate covered with trim; this clips in place... You undo them and the door falls off. As has been said, you need to disconnect all the wiring from the inside of the door..;and there's the door check strap too. Putting them back is an interesting task, you'll probably need to replace the abrasive stuff that prevents the hinges from moving once tightened. As far as I remember, I used emery cloth for this.

If you are spraying, then the bodyline trim..the plastic strip that runs along the join line..has to come off. New stuff is available from S&J... on the door, you fit a wood strip of suitable size with self tappers and then use contact glue to fit the plastic trim to it. All good fun.....

[Christian43]

I am guessing once this is done it is simple to replace the pivot bushes as the doors on my brothers Esprit have dropped and are a pain to shut?

thanks

C43

[Paul Coleman]

The bushes are not always the problem. It is often the fact that the aluminium tube they fit into has corroded and so the bush is sloppy. I fitted new bushes and had to shim them to get a tight fit which lasted a short while before they sagged again

 

[Andyww]

For painting you would need to remove the window frames so you can do this first by removing the window motors and glass, and the frame from the door beam.

Then its not difficult to remove the door body from the door hinge beam, so the beam can be left on the car. Then you have just the bare fibreglass door shell to paint.

You can easily service the hinges on the car in the meantime.

Pics courtesy of Surface & Design, Blackpool.

 

 

 

 

 

[C43]

17 hours ago, Paul Coleman said:

The bushes are not always the problem. It is often the fact that the aluminium tube they fit into has corroded and so the bush is sloppy. I fitted new bushes and had to shim them to get a tight fit which lasted a short while before they sagged again

 

thanks for the warning. I guess if needs be I can bond the bushes in place if they just need a bit of glue shimming. I can get some industrial bonding agent should do it.

C43