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Door Frame Material


nelmo

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Hi,

 

Sounds heavy...

 

Theres another thread here discussing correx - i.e. just plastic sheeting, probably would work + laminate various areas for strength?

-or-

Aluminium section

-or-

even no frame at all ... just canvas sides

I've got plans to make them foldable, so needs a frame... not sure if ally would be up to it. But I've got a piece that thick - I'll take another look...

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  • 2 months later...

Mo has a 50 year old Husvarna machine & we stitched together several gazebos which were made from waterproof " canvas" material plus No10 zips to same. Cost a few needles -- the biggest problem was the glue build-up on the needles from the double-sided tape used to hold pieces together ( instead of " tacking ")

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I built my own doors. I used 15mm x 3mm steel for the main frame and an extra strip welded together for the hinge area so it is 30mm for that part.

 

I started at the windscreen end and shaped/bent the steel to match the curve of the car. I also twisted it to follow the shape correctly. This is something that can't be done with the RH doors as you would damage the material. I used a big pair of stilsons and a bench vice. My door fits perfect against the side of my scuttle and doesn't lift at all.

 

I made the standard shape ones but if i did it again i would consider making the door go further back at the top rather than slope down. The donkervoort has a longer door http://donkiespeed.nl/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/donkervoort-d8-audi-e-gas-driekwrt-voor-1140x760.jpg

 

I think the material was from woolies and is hooding material. The clear part i bought from a tent/caravan company and seems to be holding up after a few years.

 

I left an extra flap at the front which tucks behind the windscreen support so that water can't be blown in.

 

I sewed mine on my trusty old hand cranked singer machine which will go through most things i've thrown at it. You might find a decent modern machine will work but i don't know. It is quite tricky to sew it on to the frame so you will need an extra hand to hold the frame and move with you.

 

I didn't realise that the doors would be forced inwards so i have material fixed over the centre bar to stop it being pulled outward. i don't know if other doors do this or not. Because you can't sew across the centre with the frame in place i sewed a strip across with one edge loose then glued the frame and wrapped the flap around. Then i sewed the rest around the perimeter. If that makes any sense.

 

I also bought some 1inch webbing and some clips (this type https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1016/8373/products/small-clip1_786eef1f-4c2d-49ae-90ce-9fd1f0f11abd_1024x1024.png?v=1497402371)for closing the doors, which so far work perfectly. I just have one each side clipping to some webbing secured to the car.

 

hth

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I have sewn a lot of bits for my car with a standard sewing machine.

At one point there were 7 layers of leather whilst makeing my seats.

The main thing is to use propper leather needles when sewing heavy material and take your time letting the machine cool down between runs.

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OK, final question on doors; most of the designs I've seen (the ones from Kit Spares, for example) have a very raked rear line from the top of the door to where it meets the wheel arch.

 

Is there a specific reason for this or is it just looks?

 

I was planning on making mine much more square at the rear...

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Ah OK - I was thinking of having the door go back far enough so that it goes past the rollbar and then have magnets stuck on the door frame so the door clamps to the rollbar and that will hopefully cut down on the flapping - does that seem plausible?

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