I need help. 29 Ford Door dissassembly

[rsbluesbro]

I want to paint the inside of my model A doors. I can't figure out how to remove the wood from around the windows. If anyone knows how to do this or can recommend a source of information, please let me know.

Progress at stand still.

[Bob/Kansas City]

Not sure what body style you have but when I removed the old original interior from my '29 town sedan I found that the wood in the doors had been painted (or over sprayed) with the lower body color.
Since the pillars around the windows will be covered by interior panels anyway I'd say go ahead and just paint the doors and let the overspray fall where it may.

[rsbluesbro]

Thank you; Bob. My car is a 29 Briggs 1/4 window Touring sedan. I was hoping to remove the wood so I could paint the metal under the wood. I removed most of the wood. The wood that goes around the window seems almost impossible to remove without damaging the door. I was thinking that there must be a trick that I haven't tried.
Maybe, there isn't a good way to remove it.

thank you for your response.
Bob S.

[Dick Carne]

Bob -

If your wood is still in fairly good shape, you may want to re-think your strategy on this, since there is a good chance that the metal beneath the wood should still be in generally good condition. If you pull the wood out, there is a chance that you may damage some of the wood, or perhaps alter the overall fit upon reassembly. With that said, I pulled all of the wood out of my door skins when I went through our fordor a few years back. The door wood was still in overall good shape, but I considered, perhaps like yourself, the notion of restoring the car without a thorough examination of both the wood and the metal beneath. In that event, I would encourage you to start by removing the top sill plate (this is nailed onto the top of the door and into the wood across the top of the window); then remove each of the nails from around the door skin where it is nailed to the inside of the door frame. From here, you should be able to work the entire wood frame out by gradually working the frame out of the door skin (the door skin by itself is rather flimsy). If possible, and if the wood is still in good condition, the reassembly process should be essentially the same in reverse. Depending on the condition of the nail holes left once the nails are removed, you may find it beneficial to go to a slightly larger diameter nail when you reassemble the door. Once reassembled, you may want to use seam sealer to fill in the gap where the top panel rail fits back on top of the door. Good luck with your project whichever way you decide to go.

Dick

[Russ B]

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Without seeing a photo of how it is put together, I can offer only an observation. The original Briggs Body door construction was to put the skin on an already constructed wood frame, per my understanding. Thus, the impossibility of disassembly without damage is understandable.

My '29 Briggs Body Cabriolet is similarly a wood intensive structure. Perhaps, it is similar to your door construction?? I took my old wood out and the upper door skin was originally left unpainted and was still pretty rust free after 80+ years.

While the bottom of the door skin needed a sand blast to remove rust (no holes), the top of the door skin probably could have gone another 80 years without attention.

While I was unable to remove the wood without destroying it, I was able to modify the new wood so it could be readily slipped in after the rear wood upright was in place.

This is the back end of the top piece on the left door that has been cut just a bit so it can be slid in position.

Below is right door being assembled.


Here is the right door with most of the new wood in place, assuming the sedan has similarities in door construction.


Maybe this is of some help.