The Ford Barn

Bruce_MO · 04-09-2026, 04:01 PM

What’s the easiest way to remove the skins from the wood door frames on a touring? I see they’re nailed on with lots of small nails. Grind the heads off, or get under the tabs on the skins and pry? I may reuse the wooden inner frames on two of the doors, as they’re in excellent shape. I need to remove the skins to get at the back sides with dollies and other body tools, as the doors are all very wavy and beat up. Thanks

rotorwrench · 04-11-2026, 03:56 PM

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It's difficult to get under a nail head unless it can be moved even a small amount proud by prying up under the skin. If it could be done with minimal bending then it may be possible to work a putty knife under enough to get them out. I made a nail puller out of a putty knife to get the ones out on my 29 Sport Coupe and it worked fairly well. Some of the heads came off during the process but they were rusty and the wood was shot. The shallow wedge shape with a narrow slot works best. I had to smooth out corners so it wouldn't tend to dig into the sheet metal while tapping on the end of the knife. I took the hand grips off due to beating them to death. It gave more clearance to get closer down to the metal as well.

Having removed so many rivets in my day by drilling the head. A person could use a small drill but the nails may be pretty small so not an easy job either way. If the wood is salvageable then getting nail remains out would also be a job.

04-09-2026, 04:01 PM	#1
Bruce_MO Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 592	1917 touring- door skin removal What’s the easiest way to remove the skins from the wood door frames on a touring? I see they’re nailed on with lots of small nails. Grind the heads off, or get under the tabs on the skins and pry? I may reuse the wooden inner frames on two of the doors, as they’re in excellent shape. I need to remove the skins to get at the back sides with dollies and other body tools, as the doors are all very wavy and beat up. Thanks

04-11-2026, 03:56 PM	#2
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 18,006	Re: 1917 touring- door skin removal Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) It's difficult to get under a nail head unless it can be moved even a small amount proud by prying up under the skin. If it could be done with minimal bending then it may be possible to work a putty knife under enough to get them out. I made a nail puller out of a putty knife to get the ones out on my 29 Sport Coupe and it worked fairly well. Some of the heads came off during the process but they were rusty and the wood was shot. The shallow wedge shape with a narrow slot works best. I had to smooth out corners so it wouldn't tend to dig into the sheet metal while tapping on the end of the knife. I took the hand grips off due to beating them to death. It gave more clearance to get closer down to the metal as well. Having removed so many rivets in my day by drilling the head. A person could use a small drill but the nails may be pretty small so not an easy job either way. If the wood is salvageable then getting nail remains out would also be a job.