Building LR 110 Front Row Door Frames (pushbutton doors)

[Vedrover]

So you decided you would like to rebuild your doors – very well, then read on the easy-to-follow “how to”. The project can be done in 3 easy steps:
Step 1 – Reconsider;
Step 2 – really, go buy new doors instead;
Step 3 – well if you feel you really must, then here’s my story. Go set a teapot, it will take a while….

Chapter 1 – How did I get there
I bought me a 1988 LR 110 off of US CBP. It spent most of its life on the coast of UK and then was left to rot for another 3 years in the bonded warehouse in North Carolina (it’s one of the hundreds of other units seized by US CBP back in 2013).
So, when I opened the doors for the first time, rust fell down and formed a neat pile on the pavement under each door I opened. That was all that was left of the bottom channels. When I closed the door I heard the shuffling sounds of more rust collapsing inside.
I took a wire wheel and tested a few areas on the doors and determined that the second row doors were beyond any rescue, but the front doors still appeared to have some life left in them. I foolishly assumed I could reuse the top parts and some of the bottom ones as well. I wish I had a time machine to go back in time and smack myself upside my head for that decision.

Front door –disassembled


Front door – skin off (NB: the original glue holding skin and frame together is surprisingly strong):



Second row door – disassembled:


Second row door – skin off:



Chapter 2 – Planning (or lack thereof)
I ordered new second row doors (galv steel on galv steel), new front skins (galv steel), and outside under-window channels as no one could do super-shallow deep bend for me here in Calgary. YRM has them and so does SP4x4, but the latter don’t advertise these parts but they would sell them if you ask. Since my skins and doors were coming from SP4x4, I got the channels from them too).

As I was waiting for my order I started chopping up the first door and realized what I just committed myself to.
In the end, the only parts I could salvage were:
· Rear section of the pillar where the lock is mounted (but the interior insert had to be fabricated as it was just rust held together by paint)
· Internal under-window piece (the one that holds the door locking latch)
· Door handle piece (although I had to Franken-build each from leftover pieces of all 4 doors)
Everything else had to be fabricated!


Chapter 3 – Fabrication
I looked at the door profiles, sold by YRM and other suppliers and all of them were offering just the “top hat” profile that’s used on side pillars but not on the bottom. Original profile has a water collection channel at the top, and I figured mine would need to have it too as I didn’t want water to just pool and find its way out.
Original profile is fabricated out of three pieces and I had the first one made for me from two. When I picked it up from the fella who bent it for me, he told me I was the reason for him to start drinking early that day and that if I ever ask him to do another piece like this one, he will shove it up my place where the sun doesn’t shine. So the profile for my second door was fabricated from three pieces, and, quite frankly, it looks better, but I had to do a lot more plug welds, naturally.

All fabrication was made from 18Ga cold-rolled steel.

Typical after-market replacement piece:


Two-piece fabrication sketch:


Three-piece sketch fabrication sketch (part “B” not shown):


Franken-built door handle piece (two pieces from old doors and all-new pieces):



I fabricated hinge bolt inserts from original reused piece of steel and brand new 1/2” pipe:


When I was deciding on how to bend the pillar to match the curvature of the door, I decided to seek collective wisdom. My plan was to cut the two sides open, and cut the insert pieces that matched the curvature, and then bend/tack it as I go. However, the collective Internet wisdom (every single Welding and restorer forum as well as more experienced Welders I talked to) told me to do relief cuts instead. I again wish for a time machine now, as the relief cut method I’ve used on the first door took me approximately 30 additional manhours and the fit was still crappier than the method I was going to use and did end up using on the second door.

Curvature:


Method 1 - Relief cuts (at least 6 was needed):


Method 2 - Inserts and bend/tack:


The longest part of the process was fabricating the front and back pillars, as I needed to match dimensions and geometry in all 3 dimensions. Once those two are done, fitting everything up is pretty easy.

Here’s a picture of the finished front pillar:


I used old skins as my templates and new skins as a verification to get the dimensions right. I used the actual door openings and what was left of one of the doors as a template to match the geometry.



Tacking up the new pillar (relief cut in the back to match the top door bend) using original door as a template:


Using old skin as a template to match the dimensions of the original door:


Fit-up and tacking using new skin as a guide:


Assembling other components in the old skin (to match hinges, handle, etc.):


Trial fit:


And here’s the end result (shown before I installed a door check strap piece. I then also gave them a quick polish and sent them to galvanizer):




If I don’t forget, I’ll post the finished galvanized product too.

All in, about 40 man-hours per door frame, start to finish (plus extra 30 on the first one). Raw materials and bending ran me up to 30% of a finished door. Would I do it again? Hell no!

The only reasonable repair on a door frame is replacing the bottom channel, and that’s the extent of repair I would recommend on a door frame and will ever do myself going forward. But hey, all in, good experience, and I can now build me a new set completely from scratch, if I want to.

[evilfij]

Lol. And amazing work.

[Landy_Andy]

Nice job, post up the pics of the finished items !

[Rocky]

So CBP allowed seized trucks to seek asylum in Canada.

Interesting.

[Vedrover]

Originally Posted by Rocky

So CBP allowed seized trucks to seek asylum in Canada.

Interesting.

They most certainly do. They even provide it with a "clean title" via form SF-97.

I'll post the entire story of how I bought it and got it cleared in Canada, when I get some spare time on my hands.

[Vedrover]

Door frames came back from the galvanizer looking nice and shiny:

[Vedrover]

Door frames came back from the galvanizer, looking nice and shiny:

[Vedrover]

Here’s the final version – skin marine bonded to frame (just need to drill hinge bolt holes, which I will do after the final fitup). These doors are much heavier than the original ones (not surprising as the original ones were 1/3 rust and 1/3 dust), so, good thing I bought all-new hinges:

[Willh]

Originally Posted by Vedrover

Chapter 1 – How did I get there I bought me a 1988 LR 110 off of US CBP. It spent most of its life on the coast of UK and then was left to rot for another 3 years in the bonded warehouse in North Carolina (it’s one of the hundreds of other units seized by US CBP back in 2013).

A number of Land Rovers were seized in Wilmington, NC back in 2013, but to characterize it as "hundreds" would be a gross exaggeration.

Your 110, I presume:

https://www.cwsauctions.com/lots/1212485/detail

Doors look good by the way!

[don]

Outstanding work!

I built a new frame for my rear tailgate but that was very simple compared to what you have done.

If only they came from the factory as good as this!

[sonoronos]

what a faithful reproduction of the original doors! it's great to see people taking the time to try to rebuild doors to as close to factory as possible

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[Vedrover]

Originally Posted by Willh

A number of Land Rovers were seized in Wilmington, NC back in 2013, but to characterize it as "hundreds" would be a gross exaggeration.

Your 110, I presume:

https://www.cwsauctions.com/lots/1212485/detail

Doors look good by the way!

Yes, Will, you're right, I'm not sure why I even said hundreds, sorry, should've been "dozens" instead, I suppose my brain did a logarithmical conversion somehow :-)
Was it 61 on the warrant and 40 actually seized?

Yes, the truck on that auction page is now mine.

[61rover]

Given what NTO doors are going for, have you thought about what it would cost to produce these in quantity?

[Vedrover]

Originally Posted by 61rover

Given what NTO doors are going for, have you thought about what it would cost to produce these in quantity?

I have, and the effort involved in building a complete door is too high to be competitive, I'd be running a charity operation. You can get an all-steel door shell (frame + skin) from SP4x4 for about GBP 350 nowadays (which is what I did for the second row doors), and the only way to get to that number is by having access to a stamping press and a steady flow of orders.

What I could be doing however at my small scale, is individual repair sections, specifically, the bottom piece, that no other aftermarket supplier seems to care enough to reproduce. When I was researching this matter I was only able to find pieces fabricated as a simple top-hat shape without a water collecting channel.

[Willh]

Originally Posted by Vedrover

Yes, Will, you're right, I'm not sure why I even said hundreds, sorry, should've been "dozens" instead, I suppose my brain did a logarithmical conversion somehow :-)
Was it 61 on the warrant and 40 actually seized?

Yes, the truck on that auction page is now mine.

No worries sir! There were 40 Defenders listed on the civil warrant in my big case, back in July of 2014, but only around 32 were actually seized. There were also another 20-30 vehicles that were seized from the importer's shop pursuant to a separate criminal investigation warrant the year before, in April of 2013. Some of those vehicles actually belonged to people other than the importer and were simply there to be worked on. A tragic case of being "in the wrong place at the wrong time". All together, I ended up undertaking the pro bono representation for around 40+ clients (Note: I did not represent the importer).

The shipping records indicate that your 110 arrived at the Port of Wilmington in or around March of 2013 and the auction records show that it was sold on behalf of US Customs and Border Protection. Due to the timing, I suspect that your 110 was never actually granted entry into the United States; rather, it was seized at the port. Based on what I see in the photos, I assume that it was denied entry due to a non-original type engine.

At any rate, thanks for sharing your project sir and be sure to keep up the good work!

[Vedrover]

Originally Posted by Willh

The shipping records indicate that your 110 arrived at the Port of Wilmington in or around March of 2013 and the auction records show that it was sold on behalf of US Customs and Border Protection. Due to the timing, I suspect that your 110 was never actually granted entry into the United States; rather, it was seized at the port. Based on what I see in the photos, I assume that it was denied entry due to a non-original type engine.

At any rate, thanks for sharing your project sir and be sure to keep up the good work!

Will, you are correct, the vehicle was seized at the port and never cleared. Based on the only piece of original paperwork I could find (the rest removed by CBP), the receiver of this vehicle was Patterson Auto Sales (Wilmington, NC), that was involved in the NC importation of Defenders, some of which were later seized.

My speculation on the reason for seizure was even simpler than a non-original engine: according to VIN, the vehicle was manufactured in May 1988, which made it a bit over a month younger than the 25 years, required for it to clear the EPA age requirement at the time of importation (which was March 2013). Although, you might be right and an engine could be a possibility too.

On a side note: did I read you correctly that you have access to the original shipping records? I'd be delighted to take a peek if you do. Or are you just going by the CBP case number?