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Ron
I had sliding windows in my doors, I Just took them off and installed a single panel. I never open them more then and inch and it is a real PITA to clean between the over lap sections without disassembly. You end up with a much cleaner design using a single panel of Lexan. With sliding windows you have to bolt in top and bottom guides with exposed nuts. With a single panel you can tap directly into the window frame to attach the Lexan. Also when making the door latch I would design it so it locks the door location in, on 3 planes Vs just cross - car. Another lesson learned. I,m now using a pin that slides into a cylinder at the rear, for the door latch.
Dave W

Yes Dave, I've already studied your latches and decided to cop ah use them as a reference for building mine.

Warren, the Donks nice to look at anyway even if it's doesn't have the typical flat 7 windshield. Looks husky and powerful. I think my side curtains are going to be more like the ones visible over the hood of the Donk.

Ok, I caved. Bought something I could have made. I bought some s/s 2 piece hinges instead of making them. I'd previously made two pair for some cafe doors on my boat. I decided that for $7. a hinge it just wasn't worth my time to scratch build them. With a little squash in the press, little hacking and some relocated holes they'll be just fine.

Got real lucky removing the windshield support so I could drill holes for the hinges. Lucky I used blue Loktite to install the small shallow machine screws into the windshield frame. They came out without any damage and also that I was able to remove one side support and leave the windshield in place without any problem. Lucky again because I installed the windshield frame flush with the front of the support frame. Left a usable amount of material to mount the hinges. Gotta get lucky sometimes.

Couldn't resist trying out the hinge setup on my rough and fragile side curtain mockup. It's going to be just fine. The only drawback is that I have to relocate the side mirrors. That's why the lower hinge is left projecting forward of the windshield.

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

Ron
One last suggestion. When fab'ing the doors, make the hinge attachment point slotted so you can adjust for door sag, or clamp in place and match drill with the wt applied. The door does not wt that much but the leverage is enough to sag a 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
Dave W

Just throught i would say i have really enjoyed reading your build log, you have really docummented it very well

Hi Ron, great job, I'm watching this closely as it is also on my list of things to do. I'm going to use the same hinges I made for my wind wings as they are fairly heavy duty. Are you using a MIG or a TIG to weld the alum. frames? ...john

jrb4age
I used the winglet brackets for attaching my doors. I used one long aluminum hinge pin that fits thru both the top and bottom brackets. That way you can remove the door in 30 sec just by pulling the pin. The only issue is that along my hinge I have about a 3/16" opening between the windshield support bracket and the hinge, but nothing that the heater can not handle, but I'm sure rain could come thru.
Doors are good for arctic drives, Dave W

Thanks for the comments. Dave, feel free to comment anytime, your suggestions are usually well thought out and pratical.

John, I TIG'd the frame. I'd never welded aluminum before so I wasn't sure how it'd go. All my welding for the last 10 years has been thin wall s/s and I needed to install a larger breaker before I could weld aluminum. Never really had the need to weld aluminum so I didn't install one until now. I was surprised how easy it is to weld, I was expecting a major disaster but it's much more forgiving than thin wall s/s.

The frame fabrication went well and I was pretty happy until I put some tarpaper on to see how it'd look with black vinyl. The word ugly came to mind I should have stuck with the design of my original mockup where the center bar sloped downwards and joined at the intersection of the other two pieces. Oh well, not a big deal. I'll sleep on it but if it still looks ugly tomorrow then it'll be cut out the center bar and weld in a sloping one.

On a positive note, the relocated mirror position works fine.

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

The frame turned out well and looks pretty light.

I was contemplating some similar except with a piece of aluminum for the lower portion. It never got beyond pondering - not sure if it would look better.

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-Andrew
Build Log
Youtube

Well, some things change with time, but ugly doesn't so chop, chop and weld, weld and I'm back to my original design. Since I'm not going to have sliding windows there isn't any real need to have the center bar level. Also with the clear part lower at the rear it retains more of the go cart feel seeing the road so close.

Amazing despite the choping and welding it didn't twist or pull out of shape although I did clamp a temporary piece on before I cut out the center bar.

Weight of the frame with hinges is 26.5 oz./750 grams

I taped on tarpaper again and I'm happy with the looks. I then taped on al. foil to see what an aluminum skin would look like. Might go with al. as it's quick and simple to do and easy to swap if I change my mind.

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

Ron
That looks great, the angled lower section does look nice. But now we know how you got the 27oz. door wt!!. Ultra thin aluminum door skin.
Dave W

With a .032" door skin the 27 oz. is a distant memory. It's now up to 46 oz./1300 grams. That includes some brackets for a door latch that also will allow me to add an exterior door handle later.

The skin went on easily enough. It's 5052, 3003 would have been even easier. It's a little deceptive, it looks like a flat panel but it's not. The front curves to follow the scuttle curve and the panel "warps" from the front to the rear. Still needs some tidying up.

Haven't found any thin lexan locally yet. One plastic shop gave me a scare job about how dangerous it was to cut. I think he was trying to get me to give him the job. Fat chance, I've cut it before without any problem.

On the drivers side I tried the side curtain out without installing the side mirror. Have to say being able to flip it open and have it park in the open position is nice. But I don't see any other good position to mount the mirror so I won't have the self parking option when getting in out out.

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

The doors look good Ron, the only thing fishy about your photo is that it looks sunny there, what gives with that ?

I would expect that once I am on the road and after my first blast up the canyon with my wife she'll be wanting me to do a set of those.
Look forward to the 'on the road' omments after you are finished.



Al

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Super Seven 3.4

What a joke, two plastics places within 5 minutes of home and couldn't get lexan from them. I went back to the first one again and he repeated the whole song and dance that I'd kill myself if I tried to cut it myself. When I assured him I wasn't worried about cutting it the price jumped to a 100 bucks for a cutting and he didn't have any

Then I notice the place that I usually buy resins also advertising lexan. Wam, bam, lexan in hand and cheaper than any previous quotes Took it home, traced patterns, bandsaw, drill press and two finished lexan windows and all my fingers intact. Fealt like taking them down to guy who gave me a hard time and waving them under his face with suitable comments

I'm not thrilled with the 1000 grit swirls. I might go to a polished finish, havn't decided yet. I also could easily wrap the side curtain with black vinyl which would change the appearance also. Not big items, whether they reduce buffeting is the issue, can't wait to try them out.

Finished weight is 5lbs.

The car has sat and not run for a couple of months since I did my gas tank mods. So I put in gas and fired it up. Ran well and gas gage works Now my passengers won't have to worry we're about to run out of gas.

So I feel I've done a reasonable amount of winter work and I want summer to start NOW I hate waiting for the good weather.

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

I gave the aluminum a once over with 1000 grit and I'll leave it that way till I test them out. Mounted the lexan. I was going to use 2 sided tape but decided to use 6-32 machine screws. That lets me keep the option open of removing the lexan to work on any mods I might want to do in the future. The black tape is only acting as a very minimal cushion between the frame and the lexan. Took the protective film off. Wondering how long it'll be before I put my first scratch on it. Only 6 weeks and 2 days until I can try them out

Ron

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They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. By the time you finish the car it'll feel like you've done it on your knees.

Why is it 6 weeks and 2 days until you can try them out?