Doors in a T-Bucket

[Yogi]

Has anyone put in doors to a Spirit or any other bucket?

[donsrods]

A lot of guys do it successfully, but I never have. What turned me against them is that a buddy of mine had an opening door on the passenger side of his bucket, and when I rode shotgun my arm would get pinched as we drove down the road. The flexing of the body would close up the door gap at the top where my arm was resting. That'll get your attention real quick.

But I bet a lot of our members have them and they don't have that problem. Me, I just jump over the side.........well, at my age, I CLIMB over the side.

Don

[RPM]

I put extra big doors in both sides of my bucket. I filled the door ridges on the inside of the body, then ground the outside ridges off flat. Then put really big doors in.

[Youngster]

Here's a door I installed in a Speedway body.

[Youngster]

I know, what the............... I need to play some more with the picture posting. I'll get it.....just give the ol' man time.

[Yogi]

Looks sweet to me Youngster and RPM I like yours too! The whole reason I'd like to get a door (at least one) is my wife can not as of now get in and out of it. We bought a Spirit bucket couple weeks ago and the wife is 4'10" and has MS and she can not climb.
Currently it has an insert, but looking at Youngsters there, I may be able to do away with that and gain a little more space for this old fat man too! What kind of hinges and latches did you all use?

[RPM]

I used origianl Model T hinges. they fit the body perfectly, and some latches from Speedway.

[donsrods]

Car Craft did an excellent build up series in the late 60's or early 70's. They built an entire T bucket from the ground up, fabricating almost every piece, it was a great article. Anyway, the put an opening door in the car and the way they did it was to first laminate some wood in the door jam area so that when they cut out the door half of the wood pieces would be on the door part and half would be on the body. This created a door jam.

They did like RPM and used original Model T hinges because there is a little bit of weight hanging off of them, especially when the door is open, and the T hinges are strong. I think they used Coupe hinges and modified them, but not 100 percent sure about that. They also used a model T latch.

Don

[Humidi-T]

My body had a door already in it, but it got scrapped when I stretched the body. The way to do it is to glass wood to cover the seam, then cut through it all, leaving behind two jambs. The trick is to cut it such that the door doesn't hang up when opening it. On the bottom side, you'll need to keep the cut level even though the body is rounded.

I used original T hinges. I notched my door from the inside, and glassed in two pieces of 3/16" plates. Filled the area with glass. Then drilled through the end of the door, through the glass and tapped the plates to mount the hinge straps to the door edge. Pretty strong.

[Yogi]

As always....you guys are the best! I just now get up the courage to do it.

RPM....what seats are in yours? Also, I'll be giving you a call soon to get a new tank too.

Thanks again!

Jim