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MG MG Y Type - YT Door Timbers

I have an MG YT I am rebuilding and am trying to figure out how to remove the wood from the door skin.

I have removed all the nails from all around the door. My questions are:

1) were the frames assembled and screwed together and then dropped in as one piece?

2) were they glued wood to the metal?

3) what is the easiest and best way to remove them?

Thanks for any hints and tips.
Paul Barrow

Paul, if the doors were made in a similar way to the TD, I believe the wooden door frame was assembled complete. The metal door edges which wrap around the timbers were attached to the door timbers and then the door skin was added and attached to the edge metal by crimping edges over.

Check out the BBS TD-TF Archives and view the video of Hutson Motor Company making and attaching TD door skin to frame at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEqpqZj8FPw - from 16min mark

From memory, people wanting to replace door timber have had to remove nails, then pry up the edges. Start with bottom of door, as this is usually the most rotten timber.

TD timbers were screwed together and not glued. I can not say the same for the YT, as my YTs doors were good.
Stuart Duncan

Good video and extremely interesting, however pity they do not make YT doors too otherwise that might be the way to go. Sadly we have to deconstruct our doors and I do not want to take the skin off the frame so I have to look at opening the frame up from the inside and taking it out. Yes that may result in some stretching of the metal on the inside of the door where it overlaps the wood, but that is what I think I will have to do.
Paul Barrow

Paul,

I had sent you details of removing TC door timbers from Sherrill's TC's Forever some time ago. Did this not help? I would have guessed YT doors are simply a larger version of contemporary TC ones.

Rocky
Rodney C "Rocky" von Dullen

Hi Paul, I replaced the bottom and vertical timbers on my YT doors My timber was rotten in the bottom corners and around the hinges. In the top corner there was a screw but it put in from side that was covered by the door skin...To get my timber out I bent the skim back on the vertical door side and removed it in pieces, a die grinder removed the screw. The bottom had been replaced before so I it needed a metal plate to join it together as it did not fit. Good luck
Bob Wood

Thanks Bob - that is basically where I am up to but am still slowly bending back the flange. Had to take 2 weeks off for family visiting.
Paul Barrow

Rocky

Yes you did send me the notes from Mike Sherrill and yes it does say in them that under no circumstance pry the folded over edge back.

The only problem with this though is on the YT the draft excluder holding strip is nailed through into the wood as well as the folded over edge. It is nigh on impossible to get the wood out without bending that strip back.

The other problem with Mike's notes is that it works off the assumption that the wood you are refitting is readily available in kit form. It may well be available "off the shelf" for MG TCs but the MG YT wood frame is not easily available.

I have drilled off all the heads of the old nails on the outside of the folded over lip and that is when I found the other nails in the draft excluder nails that I now have to drill off too! As far as I can tell once they are all off I should be able to lift the rest of the wood out ... hopefully.

Work in progress continues slowly!
Paul Barrow

Paul, sorry to hear of your challenges/troubles with the differences between YT v TC door construction. Not surprising as the YT door is much larger/heavier. Do persist!
Wildfire season" is quickly becoming twelve month's long! Persist in that as well, and thanks for all you do.

Rocky
Rodney C "Rocky" von Dullen

HI Guys....a thread I can comment on!

I have refurbished the doors from my YT and the only way I found to get the wood parts out was you pry back the edge of the metal frame of the door enough that you can work the wood out, complete. The heads of many of the screws are against the door skin and impossible to get out without doing this. It appears to me it was assembled and then dropped into the door frame. I managed to do this and get all the wood back in the door and gently bend the metal lip over and replace the nails.

Just my experience.

Joe
J.D. Hine

Thanks Joe - that is the route I am going down. I have had to halt progress for a couple of weeks now because of work but hope to get back on it again sometime next week.

Paul
Paul Barrow


Gentlemen

I did the job by designing a collapsible wooden frame that fits into the door skin, without having to pry the folded over edge back. It is one hell of a job, but it can be done.
I attach two of the docent photos I made, some years ago.

By the way, I did not bother about the rubber draft excluder strips at the bottomof the YT doors. Neither of the T-Types uses any of them either, because you get a nice, enjoyable draft driving with the hood and side screens down anyway :o)

Anton




Anton Piller

This thread was discussed between 20/08/2022 and 25/10/2022

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