First I added flox to the edges of the doors where they were not tight enough to the frame. I did this by putting packing tape on the door frame, and packing tape on the inside of the door edge, overhanging the door surface. I then closed the door and filled the area with flox. The packing tape on the door holds the flox flush. Then when it dried I used a belt sander to sand it down to a nice gap, and sand it flush with the surface of the door on the inside and outside.  Then taped off around the windows and used a 6"putty knife to spread micro on the surface of the door seam. This got any low spots on the door or frame filled with micro. As soon as I got it all the way around the door I opened the door as it had filled in the gap and the door would have been permenently sealed if I had not. This did leave a little jagged edge on the door and frame, but after drying was quickly sanded down smooth with a belt sander.    For the interior of the door I am going to cover them with headliner material. I am making fiberglass inserts which will be held in with pop fasteners so that it will have a clean edge, and cover the latch mechanism. I got this from Brandi.  First I cut out some cover panels for the hinge areas. I used excess door trimings from the initial trimming of the door.  I also made covers for the pin guides. I am going to use RTV to hold the pin guide covers in place, so that they can be removed if the pin guides need replaced or adjusted. A cover is needed so that the door seals have something to press against.  2 layers fo fiberglass cloth over top.  Then Micro. after sanding the cloth layup.  Then covered door in packing tape as a release agent. 2 layers of cloth and then peal-ply. I used ziplock bags filled with sand to press the cloth into the door reseses. The first door I did this to I had a lot of wrinkles after it was dry. I used a belt sander to sand out the high points of the wrinkles, and then added addtional cloth over the thin or missing spots.  Second door came out much better. Next I need to put the doors back on the plane, and mark the edges of the door seals. The headliner can't overlap the door seals as they are already tight. I will paint the edges where the headliner does not cover. I still need to put all the windows in, but am waiting on the firewall work before ordering the glue which has a shelf life. |