door timbers

[ian theobald]

G,day ,Just wondering has any one had much experience with the Timbers supplied by Moss ?
At sometime in my cars life some one has replaced the body and door timbers.
The door timbers are not cut to the standard that the factory fitted, especially the corner joins at the bottom but looks like the top and front door timbers are still original. Being such light doors has little effect on closing
I was going to purchase new timbers for the bottom and hinge section but was wondering how much they vary from car to car
Many years ago I had a Riley that an old Boat builder helped re timber and noted original timber screwed together under the door skin so had to split the wood to remove and was able to have all new timber joined from the inside . Much more complicated than a TC
Hopefully can re join in a similar manner and can slip in and out for trial fitment.
The rets of the car is rock solid with no rattles.
Along the chassis is a rather solid timber with angle iron bolted to it , perhaps why so taught but does flex when crossing my driveway
Is there a typical clearance around my doors to aim for as well as height rear top of the doors should sit above the body tub.
I have re hung drivers side so now sits above ,but the passenger side is flush and obviously too low.
Once all this is done can then fit new door trims that have been in a box for past year .
At the moment can see daylight around doors through gaps in existing piping and slight wear marks to paint at bottom rear where door has rubbed in the past
The existing trim is not original and has no piping ,only trim under the dash so hoping new trim will fit much neater but will need to know what typical clearance should be. Thanks Ian

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[Marv]

Hello Ian:
I'm just refitting door timbers on TC5141. I purchased them from Abingdon Spares and am not totally happy with the way they fit. The top and bottom timbers seem to be OK but the fore and aft timbers do not fit the door profile at all. In fact, I would have to hammer the door hinge timber in if I were to try to make it fit. I will have to re-profile the top and bottoms and adjust the hinge recesses if it is to work at all. Then there will be gaps as large as 1/2" in some spots that will have to be filled. I'm seriously thinking about scrapping the Abingdon wood and buying new from Craig Seabrook in Novelty, Ohio. I have had no experience with Moss wood. I have purchased the door turnbuckle adjustment braces from Sherwood Parker that helps alignment of the door profile to body fit. It will not help in up or down fitment as that seems to be more of a hinge problem.
Of course, if the previous owner did not do a proper job of body timber construction and observing the dimensions given in Mike Sherrell's book then you probably have little chance of making things right just by redoing door timbers alone. Have a look at Mike's book and his write-up on rebuilding the tub and doors. That will help I believe.

Best of luck...
Marv TC5141

[stephen stierman]

I built my tub using Moss timbers but was able to reuse the original door timbers and they worked ok with the rest of the Moss parts. One must keep in mind that some fettling is always going to be needed to fit things up, after all it is wood.

[Marv]

I totally agree on "some fiddling" to make things fit, but 1/2" gaps and total lack of contour is not "fiddling". Craig Seabrook's' wood needs 'fiddling" some of my Abingdon wood is good for kindling to light the fireplace as is. The best compliment I can give is that the hinge pillar bears a remote resemblance to the original. Two of the four pieces are pretty much OK. The two verticals are going to require a great deal of "fiddling!
Lesson learned, I bought the door wood from A.S. before I knew Craig made and sold his own. His workmanship is beyond comparison in my opinion.

Marv TC5141

[stephen stierman]

If the timbers you purchased lack the proper contours needed to fit the shape of the doors or body as it was designed, I would certainly agree. I have visited Craig's shop and have seen a body tub or two during construction and they all looked excellent, this well after I bought timbers from Moss. I will say the Moss product worked well also with proper contours and by fiddling I mean that if you are using some existing sections or body panels you will need to adjust gaps and such accordingly. This does not mean you should have to recut sections to make them work. I suspect there are no two body tubs exactly alike even from the factory given what you are working with.

[cdrolshagen]

Hi Ian,
I am not sure I you have a issue of Sherrels TC restauration guide - if so . ther is a instruction in how to dismantle
the door timbers.
If you need a scan of this page give me PN.
With some fiddeling it is possible to seperate the outer skin from the timber frame as I did that, it is easy than
to replace parts of the timber - I made these by myself.
cheers Carl