W n N Doorskins and rear wheel arch repair panels?

Cornishman

Cornishman

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Has anyone got experience of using W n N steel door skins? I appreciate that it is a skilled job to fit and gap them, but has anyone had this done with a good result?

What I think will be easier is to fit and finish the rear wheel arches, again anyone had success with W n N parts?

Or, has anyone an alternative source for these panels? Do BMW still offer them?

I am considering a revamp and I need these two areas, as well as a spare wheel well to make the car even nicer. It Is my beemers 45 th birthday next month so I think it deserves a professional refresh.

Regards
 
Yes I used both left and right W&N steel door skins, I also used the W&N rear wheel arches, both with good results. The only problem might have been our lack of skills to get it perfect, but the parts themself were of very good quality.
Check page 1,2 for rear arches, and page 3 for door skins in my thread found in my signature.
 
Gransin said:
Btw, the last couple of times someone has put my name like this @Markos, I haven't got any notification:(
Click to expand...

You kind of need to let the site autocomplete the name and select it from the box. The same thing happened to me the other day when I tagged a bunch of BBS owners in my FS thread.
 
I have experience of W&N door skins. I needed one in my restoration. Whether it is the workmanship of the person fitting it to the frame or the door skin itself, it is NOT a good fit.

I was alarmed and checked the whole car for correct alignment using the attached, which my brother sourced for me. It was straight which was a relief, but I now need to find another door skin at some point in the future.

Its the drivers side door too, which is a source of irritation each time I get into the car.


Dimensions for BMW E9.png
 
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I'm sorry to hear that, Rek. What was the biggest problem with it? My door skins fell right over the edges of the door frame, the only thing we had to do was to make sure the door met up to the body panels before welding the skin to the frame.
Some minor tweaks are always needed, but nothing major in my case. My passenger door didn't come out perfect, but that was our fault and not the skins fault.
 
Fitting the skin is the easy part, but you do need a few different hammers as getting into some of the areas to hammer down you need a head that is off set, you can’t get a normal hammer in some of the areas.


See

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Power-tec-Tools-Door-Skinning-Hammer-91318/1684208403?iid=382303920482&chn=ps



I have had over the years had mixed results with door skins – some I’ve been lucky with and the gaps are ok – but its quite normal (if you want exact gaps) to have to work the skins.

A few folk use fillers only to even up gaps, but I find that doing most of the work in steel work and then finshing off with filler or lead loading

See


Once the skin is on and you know where its to close/ far away from the reveal, you have to either grind down the edge of the door and re weld it up, or weld extra beads on the edge of the skin to build it up. its all time consuming then use a skim of filler or lead to finish off, but you will get great gaps .
After that you need to get the doors sitting flush with the Sill , front and rear wings!
Its a 3 dimension nightmare......
 
I’m curious to know what the driver has been for new skins. Is it rust near the upper chrome trim? Filler on the doors? Rust near the rocker? Both of my cars are rusty but the doors seem relatively decent.

I have alignment issues with my driver door. I decided to keep my spare driver door just in case. I’m not opposed to dropping new skins on them if needed.
 
Markos said:
I’m curious to know what the driver has been for new skins. Is it rust near the upper chrome trim? Filler on the doors? Rust near the rocker? Both of my cars are rusty but the doors seem relatively decent. I have alignment issues with my driver door. I decided to keep my spare driver door just in case. I’m not opposed to dropping new skins on them if needed.
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In my case it was a mix of all the above, rusty frames, rusty skins, lots of filler, dents underneath the filler, alignment issues as the doors were not original to the car.
 
BMWQP said:
I used both left and right W&N aluminium door skins as you can see.
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Hi - I see you have bonded the top of the doors as well - I have not done that to mine because when I took them to bits they were not bonded, however it could have been missed when it was built.
Is this normal? however, if its not, I see no reason why I should not bond them like you... I think it would be a better job
Regards

Marc
 
Marc-M said:
Hi - I see you have bonded the top of the doors as well - I have not done that to mine because when I took them to bits they were not bonded, however it could have been missed when it was built.
Is this normal? however, if its not, I see no reason why I should not bond them like you... I think it would be a better job
Regards

Marc
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My alloy doors are not bonded yet, but i also will be using automotive body adhesive. Some time ago, had opportunity to buy same kit as below, for very reasonable price (not like as in that shop): https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/188997/Body-Panel-Adhesive-Kit-0129891771/
Cornishman said:
Has anyone got experience of using W n N steel door skins? I appreciate that it is a skilled job to fit and gap them, but has anyone had this done with a good result?

What I think will be easier is to fit and finish the rear wheel arches, again anyone had success with W n N parts?

Or, has anyone an alternative source for these panels? Do BMW still offer them?

I am considering a revamp and I need these two areas, as well as a spare wheel well to make the car even nicer. It Is my beemers 45 th birthday next month so I think it deserves a professional refresh.

Regards
Click to expand...
Mine aluminium skins from W&N fitted well. And i made almost whole inner door part repair on both - bottom & top part where cutted/replaced by new one's.
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Wladek,
Any less than perfection would have surprised me...... always a pleasure to see your work.
I’d have you restore a E9 for me with your incredible attention to detail. I’ve heard that the W/N alu skins are top notch.
Bravissimo
Keshav
 
I had good results with a steel W&N skin on my passenger door.

The gaps are not perfect, they will need welding in some spots and grinding in others. However, I found them very easy to fit and they match the profile of the front and rear fenders.



img_1154-jpg.31321
 
Marc M is correct either grind a bit off or add a bead weld to get the gaps even if the skin does not fit properly. you also need to run a straight edge along the whole panel to make sure it fits flush with front fender and rear fender from front to rear.

IMG_0107.JPG
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paul said:
Marc M is correct either grind a bit off or add a bead weld to get the gaps even if the skin does not fit properly. you also need to run a straight edge along the whole panel to make sure it fits flush with front fender and rear fender from front to rear.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I need. Is there anyone in the UK who can do this or is it an easy job for a good bodyshop?
 
You need to go to a Panelshop with a good fabricator in house......try some custom shops (ie hot rods).....they should be able to help. I don't know about the UK.....I am in Australia.
 
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