Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Thanks for the step by step info, even though I’m sure all of it is somewhere in this or one of your other extensive threads.
What did you use to bond the inner and outer sections together?
Also, there’s no such thing as having too many clamps. At least that what I tell my wife.

There are two ways to bond the shells together. For the first few barn doors I made I bonded them with fiberglass and polyester resin, I sandwiched a layer of fiberglass mat soaked in polyester resin between the shells and clamped them together. For this one I used West System Six 10 epoxy - it's a lot less messy than the other method, it comes in a convenient tube that goes in a standard caulk gun and has a nozzle that mixes the epoxy: https://www.westsystem.com/specialty-epoxies/six10-thickened-epoxy-adhesive/.

Lots of clamps help get a consistent bond on parts like this. It doesn't take a lot of pressure, but having a lot of places to hold the joint together makes for a better joint. This is about half of the clamps in my workshop, I haven't bought any new clamps in years so maybe there's a limit to that old saying .

 

[jscherb]

I installed the glass gasket and dropped by the local auto glass place to order the glass. I'm doing tempered glass in a fairly dark tint - it should be a bit darker than the factory liftgate. I made that executive decision because Donny's Jeep lives in Florida where every bit of tint is helpful.

Donny's Ursa Minor has dark carpet on the inside, so I'll paint the inside of the barn door a dark color, not quite all the way to black but very dark gray like the factory interior. On the outside I'll do a textured "hardtop black".

I expect I won't get the glass until January so between now and then I can finish the hardware and paint so when the glass arrives installing it will be the only thing left to do.

 

[Zeep]

What will Donny be using in place of the liftgate hinges?

 

[jscherb]

What will Donny be using in place of the liftgate hinges?

We haven't discussed it, but it's a great place to mount lights for the kitchen area. I'm sure he'll reply if he's got plans for something there.

 

[rubicon91]

What will Donny be using in place of the liftgate hinges?

You know I am not sure yet. My current rear window has some LED strips on it for lighting so yes it will most likely get some sort of lighting added there. Once it is installed and we can get it all tested out I will figure that out for sure.

 

[MattJ]

I think the Ursa Minor is the PERFECT combination with the barn door that Jeff designed. I can't understand why Ursa Minor wouldn't want to offer the option as a bundle - clearly their customers are willing to pay for premium quality and innovative functionality. Maybe Donny's rig will change their minds and convince them to license Jeff's design and launch a new product option!

 

[jscherb]

When I did the original design of the barn door, I did fillers for the hinge recesses... I think the bolt holes are very useful for other things, like lights, awnings, etc., but fillers like these could be another option if the barn door ever got into production.

 

[jscherb]

I think the Ursa Minor is the PERFECT combination with the barn door that Jeff designed. I can't understand why Ursa Minor wouldn't want to offer the option as a bundle - clearly their customers are willing to pay for premium quality and innovative functionality. Maybe Donny's rig will change their minds and convince them to license Jeff's design and launch a new product option!

The barn door will definitely be a nice feature for Donny's camper, but believe me it's incredibly handy running errands around town too .

If Ursa Minor is interested in making the barn door an option for their camper I'd be happy to discuss it with them.

 

[jscherb]

Yesterday I picked up a front pair of factory half doors, found them on Craigslist in North Jersey. In this photo they're sitting in the basement with fiberglass hard shell/slider window uppers installed:

Since my Jeep isn't yellow, I'll be repainting them. While I'm at it I'll also paint the fiberglass uppers body color, should end up looking something like this...

I'm not really a fan of the body-color inside of the doors so when I paint them, I'll paint the inside of the doors dark gray to match the interior.

Another change I'll make - I've got power locks on my full doors, so I'll experiment with converting the lock mechanisms/wiring harnesses in the doors from manual to power. I'll also implement the wiring for power/heated mirrors in the event I ever decide to switch from manual mirrors. I don't think it will be a difficult conversion, I'll post about it when I do it.

 

[Zeep]

Nice Score! Still looking for a set for my TJ.

 

[jscherb]

Today I rekeyed my Craigslist factory half doors to match my Jeep key. I took photos along the way so I could document the procedure for anyone else who buys used doors and wants their Jeep key to work with them.

Step 1. Remove the four screws holding the interior trim panel.

Step 2. Remove the stake pocket liners. Pry gently under the edge of the liner and it'll pop right out.

Step 3. Remove the trim panel. Pull up gently on the panel at where the wiring harness exits and the clips that remain will pop out of their holes and the panel can be removed.

Step 4. Remove the outside door handle. This is best done with an 8mm socket and an extension; there are access holes in the door to get the socket on the nuts.

Step 5. Remove the three Torx screws that hold the latch in place using a T-30 Torx driver. Once the screws are out, the latch can be moved toward the bottom of the door enough to allow access to the lock.

Step 6. I'm shining a flashlight into the door to highlight the lock. The lock is held in place with a sheet metal clip that needs to be slid away from the lock. In the second photo below the lock and the clip have been removed and placed on the door so the clip can be seen better.

Now that the lock is removed, it can be taken to a locksmith or the Jeep dealer where they can swap the pins to match your key. I took mine to the Jeep dealer and they rekeyed them for free.

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. One thing to be careful of is that the lever on the lock must engage with a v-shaped bellcrank on the "presenter". The presenter is the brown plastic thing attached to the latch mechanism and "presents" the motion of the lock lever and the door handle to the latch to operate the latch. After you've reinstalled the Torx screws holding the latch in place, test the operation of the key and if it doesn't operate the lock correctly than the lock lever isn't in the proper position in the presenter receiver.

Just for clarity, this drawing is from the MOPAR assembly manual for the half doors and it shows the v-shaped bellcrank that the lock lever engages with.

I probably won't get back to working on these doors until after the holiday, but what I plan to do next is convert the locks to electric operation and provide support for power/heated mirrors. I'll document those steps when I do them.

 

[rubicon91]

Today I rekeyed my Craigslist factory half doors to match my Jeep key. I took photos along the way so I could document the procedure for anyone else who buys used doors and wants their Jeep key to work with them.

Step 1. Remove the four screws holding the interior trim panel.

Step 2. Remove the stake pocket liners. Pry gently under the edge of the liner and it'll pop right out.

Step 3. Remove the trim panel. Pull up gently on the panel at where the wiring harness exits and the clips that remain will pop out of their holes and the panel can be removed.

Step 4. Remove the outside door handle. This is best done with an 8mm socket and an extension; there are access holes in the door to get the socket on the nuts.

Step 5. Remove the three Torx screws that hold the latch in place using a T-30 Torx driver. Once the screws are out, the latch can be moved toward the bottom of the door enough to allow access to the lock.

Step 6. I'm shining a flashlight into the door to highlight the lock. The lock is held in place with a sheet metal clip that needs to be slid away from the lock. In the second photo below the lock and the clip have been removed and placed on the door so the clip can be seen better.

Now that the lock is removed, it can be taken to a locksmith or the Jeep dealer where they can swap the pins to match your key. I took mine to the Jeep dealer and they rekeyed them for free.

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. One thing to be careful of is that the lever on the lock must engage with a v-shaped bellcrank on the "presenter". The presenter is the brown plastic thing attached to the latch mechanism and "presents" the motion of the lock lever and the door handle to the latch to operate the latch. After you've reinstalled the Torx screws holding the latch in place, test the operation of the key and if it doesn't operate the lock correctly than the lock lever isn't in the proper position in the presenter receiver.

Just for clarity, this drawing is from the MOPAR assembly manual for the half doors and it shows the v-shaped bellcrank that the lock lever engages with.

I probably won't get back to working on these doors until after the holiday, but what I plan to do next is convert the locks to electric operation and provide support for power/heated mirrors. I'll document those steps when I do them.

Are you trying to tell me or better yet show me Jeff Hahahaha Great work!!

 

[jscherb]

Are you trying to tell me or better yet show me Jeff Hahahaha Great work!!

You were definitely on my mind as I was taking the pictures .

 

[Zeep]

Since you have them torn half apart, time to color match!

 

[jscherb]

Since you have them torn half apart, time to color match!

I do plan to repaint them to match, but I've got a few mods to make first. Since my JKU has electric locks and power/heated mirrors, I'm going to convert the doors to electric locks and add support for the power/heated mirrors. There will be a minor mod to the exterior sheet metal for the mirrors, I need to add a hole for the wiring to pass through. Also I haven't decided yet if I'll use factory full door lock actuators (expensive) or if I'll install aftermarket lock actuators, so there may be some mounting holes I need to make in the inside shell of the door if I go aftermarket.

Once I make those changes, I will paint the outside of the door to match the body color of the Jeep. I'll paint the inside of the door to match the interior of the Jeep, I don't really like how the factory half doors show so much body color on the inside. And while I'm at it I'll paint the fiberglass uppers body color as well.

I'll post about each step when I do it, right now I'm waiting for a factory full door wiring harness to arrive, that'll swap in place of the wiring in already in the half door and provide support for the locks and mirror.