Gumball
03-31-2013, 10:57 AM
I can't take credit for this, because it wasn't my idea. I posted a while back about my struggle to find some way to accomplish a few things with the FFR-supplied side curtains, and someone suggested doing this. First, I wanted to give the ferrules more support so that the weight of the side curtains didn't flex the ferrules and the top skin of the doors, cracking the paint. Next, I wanted to ensure that the ferrules didn't direct water down into the door. And, finally, I wanted somewhere to mount the leather door release strap that the original cars had looped around the door latch knob and the drain tube on the middle ferrule.
Here's a pic of the inner door on an original CSX car:
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/CSX3049/img_4287.jpg
In response to my earlier post, someone suggested getting some larger tubing that was the same I.D. as the ferrules' O.D., and inserting it through a larger hole from below. Well, it worked like a charm. I dug through a friend's scrap pile and found some old chrome-moly chassis tubing that is 1/2" I.D. and 5/8th O.D. After using the ferrules to drill a pilot hole through the inner door skin, I opened the holes using a step-bit and a dremel (two holes on each door have to be oval due to the angle of the inner skin) and was able to get a tight fit for the tubing, but since the outer hole is only 1/2", the tubing can't push out the top.
I put a few grooves on the hidden part of the drain tubes and will hold them in place with low-expansion foam that I'm using to fill the doors. To keep everything aligned, I'll put the ferrules and the side curtains in place while filling the doors with foam, then I'll remove the ferrules and side curtains once the foam has set-up. I'll do the rest of the body work on the doors and paint them with the drain tubes in place, then I'll use some non-hardening seam sealer or caulk (nothing with silicone, though) to hold the ferrules in place once the paint is completed. That way, the ferrules can always be removed if necessary by using a deep well socket and a few light taps from the bottom.
Here's the mock-up of the drain tubes:
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes4_zps6193694f.jpg
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes3_zpsed03c6a1.jpg
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes2_zps4d59e547.jpg
Here's a pic of the inner door on an original CSX car:
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/CSX3049/img_4287.jpg
In response to my earlier post, someone suggested getting some larger tubing that was the same I.D. as the ferrules' O.D., and inserting it through a larger hole from below. Well, it worked like a charm. I dug through a friend's scrap pile and found some old chrome-moly chassis tubing that is 1/2" I.D. and 5/8th O.D. After using the ferrules to drill a pilot hole through the inner door skin, I opened the holes using a step-bit and a dremel (two holes on each door have to be oval due to the angle of the inner skin) and was able to get a tight fit for the tubing, but since the outer hole is only 1/2", the tubing can't push out the top.
I put a few grooves on the hidden part of the drain tubes and will hold them in place with low-expansion foam that I'm using to fill the doors. To keep everything aligned, I'll put the ferrules and the side curtains in place while filling the doors with foam, then I'll remove the ferrules and side curtains once the foam has set-up. I'll do the rest of the body work on the doors and paint them with the drain tubes in place, then I'll use some non-hardening seam sealer or caulk (nothing with silicone, though) to hold the ferrules in place once the paint is completed. That way, the ferrules can always be removed if necessary by using a deep well socket and a few light taps from the bottom.
Here's the mock-up of the drain tubes:
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes4_zps6193694f.jpg
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes3_zpsed03c6a1.jpg
http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/DoorFerruleDrainTubes2_zps4d59e547.jpg