Vannin' Home Forums General Discussion Readers Rides Back2%Basics Part Deux

On to the slider extension.....

10" wide wheels make for a tough time opening the slider. Back in the day, you could get a spiffy chrome extender for about $30, but now eBay seems to make everything to do with vans 10x the money. So, I am going to extend my stock slider arm...


Here's the stock mechanism under the cover...



Take the plate off the bottom



Pull the door out of the track and set it on a stand so you can measure how much the extender needs.... extending



Remove the arm





No turning back now.....



Some welding and grinding later....



Installed.... don't forget to extend the stop by the same amount.







Clears the tire nicely now!

NICE JOB ! ! !

Thanks for the 'how to' with clear pics, Gregg! Really appreciate this.

Did you simply seam weld the extended bar into place (with v-ground ends) or did you put stepped cuts in the ends for additional strength? Mig welded, I assume? How well did it weld to the original metal (I think it's a forging from the shape)?

Does the lower pivot / runner need any modification?

I beveled the edges of the 3/4" rod I used to extend it, and MIG welded it. I have a 160 amp Dayton Mig, and used .030" wire. I clamped the rod and cut off end to my table and tacked it before finish welding. Also welded a bead along the rod simply for cosmetics to mimic the shape of the arm.

The door isn't particularly heavy, so the weld should hold. I also made a 1/4" longer linkage for the latch on the bottom of the door so it would latch open.

Thanks! All useful information. Off to play now...

Don't ya just hate it when you find a little rust spot that turns out to be to big to bondo up, but not big enough to warrant replacing the entire panel?

I have one of those spots.



I have a bit of sheetmetal laying around, let's make a patch!

Disclaimer:
I am not a bodyman. I am not claiming this is the only, best, or correct way to do this. Real bodymen will probably be screaming at their computer screens. But, not knowing what I'm doing has never stopped me before....

Sheetmetal, this is actually the very steel that Astro sliding door track covers were made from. I used to work for the company that stamped them. I have a remnant coil of it.

Pencil lines are the location of the wheelwell lip



Hammered out the edge of the lip



Start forming the bodyline



Check fit



Banging out some more



test fit again



Getting close



test fit again (getting late)



That's enough for one day. Total time about 4 hours so far.

This is the thread that just keeps on giving when it comes to the tips and ideas!

Adding the interior lever to the rear door is a cool trick, but my early 70s door latch is just a flat piece of steel with nowhere to bolt a lever to. I may need to get creative and make an L bracket first in order to attach a lever to mine.

Looking good