Sparrow >> Service >> Mechanical >> Doors

Intro

Removal (Pizza butt) (20-30 min.)

     Note, this is a two person job, or one person with a ceiling crane. 
               Unless you are confident in your ability to hold a door and ratchet, proceed with caution.

Required Tools:

Ratchet - 13 mm or ˝ in. drive
Scissors/wire cutter
Adequate space to place the door once removed

Disconnect the battery system(s). Begin by opening the door. You may wish to find a way to prop open the door,

so as to avoid it closing on you. There are two wires coming out of the upper hinge. These are the wires for the window motor. Use your wire cutter to clip these. We will come back to these later. While one person holds the door up, begin unbolting the door hinge from the door. It works best to just loosen all of them before fully removing them from the hinge. The top bolt can be a little tricky, due to space restrictions. Once this is done, you are finished, and other work on the door can commence.

http://enviromotors.com/wiki/uploads/Sparrow/Door%20hinge"Door hinge" | Door hinge closeup. Note the two wires coming out.

Reattaching the Door (20-30 min.)

      Again, note that this is a two person job.

Required Tools:

Ratchet - 13 mm or ˝ in. drive
Wire connectors - recommend "Johnson power poles"
Heat-shrink tube
Wire crimper
Heat gun (lighters work too, but are harder to direct the heat where desired)

Make sure the battery connections are off.

We must first prep the wires for reconnection. Use the wire strippers to remove ~Ľ in. of the wire casing from

the four wires (two on the door, two on the hinge). Twist the wire endings together and slide the metal part of the connector on as far as it will go. Crimp the end. Pull on it to make sure it won't come off. Cut some of the heat shrink tubing to an appropriate length, and slide onto the wire. Make sure the heat-shrink covers the entire area of stripped wire. Use the heat gun to make the heat-shrink contract around the wire. Go up the entire length and around, and avoid burning it if possible. When finished, it should look as if it has melted onto the wire connection evenly. Let cool, and slide the plastic connector onto the metal until you hear the 'click'. Pull on this connection to make sure it is secure. Repeat with the other wires, using the same colored connector for the other half of the same wire for easy recognition.

With this completed, the door can now be reattached. Keep the hinge fully opened when possible. This makes the

reconnection process much easier. While one person holds the door up, the other can attach the bolts into the door by hand. Once all four are into the door, use the ratchet to tighten them further. Avoid fully tightening them until all of them are (nearly) fully bolted in. Finish tightening the bolts, and close the door. Check to make sure the seal lines up where you want it to. If not, loosen the bolts, and tilt the door to the desired angle and retighten. Now, connect the wires and makes sure nothing gets pinched while the door is in use. Reconnect the battery, and check the window operation and 'door open' light operation. The door is now reattached.

Removing the Interior Panel

Putting on a New Seal (~1-1.5 hours, plus additional drying time)

      If the door is being removed prior to this step, than a second person will be required.

Required Items:

Clamps - Ideally, you would want over a dozen. This can be cut to six if you attach the seal in segments.
New seal - This seal is the same size as the present seal. Feel free to go larger or smaller as necessary.

                                      http://www.grainger.com/product/TRIM-LOK-INC-Trim-Seal-10D078?s_pp=false

Weatherstrip adhesive - 3M worked wonderfully
Work/paper towels - The adhesive is tremendously good at sticking to you and anything it comes in contact with. You need something to wipe it off with.
Pliers - There are rivets holding the factory seal on. If they won't pull off with the seal, then this is your best option.
Utility knife or scissors
Sponge and water

It is assumed the door has been removed already, and the interior panel has been disconnected as well.

Find the end of the seal (it is likely at the bottom of the door), or a point in the seal which has begun to

disconnect from the door. There are rivets holding on the old seal. Either cut around them, and pull them out with the pliers, or pull them out attached to the seal. Note: the latter method may cause some minor damage to the door, though it will be hidden beneath the new seal. Once the seal has been removed, clean off the ridge the seal was attached to with water and a sponge.

Let this dry, and prepare the new seal (The seal listed above will be far longer than you will need on the door.

Keep the extra for future use, or in case of mistakes). If in doubt, cut longer than you will need. This prevents the need to add a small, second piece to the end to complete the seal. Put the new seal on the ridge without the adhesive to stretch out the part that holds it on. Begin at the bottom in a similar location to where the old one ended. This will require patience, and strong thumbs.

Partially pull off the seal at one end, this will make it easier to put back on with the adhesive. Place your clamps

nearby. Run the adhesive into the grooved portion of the seal for a couple feet, and begin pressing the seal into position. Clamp the seal to the door, such that the bulb is squished towards the 'outside' of the door. Pull off the next segment of non-glued seal from the door, and repeat. Depending on the number of clamps you have, you may need to stop partway through and allow the seal to set for 10-15 minutes.

Once the seal has been fully glued on, let sit for another couple of hours to allow full setting of the adhesive.

You may then reassemble the door, and attach to the car body.

Internal door handle

The handle is made of plastic and is very fragile. Replacement: https://www.google.com/search?q=94-96+Ford+Escort%2F+Mercury+Tracer+door+handle, such as from eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Interior-Door-Handle-For-94-96-Ford-Escort-Mercury-Tracer-Set-of-2-Front-Gray-/371672064783

External door handle

Front passenger side of the 1997-2003 Escort and Tracer. https://www.ebay.com/itm/1997-2003-FORD-ESCORT-MERCURY-TRACER-DRIVERS-SIDE-FRONT-EXTERIOR-DOOR-HANDLE-/143861740478

Door locking mechanism

https://www.trimarkcorp.com/en/zPlatform.aspx?platformid=37&categoryid=175

Storage door (Jellybean)

The lock on the little window/door on the side of the Jellybean is a SouthCo 93-10-201-10: https://southco.com/en_us_int/93-10-201-10. I bought it from BISCO: https://www.biscoind.com/southco-93-10-201-10/p