Cabin door warped?? Can it be fixed?

I haven't re-bent a door like yours, but thinking more about this and thinking/writing "outloud" here...

-- It's only bent on the non-handle side? That kind of makes sense since the handle would keep that side/edge from bowing.

-- Use a propane/kerosene "torpedo" heater to warm the door. Monitor it, and you can control the heat the door sees by moving the heater.

-- Put the door in a jig that would only allow the door to only bend slightly past "normal". For example, use some 2x's and plywood to support the door upside down, with a "stop" underneath so the door doesn't bow too far by mistake. Just as a quick way to help explain: Imagine a wooden shipping skid with the top planks removed and replaced with plywood. That plywood would then have a large enough hole cut out of it to allow the affected section of the door to bend back into shape (it would be a rather large hole, though, so it bends back gradually and smoothly). The door would sit on this upside down. Heat would be introduced at one end of the skid and exit the other. You could further help control the heat by partially blocking the exit side of the skid, if needed - although at first though I don't think you'd need that.

-- Be sure to make the jig such that no heat is directed toward the "waterfall" edge/curve in the door - you don't want to make more work for yourself. Make the jig so it supports the vertical section of the door, keeping it completely supported/immovable.

-- You may very well be able to do this with a heat gun, as mentioned, too. Use your hand on the affected area of the door to know when/where to apply more or less heat.

-- I have bent small and large PVC pipe with a heat gun a few times. If you go slow, keep the heat evenly distributed in the affected area, don't keep the heat gun in one place too long, it works well. But from what Frank said about how quickly the polycarbonate will go from solid to floppy, it sounds like it is less forgiving than PVC. Use your eyes and hands as your guides, go slow, and I think it's doable.

-- Buy a piece of polycarbonate and practice.

-- Buy a piece of polycarbonate and practice some more.

-- Buy a piece of polycarbonate and practice again.
 
So I got the door out. I ordered both top and bottom tracks with wheels and going to replace soon. The door was easy to get out. I really would like to find someone that could possibly get the warp out. Does anyone have an idea what kind of company would be able to do this?View attachment 63575

I would think the guys that make the custom center console windshields could handle this.

-Kevin
 
Got off the phone today with APF Marine. The have a shop 1/2 hr from me. I sent them a couple pictures of the door and explained to them what my problem was. They said no problem..It will take 1-2 weeks and will cost $180. Very nice lady there. I'm dropping it off Wednesday. I'll post back how I made out..

https://apfmarine.com/
 
I liked Kevin’s sketch back a couple pages ago. The caster is ok especially the welded one. My boat only has 2 inches to attaché a wheel support. I’m going to make two and make them slightly adjustable vertically. My door is bent 90deg rather than slanted so I have more room.

If a plastic shop can carefully heat the door and reshape for $180 I couldn’t get there fast enough. My concern is that the plastic might grow or shrink so fit elsewhere could be
affected . I’d still make support rollers. Mine has a broken lower roller assembly so I’m going to install new tracks and rollers.
 
Got off the phone today with APF Marine. The have a shop 1/2 hr from me. I sent them a couple pictures of the door and explained to them what my problem was. They said no problem..It will take 1-2 weeks and will cost $180. Very nice lady there. I'm dropping it off Wednesday. I'll post back how I made out..

https://apfmarine.com/
Sounds promising. Looks like they do nice work. Keep us posted.
 
I liked Kevin’s sketch back a couple pages ago. The caster is ok especially the welded one. My boat only has 2 inches to attaché a wheel support. I’m going to make two and make them slightly adjustable vertically. My door is bent 90deg rather than slanted so I have more room.

If a plastic shop can carefully heat the door and reshape for $180 I couldn’t get there fast enough. My concern is that the plastic might grow or shrink so fit elsewhere could be
affected . I’d still make support rollers. Mine has a broken lower roller assembly so I’m going to install new tracks and rollers.

I think the track broke partly because of the roller support. Because of the stress on the top of the track when the roller was pushing up the door it broke in the cold weather. The roller just does'nt hold the door, it pushes up the door putting stress on the upper track trucks and track. I hope they can fix it. I bought Aluminum tracks anyway, so that problem won't be so much.
 
$180 isn't worth the time spent to even make the jig. That's a no brainer.
 
You said the door came out easy. Did you have to remove the helm?
 
No. Just unscrew the to top trucks and the bottom track that connects to the door. Comes right out.
 
Oh well.. So I went to the shop with the door. After looking it over in person he said he has to pass.. Damn.. He was worried if something went wrong that it was a $2000 door. I sent them pictures and they responded with they can do it. Back to plan B..Install the Aluminum tracks and use the roller again..
 
The door is back in. I ended up replacing the upper track to Aluminum. The Trucks I was supposed to use were 23mm for the bottom and 25mm for the top. I ended up using a 31mm for the top and modified the mounting angle a little. I stayed with 23mm for the bottom. It's better, but I still need to use the wheel on the inside. Also for those who go with the aluminum track, it's a little noisy. The plastic track seemed quieter. Well see how it lasts I guess...
https://www.fpmarine.com/Sliding-door-track-roller-trucks-p/door truck c 31mm.htm
 
I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd post an update to it regarding what I did that helped. I purchased some high-temp teflon anti-chafe tape and taped it along the edge of where the door drags. You can't see it. The tape is about 1/2" wide. It is used believe it or not on the sealing edge of food savers. It made a drastic difference in ease of opening the door. I know it doesn't fix the root issue but nothing I found seemed to be a solid fix. This did help an awful lot even with as hot as it is today which is usually when it's at its worst.
 

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