Rusty Doors

[secubis3]

A question on rusty doors here, The lower right hand inner corner of my drivers door has rusted away, the flat bit and the raised bit about 3-4 inches in each direction from the corner. Now I need to remove this and do some replacement work, but what will be better to replace it with? A welder costed an arm a leg and half an ear (I am becoming very dissillusioned with Glasgow workmen!!!) so that is too expensive for me. Is it better in fiber glass or mesh and body filler?
I have never done a hole this big before and don't know what will be best. Can anyone point me in the right direction please.


Cheers
S

[PhilD]

Hi

From my experience of trying to fill a large hole, I think that either method is likely to result in the filler cracking away from the surrounding metal and eventually dropping off, especially as it is subject to a lot of vibration every time you close the door. In my opinion, fibre glass matting and resin would probably be slightly longer lasting if you can key it to the metal by extending beyond the hole edges and making sure that the metal you're bonding to is clean and roughened.

Have you considered rebilding the door corner by making some plates of sheet steel and pop rivetting them in place? I think this would be better than filling, though not as good as welding and is certainly a method I have used fairly successfully. If my understanding of the location of the hole is correct, you would probably be able to bend a right angled piece and attach to the underside of the door frame, then rivet this to the door skin from the outside. If you then gently hammer the area around the rivets which show in order to slightly dent the metal, you can make a reasonably neat job of the repair by applying a thin skim of filler to the door skin before touching up the paintwork.

Good luck with the job
Phil

[pmd666]

montego front doors are same on late models,straight swap,plenty about,internals may be same but u can fit yours just mark were bolts were on yours.
Sounds like welders were trying to overcharge u.Been in job for 25 yrs ,if you strip out doors for then should be about £30.If you repair doors with filler,grind to clean metal then remove most of rotten bits,a cutting disc is best for this,then rustproof both sides,cut a piece of metal bigger than hole and fit from inside of door using glassfibre filler to glue it in place,wait till sets then a skim of the same on outside first,make sure it covers all of the new plate and past edges of old hole,this makes a waterproof barrier.Now use filler,primer and paint,filler absorbs moisture so if using just this repair will not last very long.Last step to do is WAXOYL inside door around repair and all inside door especially seams,door key lock and locking latch unit.Suggest do inside all doors and inside of rear arches,acess these by pulling back carpet in boot on rear wing sides, one gall of WAXOYL will do all these areas,get appicator gun for it.Haynes manuals have guide to do repairs with pics .