Rules of Thumb for When to Replace Doors?

[Klutch 17]

Hi Guys,

 

You may have seen my build thread for the 1970 Mach 1 I'm working on. I could use some advice as to whether I should buy replacement doors or try to fix the Ford doors I now have.

 

During the teardown process last year, I just unbolted the doors and stored them in the basement. Last weekend I got them out and went over them thoroughly with a DA to see what was under all that primer.

 

Neither door is original to the car. The driver side door is from a '69. The passenger door is from another '70. It appears they were both replaced early in the car's life.

 

Poking on the passenger door revealed a large, rusted through area at the front, bottom area. I'm pretty sure that's beyond repair.

 

The driver door has a much smaller rusted through hole in the same area; possibly repairable. But it also had a lot of bondo on it. Sanding off the bondo revealed two creased areas where someone had pulled it out with a slide hammer. The holes were just covered in bondo.

 

I'll try to get some pictures up soon. I'm thinking my doors are very likely toast. But I've heard mixed reviews for reproduction doors and how they fit. Since my doors are original Ford doors, I was just wondering if there are some basic rules for when to spend a lot of time repairing a door and when to just buy re-pops.

 

I welcome any input. Thanks!

[latoracing 256]

How far gone is too far gone? That is up to the person looking at the problem. Can the bottom structure of the door be replace, I'm quite confident it can. I am faced with the same problem on my driver's side door. The door had a nice home to some mice for a while, and their happy home made my door into swiss cheese. I am going to attempt to repair it, at least the cost of the sheet metal will be cheep compaired to several hundred dollars for a re-poped shell, and it will hopefully still fit. If your door is semi-crunchy, I would at least attempt to fix it before ordering new ones.

[Klutch 17]

^^ Thanks. I appreciate your input.

 

The only rusted through areas on the doors are at the front near the bottom. But since the driver door is pretty wavey, I'm not sure if it can be made to look good.

 

I really don't want to bother with re-skinning.

[latoracing 256]

Re-skinning is not that bad. It is alot easier, and cheeper when it goes to the body shop. If you are careful, you can re-skin your door with simple hand tools. Just gotta watch the areas on the outside of the door, they can be dented fairly easily, but it is something that you can do. Once they are done, you don't have to wory about that good ol' rust popping up and messing up your new paint.

[Klutch 17]

OK, I will consider the re-skinning option. Thanks.

[Mike65 476]

My 69 Coupe had the l/s door that was badly rotted across the bottom of the shell so I replaced the whole door shell, & the r/s door only the outer skin had the usual ft & rear rot holes so I replaced the door skin. It was actually quite easy to do, it just takes a little time & some patience.

Mike.

[Nightowl 10]

I took my car to the body shop, and they had a look at it, and when I ask them what it would cost to reskin it, The price was more than the new door shell. Same with the fenders. His explanation was that they have no book anymore for a flat rate on that old of a car, and would have to do it by the hour, and cutting and patching take time. I believe their shop rate is right close to 100.00 bucks an hour. So, I still have not made up my mind on what to do with it. I think some of the costs come because they send the door out to have the glass and the components taken out and transfer to the new door. Just to pull the engine and trans was 1100.00. I think I can do that myself, or have some guys from the club come down to help. I know mine has bondo in it, as I can see where some of the work was done before I had it. I will keep a watch on this thread to see how it goes for you.

[Klutch 17]

Again, thanks for the input, everyone.

 

I'm doing most of the work myself on my Mach 1. I've welded in new floor pans, a fender apron and a few other components. So, perhaps I will try my hand at patching the doors. If it looks a mess, I'll just buy new doors. I will have lost only time and ego.

[fastwayfirebird400 14]

I would not be too afraid to skin it, I would pull the old skin and check your inner structure over very well to make sure they are not rusted. I would then media blast them and epoxy prime them. If you find inner rust you can repair it if its not too bad or toss em. It sounds like you took it to a shop that doesn't have a good handle on classic car work or restoration, they are of the new world of thinking "replace it"

I could never find a door with a good enough inner frame to reskin so I did have to replace mine with a Dynacorn reproduction it required a good bit of fitting, twisting and filler rod to get the gap where I want it.

[Klutch 17]

fastwayfirebird,

 

Actually, I have not taken my car to a shop. Thus far, I'm doing everything myself. That's why I'm asking for help. :smile:

 

The "inner frames" of my doors are actually pretty solid, with the big exception being those rusted through holes at the lower front.

 

I hope to soon pick up a blaster. I will do as you suggest and media blast the inside of the doors to get a good idea of what's going on.

 

You know, when I first got my project, I figured I'd strip it down and take to a local shop for the body work. The more I talked to people, the more I became convinced to try it myself. There aren't many options in Colorado Springs. And those options tend to be either extremely expensive, or the type who let your car sit outside for two years with no progress. I've also seen some pretty shoddy work from local "professionals". Perhaps I'm a bit arrogant, but I look at that stuff and think, "Shoot, I could to better than that".

 

I do plan to have my paint done by a pro. I saw a '73 Mach 1 done by a guy in Denver at Ambrosio Concepts that looked amazing. I doubt I could afford his complete restoration services. But maybe I can have him do the paint.