Door rust repair

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Door rust repair

Postby kgroombr » Mon May 18, 2009 11:55 am

I am getting ready to repair my doors on my wagon. They have holes along the bottom, but the rest of the door is solid. I plan on using the material and method shown here:

http://autobodystore.com/door_rust.shtml

I tried to find another source for the universal edge, but couldn't. Anybody know of a source that sells it? Would you recommend a different method to do this? I have a flange/punch tool, but I think using the above method, the seam will be easier to make flush with rest of the door.

Thanks, Ken
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby AusRs » Fri May 22, 2009 4:59 am

personally i do not like the overlap method as it creates yet another place that can start to rust
easiest way to repair the bottom of the door is to measure up the area you want to cover and find a local sheet metal worker to bend up your sections ,with your door bottom grind off the lip (the inside of t he u shape ) do not try to bend it up at all just use a really coarse sanding disc on a buff/sander and sand it off from the bottom edge (hope that part makes sense to you )
once that has been done do a rough cut about 3/4 of an inch above where you actually want to join the patch piece then offer up your patch section and scribe a line across the length of the door then cut along that line carefully ,you should end up with a very very neat line that when the patch is put back in place give you maybe .5 mm gap ,then stitch weld the patch to the doorskin being very carefull not to overheat any one section of the door

do not try this with a gasless mig !

expect the door repair to take you all day
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby kgroombr » Fri May 22, 2009 7:41 am

I think this was the method that was used to repair another set of doors I have. I recently purchased a gas mig welder and wanted to try this myself. I practiced a bit on some junk fenders and a hood and think I am ready.

I will rephrase just to be sure I got it.

1. Have metal formed that will cover the area.
2. Grind off the lip around the bottom area to be removed.
3. Using formed metal from step 1 as a guide, scribe a line where to cut (I like to use sharpies).
4. Cut along line and remove bottom section.
5. Put formed metal from step on back on the door (should be a nice close fit, but no overlap).
6. Weld into place taking measures to prevent warping.
7. Form new lip, use sealer, etc. to finish the job.

I think the preformed door bottoms Shown here: http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merc ... y_Code=MWH

should work as well. I was going to order a pair so I can have them waiting when I get back (currently away on job).
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby AusRs » Fri May 22, 2009 8:24 am

i used a grinder with a 1mm blade on to cut the bottoms of my fenders
patience is what you need and do not hold the heat on the panel to long .......blowing holes in the panel is not fun to fix as it creates to much heat ...its a zap zap zap type of weld no more than 10mm in any one spot ,and cool each weld down with a wet rag to minimize heat transfer into the panel
and the lip on the bottom of the door should be pre formed at 70 (approx) degrees to locate the bottom of the patch panel ,the angle makes it way easier to turn the edge down against the door frame once you are happy with your work

Its easier to show you than type it out BUT you are to far away from me :(
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby kgroombr » Fri May 22, 2009 7:26 pm

Some advice I received, sounds valid, is to tack the outside first, then the middle, and then between the welds, and just keep working between the welds until the whole thing is done.

I will cut some of the practice panels I have and stich them together.

Thanks,
Ken
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby AusRs » Fri May 22, 2009 8:37 pm

yep tack outside first
tack (then cool) do not build up to much heat in the one spot or it will stretch the metal
remember the cool the weld before moving to the next part of the stitch
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Re: Door rust repair

Postby 79MonzaSpyder » Wed Feb 21, 2018 8:17 pm

Hi All, I have a good 1980 quad headlight Spyder hatchback that is mostly rust free (will eventually become a 79 V8 Spyder Clone). I also have a very rusty quad headlight Spyder hatchback donor. I want to fix the little rust the good one has. I have a small spot on the inner fender well below the upper A Arm area, doesn't look bad, should be a fairly easy fix. The problem I have is with the doors. Both doors have nickel size bubbles in the outer skins at each lower corner. Both doors have 4"x 4" rusted area in the inner at each corner, both doors have a small area in the middle of the inner as well. The passenger door also has rust on the outer above the window. I have a GM NOS outer skin for the passenger side so that should fix that. My problem is mostly with the inner corners. I have done some reasonable rust repair before including cutting out floors, rockers and cab corners in a pick up. I have also fabricated pieces from scratch before but to do the corners with compound curves is going to be a pain in the a_ _! I know as most of you probably have experienced, take what you see for rust and multiply it by 4 and that's probably how bad the fix will be because when you open it up it's ALWAYS worse than it looked like. Just wondering if anyone has done this repair before and has any suggestions for an easier fix.
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