Thread: Door Repair

Ok, I'll admit it! I Don' know if its just me but I am rubbish at searches on this forum! I am sure the answer is on here, but I cannot find it!

Anyway, my next big job on my 110 (Hector) is to repair the doors. Each time I close them there is the gentle tinkling sound of rust falling down - they all are in pretty bad shape with most of the bottom rusted out, and blisters in the paint at waist level. I and going to need to get the steel work out and cut out the rust and weld in new. The rear drivers side door also has no door card, winder mechanism or really anything - so I need a lot for that!

So, here's the question. Where is the best place to get the "door bottom repair section"?

Also, any one out there that has done this and want to share their valuable knowledge/ i would love to hear from you.

Thanks in advance!

I have had to do this about a dozen times- front defender type and rears, county 110 and series. Haven't noticed much difference between them all- just some detail changes but not so much in dimension of the box section. It's fiddly and annoying work- esp around the door hinge tube sections (hidden within the box at each hinge) these are simple crush tubes 12mm or in diameter I recall- they are brazed in. They get rusty and must be replaced as the hinges can't be tension on the door without them. An additional area that can't be ignored is the rear upper section on the rear doors just south of the quarter window. Defenders love to rust here.

I have seen the repair sections available on eBay and other places but refuse to come at the cost of something I can make myself. Given that steel is fairly cheap, I have made up a jig to bend the light gauge .75mm steel after cutting to length and width. I use a male and female setup so just crush the steel to shape and then spot weld to flat sections- similar to factory except they used a press. Zinc aneal is preferable and make damn sure you put some sort of product like tectyl on the inside of the welds after getting some etch prime in their prior. Tectyl comes in spray cans and you can put one of those red tube thingies into the nozzle to put it in hard to get spaces. I have tried pouring the stuff in to the box section using a hand pump, turning the door on it's end and over again but this is very wasteful of product and it goes everywhere- a wretched experience believe me.

The hard part is folding the ally skin back and keeping it from the heat of any of the welds. Be prepared to refinish the door entire. Use adhesive sealant (sikaflex) to stick the skin to the back of the repaired sections. Two person job to stretch or tension the skin back into place.

HTH cheers