Best Method For Repairing Door Shell.

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Kawickrice

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I bought a door shell for my 71 Chevelle. The first one arrived with a big dent in the middle of the door so it was rejected and returned.
The replacement showed up and everything looked good (according to my wife since I was out of town at the time).
The door was stored for a few months and this is what i found when i looked it over. The damage is on the hinge side.
What is the best way to get this fixed? I need to start getting body panels fitted so this must be fixed first.
I am not a body man but do have some tools.
 

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I am not a metal shaping wizard but I would use a stud welder and puller on that. Harbor Freight has a cheap one afaik.

Don
 
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That's a pretty nasty dent. It is stretched badly and the location of it is about the worst spot possible. Can't see the backside but if it damaged the inner door, I would seriously consider getting another door if you could. If you have limited experience pulling dents that is going to be a difficult one for you to repair.

If you do decide to try to repair it, some thoughts. As you pull the center of the dent out with a pin on a slide hammer you will want to tap the surrounding highs down. Finesse it, don't brute force anything as you are working it out. You will have to hammer and dolly the door edge as it looks affected as well. It will be stretched as well so you will have to shrink it after you have worked it out.

Honestly get another door or get a experienced guy to work it. If you are limited experience in repairing this type of stuff, it will be pretty easy to turn it into scrap trying to fix it.
 
If the dent is just on the skin and the core is not damaged (or only minor damage) you might consider just putting a new door skin on it.
I'm not an experienced body guy, but found that this was easier to do than I expected.
I did both on my 68 el Camino which is the 99% the same as your 71 Chevelle.
The door skins are readily available and go for $150-$200.
A side benefit to replacing the skin: It is guaranteed that you will find rust inside the door that you will now have access to address.
If you are interested in going that route I can provide more info, even a video I shot of the process.
 
To be honest this is the second door that was shipped to me, the first was rejected upon inspection when it came off of the truck.
With that being said I am stuck with this one. I need the $400 plus for other parts.
I will have to tackle this one myself unfortunately.
It does look like the inner structure is fine from what i can see.
I think i could finesse the dent out but have never done any shrinking, what shrinking method should i consider?
Could i remove the skin and rework it or should i try working it assembled the way it is?
I have faith in my abilities once i make a plan, i am just not sure of what plan to implement.
 
Kawickrice said:
Could i remove the skin and rework it or should i try working it assembled the way it is?
I have faith in my abilities once i make a plan, i am just not sure of what plan to implement.
Click to expand...
Removing the skin is a destructive process. If you get it off, it's not going back on, IMO.
 
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Leave the skin on.

Couple of questions.
1. Do you have a die grinder
2. Do you have a welder
3. Do you have body hammers and dollies.

If you don't have a welder, get yourself a stud welder as Don has mentioned at Harbor Freight. Use the smaller stud pins for the repair.

Get on you tube and search dent repair using a stud welder. It'll give you an idea of the process. You're going to have some filler work to do once the dent is removed.
 
MJM said:
Leave the skin on.

Couple of questions.
1. Do you have a die grinder
2. Do you have a welder
3. Do you have body hammers and dollies.

If you don't have a welder, get yourself a stud welder as Don has mentioned at Harbor Freight. Use the smaller stud pins for the repair.

Get on you tube and search dent repair using a stud welder. It'll give you an idea of the process. You're going to have some filler work to do once the dent is removed.
Click to expand...
Yes i have grinder, mig and body hammers and dollies. What i dont have is the dent puller that welds the clips on.
 
Harbor Freight, stud welder and slide hammer. Around $100-$125 for both.

Don't get crazy with the body hammer blows. Lite taps go a long way. This is how I would make the repair using a stud welder. Once the stud is in place, attach visegrips to the stud. With one hand, pull the stud outwards keeping outward pressure on it, and with the other hand, gently tap the high spot of the dent down. If the crease is too tough to work it as describe above. You'll have to use a slide hammer.
 
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MJM said:
Harbor Freight, stud welder and slide hammer. Around $100-$125 for both.

Don't get crazy with the body hammer blows. Lite taps go a long way. This is how I would make the repair using a stud welder. Once the stud is in place, attach visegrips to the stud. With one hand, pull the stud outwards keeping outward pressure on it, and with the other hand, gently tap the high spot of the dent down. If the crease is too tough to work it as describe above. You'll have to use a slide hammer.
MJM said:
Harbor Freight, stud welder and slide hammer. Around $100-$125 for both.

Don't get crazy with the body hammer blows. Lite taps go a long way. This is how I would make the repair using a stud welder. Once the stud is in place, attach visegrips to the stud. With one hand, pull the stud outwards keeping outward pressure on it, and with the other hand, gently tap the high spot of the dent down. If the crease is too tough to work it as describe above. You'll have to use a slide hammer.
Click to expand...
Please keep posting pointers and tips like this. It is invaluable to the less expierenced lime me.
Click to expand...
 
The biggest issue is how stretched it is. I can see the outline of the inner door in the pic. If it's as deep as it looks in the first pic trying to pull it out with a stud gun cold will be a mistake. I would use a little heat to allow it to start moving. Nothing to radical, just warm it up 250 degrees or so to start. Acetylene torch or even a propane plumber's torch.
Once you get it out you are then going to need to shrink the stretch. What do you have for heat? I'll tell you how to proceed with it when I know what you have.
 
How about taking a good pic outdoors in the light? Looking at that first puc a lot of metal is displaced and that is going to be an issue. It would be a challenging repair even for an experienced guy.
Take a few pics in the light from various angles and the underside. It will help to get a better idea of what is going on.
 
Instead of a slide hammer I like this tool for gentle pulls on studs. You can use some hammer action on adjacent metal as you pull.

www.autobodytoolmart.com

Steck Stud Lever - 20014

Steck Manufacturing Company has released another winning tool: The Stud Lever (P/N 20014) will allow a technician to quickly grip studs (pull pins) and controlling the dent pulling process as well as accuracy of the pull. A strong reinforced Nylon lever with pivoting base and self-locking...
www.autobodytoolmart.com

Don
 
Here are some better pics.
The inner structure looks untouched to me but could be wrong.
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