Patch vs re do the entire door

L

leutdan

New Member
1968 Roadrunner, lower front corner of passenger door above rocker panel, aligns with rear edge of front right fender. I had completed all metal work, epoxy primer, polyester filler, sanding, glazing, sanding, multiple layers of high build and 2K primers and sanding, guide coat and final block sanding for the entire outer door surface. I hung the door and fender for final blocking and this lower/forward corner of the door projected outward a bit too much for my liking. I used a wooden block and hammer to push it inward to align with the rocker and fender, knowing that some touch up would be needed. Instead, the polyester filler underneath developed a 6 inch crack. I sanded all materials down to bare metal about 14 inches long and up to the stamped body line about 4 inches above the bottom of the door.
My question is, should I repair this 4x14 area repeating the process above (epoxy, polyester filler, glazing, high build primer, guide coat, blocking, etc) or should I take the entire outer door surface back to bare metal and start over.
Im retired, I have time, I prefer to let primers and filler layers dry for weeks so time is not the issue. I would regret trying to patch this small area and waste the time if the correct method was to redo the entire surface to insure best adhesion and appearance. A bit more material and labor but the same curing times.
Any Professional opinions?
 

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If you are sure there is no rust in the seam areas that you didn't repair, then there is no need to do a whole skin. Did you take it all down to bare metal to start with? Your pictures look like a lot of layers of primer and filler which can lead to problems later. The lower door area isn't going to flex much during use, so it's not as likely to crack as the middle of a door.
 
Ray H, all primers were SPI and polyester fillers were Evercoat. Thanks for the response
 
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RenewAP, I took the outside down to bare metal and I am pretty certain there is no rust. I worked the inside the best that I could and used a mirror to look for rust and could not see any. I always start with epoxy on bare metal and then filler and if I sand to bare metal I will re apply epoxy before I cover it with filler. I would bank on no rust in those seams as well. I was generous with the primers because those Roadrunner doors are so tall and long and show high/low areas so easily. At the same time I used the polyester filler as sparingly as I could. There are no deep areas of filler. So you are thinking that with my layers of primers that I may have problems with flexing and cracking down the road? Thanks for the response
 
I say epoxy, filler and move on. Stay away from filler primers and polyester when you don't really need it. As nice as your doors appear anything beyond epoxy is just another way to have issues. JMO which is ?
 
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