UPS Damage...

[jtfx6552]

Not sure if i should put this under metal work, or collision damage.

I bought a used 65 Mustang door that had very little rust in the door frame. It does have the usual hole in the lower front corner.

Unfortunately, UPS did a number on it, and I don't have enough (any?) skill in bednig metal.

Now the reason I'm messing with this door is, and not using a repro, I was hoping i could put doors on the car that didn't have any clues that they were repaired or replaced. The repro frames are different, as are the rolled over areas of the the skins, whether you get the skin on the repro frame, or put it on the original frame. So, without a whole skin, can this door be fixed? I think for someone experienced in fixing bent metal, the answer is yes.

Seller did as good a job packing as I think you can do. When I first got the door, I thought it only had one banged up corner, on the front lower where I was going to do work anyway. A few Minutes with a hammer and dolly and it looked OK.

Then while disassembling I realized they also dinged the top back corner. they bent the top down, and also bent on the door handle area,

Here are the pictures:
As packed:

Why I like this door only the tiniest, and I mean 1/8" diameter of through rust in the frame:

Front lower corner after hammer and dolly:

What I don't know if I can fix, this is after I worked on it . I didn't do anything in the door handle area as I don't want to make it worse. I tried to line up the reflections to show the bent spots:

The top is still bent down about an 1/8" It is hard to move it up without destroying the concave shape:

In addition the the top being bent down, the edge is also bent in:

It is also bent in at the bottom of the handle, leaving the raised part pushed in:

Any thoughts on how to fix?

I think I need a "Real" old timey body guy who knows how to fix stuff, any idea where to find him?

 

[Bob Hollinshead]

Everything looks repairable except the lower portion will need some patchwork and if there's any damage to the interior area of the door I think the stamped texture will be compromised. Some of that damage was there before it was boxed.

 

[ryan1]

Everything looks repairable except the lower portion will need some patchwork and if there's any damage to the interior area of the door I think the stamped texture will be compromised. Some of that damage was there before it was boxed.

if you do decide to hammer out the damage ..try not to smash the outer door edge (hem) it actually adds some stregnth to the piece...i think it could be repaired with a variety of prying tools from inside some hammer and dolly work and little patience. I also do agree that some of the damage looks older .. and good point on the stamped texture on the inside ....

 

[crashtech]

I might bolt it to the car and use my Keysco friction jack to push that corner back up.

 

[Senile Old Fart]

Everything looks repairable except the lower portion will need some patchwork and if there's any damage to the interior area of the door I think the stamped texture will be compromised. Some of that damage was there before it was boxed.

I have not looked at the insides of my Mustang doors to know what the texture is you mention. Is it of significant importance or just a trivia thing that only the oem panel has? thx

When I worked at the rolling mill in the mid 70's we rolled a "pillow" emboss into one side of a roll of aluminum that Ford allegedly used to made trunk lid panels .
The emboss looked like small squares with an arced line going between each corner which formed the appearance of a sofa pillow. Is this similar to the "texture" you refer to?
Here is a piss poor photo shop drawing, the black would be the lower portion of the emboss.

 

[Bob Hollinshead]

Those older mustang doors had a vinyl like texture that was on the interior surface adjacent to where the interior trim panel attaches. It's real easy to bury this texture with primer and paint and lose it, repairs are always difficult in these areas if you're trying to save that factory texture. Very similar textures can be found on some older refrigerators I've noticed.