Just looking for some opinions. I have a 2 to 3 inch rust hole in the lower back corner of my 66 pass side door. Would you replace the door skin or just spot repair the door? I replaced the door skin on my drivers door due to rust and a large previously repaired dent (dent puller and 1" thick bondo). It came out OK, but the door skin quality was marginal. It took quite a bit of work to get the door gaps correct and to make the top body line straight. I can weld well enough and I plan to cut a piece out of the original drivers door skin to butt weld into the passenger door. So, repair or replace skin?

Thanks in Advance,
Tom

Tom this is a tough call, if the door has a hole that large at one end I would imagine the lower seam must have rust the entire length of the door. How does it look inside? Do you see rust within the seam anywhere else? If you do end up replacing only the portion that is rusted through, make sure you treat the rest of the seam with a penetrating rust preventative like cosmoline or 3M rustfighter. I'd hate to get it done and have problems in another spot down the road. Do the penetrating spray after the paintwork is done, I usually tape off the drainholes with ducttape and spray untill a puddle is formed along the entire length of the door then let it sit for awhile before removing the tape and draining the excess.

Bob, Thank you for the response. You bring up a valid point. The door looks very good inside and the remaining shell and seam do not appear to have any rust. The skin I removed from the drivers side had the exact same type of rust and the seam was in great shape. The hole itself is only about 1 inch round, but I think the metal is soft/perferrated in about a 2-3 inch circle. You're right, the last thing I want is problems later on.

Tom

Now that there are panel adhesives for bodywork, it might be better to glue in a patch rather than weld. No warping would be one advantage. The stuff is supposed to be really strong.

Patch it.Wether you weld or glue is up to u!
I welded mine!

graemlins/waving.gif
Rick

Guys, thanks for the replys. I'm going to cut out the rust and see how it looks. If it looks OK to patch, then I will. I will probably weld the patch in. The location of the rust is right up against the door shell support, making it hard to get to the backside to clean up/glue in a patch.

By the way, Rick, nice looking 66 300.

Thanks again,
Tom