ANYBODY DO ANY MAKE SHIFT AUTO BODY WORK ?

[nomad 11]

i tried scrape-ing off the heavy scale rust off the bottom of my drivers side door and left a gaping hole. so i was thinking of getting either aluminum sheet or galvanized sheeting ? but to glue it ? not enough metal to use pop rivets. could i use adhesive ? to cover the bottom of the door. not looking to do quality, just good enough to block the wind from blowing through. thanks

 

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[RTR]

Fiberglass ?

 

[Rawhide]

Check JC Whitney and see if they have any panels you can fit on.

 

[Red James Cash]

Unless you stop the rust any fix is basically temporary.You'll be right back where you started but worse off.First get some of the primer that stops rust,spray it good.

 

[releventchair]

Dissimilar metals corrode.

If you have U-wrench it places around you could check on door prices.
I replaced one with a dented one.
Had to get away from the big city that had the most junk yards to get the best price.

Otherwise ,to get a secure repair you need to cut till you have good clean metal each side of area to be repaired.

A door has lots of parts ,and glass...
IF everything you want protected is covered ,and the inside panel is removed ; a piece of steel could be put over the hole (bent/folded where needed to match original shape of door) and spray foam used to fill in the bottom only. Expanding to hold the added steel. If door has stock drain holes ,keep them open.
Then after drying the joint can be filled with body filler . Then primed after drying.

 

[1320]

I would second the fiberglass recommendation. Do a good prep job, slap it on. It'll be waterproof. Easy diy project. Any kind of sheeting you might try will not result in a waterproof fit.

 

[A2coins]

fibervlass mivht not look pretty but fixed

 

[RTR]

PROOF !
... IF... done "correctly"...There is Nothing Fiberglass cant do

 

[Rookster]

We in the south are worlds largest users of Duct Tape. Personally, I like the camo.

 

[mech1]

Go to lowes or similar and get . Duct tape for vents ,,,looks like duct tape , but looks like a very thin layer of metal w/sticky on the back.....a few layers of that ….will seal it ,,

 

[huntsman53]

Go to the nearest Pull-A-Part and get another door but a rust free one. Who cares if it matches the color or not as long as it keeps the cold out this winter and the A/C cooling in during the summer!

 

[Nitric]

I worked in body shops off and on....The last body shop I worked in, I worked on fleet vehicles....Yes, they do make a 2 part adhesive, or epoxy that glues, door skins,bedsides, etc...I don't remember what the cost was but it's not cheap!! Then you have to have the special caulking type looking gun for the 2 parts. But yes! you could grind it to rough it up, rough up your metal patch and glue it in, for a temp fix but, probably cheaper to find another door in the long run. Most newer truck bedsides are glued on. I know chevy was in mid 2000's. I glued a ton of them. one weld in the back by the tail gate and one weld up by the cab end, the rest of it is glued.

If your just wanting to do a quick, who cares patch job? Use expandable foam that you get at the hardware store in a can. Spray it in there, cut the extra off with a knife or a hacksaw blade, spear some cheap bondo on it, and good to go for a little while, or just spay paint the foam if you just want to seal the hole. They use the same type of foam(a little different) in cars anyhow. If you try this route? Make sure you don't fill the door!! The window won't work. Take the inner door panel off and make a cardboard like wall so the foam doesn't get into the door tracks and in the way of the window.....This probably one of the most hack things you can do...But cheap...or ? use duct tape! Ive seen that before...I've also seen people pack the hole with newspaper and smear bondo over it.

Be creative!! I doubt that you want to fix it right, that's why I gave the suggestions that I did. I understand the "if I can just patch it for now who cares" very well! All my junk has been bubblegummed for years!!

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Thin sheet metal and JB Quick Weld should do the trick. Grind the rusted area down to bare metal first. You can skim coat the sheet metal with Bondo to make it look better, but it tends to draw moisture in eventually. Sand the Bondo to smooth it out and hit it with primer and then a top coat.

 

[Simon1]

For a quick who cares repair, I would put a piece of duct tape over the area and then, as RTR said, fiberglass over that. The duct tape will provide a little bit of support for the fiberglass so it follows the contour. Never thought about foam, but after reading here, doing just as Nitric describes would do the job to, but you need to remove the door panel.

 

[nomad 11]

thanks guys for the tips. but for 1 I don't want to put much money into it like buying another door. and to do the fiberglass route I was told I should grind all the rust off down to the bare metal. and after I scraped all the heavy rust off there isn't much metal left. so I just want to maybe sand it a little bit to get the scale off and cover it up a little to get the rust covered and the holes. I don't think the duct tape route will last long with snow and sleet I think it'll be a total waste of time dontcha think ?

 

[Nitric]

thanks guys for the tips. but for 1 I don't want to put much money into it like buying another door. and to do the fiberglass route I was told I should grind all the rust off down to the bare metal. and after I scraped all the heavy rust off there isn't much metal left. so I just want to maybe sand it a little bit to get the scale off and cover it up a little to get the rust covered and the holes. I don't think the duct tape route will last long with snow and sleet I think it'll be a total waste of time dontcha think ?

Duct tape is just a real quick ,cheap . Or like mentioned above you can use it to hold fiberglass mat and resin from sinking in too bad before it sets or even just to cover the holes....
No, probably won't last...But you have a whole roll of patch!!

I've even seen some kind or tar sticky type stuff that comes in a roll or sheets, stuck over holes, it's a nightmare to get off, and I don't know the name or where you even get it. I doubt the rain and snow would take that stuff off after heated up.

 

[nomad 11]

well you're a lot of help Nitric ? you've seen this kind of tar sticky type stuff in a roll or sheets stuck over holes ? well where did you see this stuff ? and how do you know its a nightmare to get off ? but you don't know the name or where to get it ? well how do you know it would be a nightmare to get off unless you actually worked with it ? huh ? this stuff sounds like the perfect stuff I need. it wont even come off if I drive through the snow and salt. this sounds like a riddle doesn't it ? sheesh ? so where did this stuff come from if you worked with it ? did it just fall out of the clouds or what ? I need help.

 

[Nitric]

well you're a lot of help Nitric ? you've seen this kind of tar sticky type stuff in a roll or sheets stuck over holes ? well where did you see this stuff ? and how do you know its a nightmare to get off ? but you don't know the name or where to get it ? well how do you know it would be a nightmare to get off unless you actually worked with it ? huh ? this stuff sounds like the perfect stuff I need. it wont even come off if I drive through the snow and salt. this sounds like a riddle doesn't it ? sheesh ? so where did this stuff come from if you worked with it ? did it just fall out of the clouds or what ? I need help.

Yep, fell out of the clouds! Keep looking up maybe some will fall for you!


I was giving you an idea of something to look for at the hardware store. Good luck!

 

[Tpmetal]

Go to the nearest Pull-A-Part and get another door but a rust free one. Who cares if it matches the color or not as long as it keeps the cold out this winter and the A/C cooling in during the summer!

yup but only if the damage is enough. I one time drove twenty miles to a pick-a-part all while holding my driver side door shut on my old dodge diesel. Stupid me accidentally ripped out the latch part on the door, peeled the whole side of the door off with the latch. Got another door for 75 bucks and a hour of my time installing it; which sounds expensive, but it was a full size truck with a big door. new door was something like 300-400 if I remember correctly.

 

[huntsman53]

yup but only if the damage is enough. I one time drove twenty miles to a pick-a-part all while holding my driver side door shut on my old dodge diesel. Stupid me accidentally ripped out the latch part on the door, peeled the whole side of the door off with the latch. Got another door for 75 bucks and a hour of my time installing it; which sounds expensive, but it was a full size truck with a big door. new door was something like 300-400 if I remember correctly.

New doors are so much more expensive these days and considering the rust damage to the door on nomad's car and the costs for the materials to make a temporary patch, I think it would be better to just get another door at Pull-A-Part. The drivers side window on my Grandson's 2003 Ford Focus came off the track and fell to the bottom of the door inside. In an attempt to get the window back on the track and up again, he was fiddling with the window and the switch and broke the window. It is a nightmare to remove the hardware and glass from a door with electric windows to be replaced by the same pulled at a Pull-A-Part, so I told him that we will go down the 27 miles to the Pull-A-Part in Knoxville and get a good door with a working window and hardware intact for under $60. His' car already has a different colored passengers side front door, so another different colored door isn't going to hurt. Who knows, maybe we will be able to find two doors that matches the color of his' car.