I am new to body work on mustangs (and all cars for that mater). Here are some pics of the bottoms of both doors on my 65 coupe. So I have a few questions:

1) Since I am going to repaint the vehicle anyway, would it be best to replace the wholedoor panel(s), or tocut around the bad spots and then weld in a new piece?

2) Do I have any other options?

2) How much would either scenario cost including tools, but not including the paint job?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

IMO, I perfer to cut out the rotted area, leaving as much original metal as possible. However, the condition of the door will dictate how much. You really need to sand it down and inspect the damage.

You can also get a door skin, which is just the outer sheet metal. If there is more damage to the bottom of the door (frame of door) you may want to pickup a good used one. From the look of the pics, you have substantial rust damage and I think you may need to go this route. But, you won't know till you get it stripped and inspect the rest of the door.

Cost depends on how much work you can do yourself. I would think the cheapest thing to do is just find a used door in good condition.
Good luck.

 

Looking at these pics, it looks liek these are just the skins BUT it depends also on the interior of your door and what the condition is like underneath the door. Mine are shot. Not only the skin like yours but also the interior and bottom portions of it.! Check it out and then decide + check out how much bondo is on that thing already.

 

Thanks you guys! I will check out the bottoms and insides of the doors. I'm pretty sure they're great. I'd like to see if I can avoid getting a whole new door simply because the vin #'s are matching. But thanks again for your help. Can you recommend a store oline or in cali for the door skins?

 

Never owned a 64-66. The vin#'s are on the door???

 

I'm afraid you are going to find a mess.. rust covered with bondo, maybe some chicken wire in there too..

Lets hope you dont. How about you pull the door panel and get a pic of the inner part where the rust is? Leave the window up and have a light in the other end of the door so the camera can get a decent shot. Looking around in there will tell you more than the outside does.

Those pinholes and bubbles mean there is rust seething its way to the surface, usually a single pinhole ends up being a 2"x2" patch. More pinoles means more area that needs replaced. If your welding/metal shaping/bodywork skills are up to the task, replacing the section works. If you have never done any sort of welding or metal work on sheetmetal before, then chances are it would be better to replace the door or have it skinned/patched by a shop.

Since the rust is right there, the bottom of the door and lower portion of inner structure are suspect as well. You might be looking at a door that was simply covered up to sell it. Lets hope you dont have that.. Its sad to know someone did that to someone else..

 

Thumpin is correct. Alot of ppl out there throw some mud to sell it quickly and then we are stuck with a sack of surprises or sh*t lol. As for the vin guys, its on a plate on the driver side door it can be transfered to the new door (fastened with rivets) or if its in too bad condition, theres a place that repros them!