Doing rust repair on my 67, there was about a one inch rust hole through the drivers side door skin on the front bottom. I took off the door skin to replace it but the insides are pretty thououghly rusted, moreso than using a rustmort would heal. Mainly because of the tight areas to get into, I think it will need to be submerged in an acid dip. I have been reading that the neutralizing agent they use after the acid doesn't get into these small areas very well so down the road the acid can seap out and ruin new paint, even though they say it doesn't happen. The other option is to just replace it but I'm not sure how well the repro doors fit (anyone have experience?) and this option is also about twice the cost or more. Any advice one way or the other? There is also a few pin holes rusted through on the bottom of the interior side of the door to patch. I pulled the passenger side as well, same deal but not as much rust. Still tight areas for a self applied rust remover though. Would you repair or replace? If I could save the money that would be ideal but it might be too far. Thanks.

 

No question. Replace it. Glazier/Nolan's shop has half-a-dozen cars posted with repro doors on them, and you're way better off tuning-in a repro than trying to get the mess you describe to work.

 

I had to go the route of reproduction door on the driver side. It took a little fine tuning, but in the end, it turned out just fine.

 

I replaced both doors with Golden Legion from Glazier/Nolan. The pass door fit perfect right out of the box, the drivers door I had cut a groove in the bottom of the door to pull it in so it would line up and weld it closed. Not a big deal.

 

Here's my take and experience using repo doors.

I would always try and fix the originals first. I try and avoid any aftermarket repo stuff because its just that, reproduction crap. Nothing fits like the originals and the quality is usually garbage too. You can get anything to fit but it usually takes a lot of time and your pissed the entire time because you spent a ton of money of stuff you have to cut up to fit. You can use a rust converter that will stop any advance of rust, fix the areas that need fixed, like the hole in the skin. The pinholes if they can't be seen, Like in the bottom, probably won't cause any other issues if treated correctly. I wouldn't bother with the acid dip.

I bought two reproduction doors from CJ Pony Parts. Had them fitted and painted. They fit great until I installed the glass and door internals. We had to drill holes in the doors to properly mount some of the stuff. They were weak and flimsy. They sagged under the weight and threw the lines off. What a disappointment. I ended up finding some original doors from a "junk" yard and had them redone. What an amazing difference in quality and fit. They are just more solid. If your doors a too far gone, try and find some other originals and use those. I paid less for the originals than for the reproduction doors, not to mention shipping charges. I would only use reproductions as a last resort.

 

Yeah, real junk. Same car as above:

 

My Passenger door was beyond hope so I had to replace it with a repop we bought at John's Mustang.

It works "ok" but I still have one issue in that if I don't slam it really hard then you will think you have it locked when in reality all you have to do is push semi-hard on the door handle button and the lock will pop right up. Not a big deal if you remember to close it hard and double check that it is locked but it is kind of annoying sometimes....

 

Well, that's a latch issue.

 

My 2 cents:

I have nothing aginst repro's, in fact I'd rather spend the time getting it right then invest the $$$ into nice paint only to watch it circle the toilet 3 years down the road with the dreaded "Bubbles". Even original doors off a different car with 45 years of their own experiance will need "convincing" to fit just right anyway.

Most are reproduced with the same gauge steel and if your concerned, just brace it yourself. A 110v welder and some tubing and that door will be stronger then the factory braceless door anyway.

Just my humble opinion.