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Budget Beetle door repairs

10K views 88 replies 9 participants last post by  parkin10 
#1 · (Edited)
Right now I'm in the middle of a 72 Beetle resto and DIY paint job (but its more of a good do up really) and I thought I would make a thread on the drivers door repairs
Of course Im a dope and forgot to take pictures of the door on the car and got as far as cutting the door skin before I remembered to take any pictures
Anyway the skin isn't too bad but the frame has problems.
 

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#3 ·
I ordered door repair panels from gsf
The bill came to £60 inner + outer both doors
The outer skin repair panels are made by klokkerholm, there a bit crap, but they are superior to the inner door frame panels that came in the order from gsf and had different manufacturers stickers on them
I had to fanny around with the passenger one a lot to get it to fit
Here's a picture of how well the drivers side repair panel is going to fit
 

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#6 ·
Thanks for that. I have the same job ahead of me. I have bought the more expensive red panels although I anticipate the fit to be still crap, just the metal to be thicker. I see you kept the original stiffner at the hinge. Thats interesting, I never thought of that. The panel comes with the stiffner fitted. I guess its easier to leave it in place, and derust it, if its not rotten. Avoids messing with door alignment. I will have to replace the hinges on the drivers side as the pins are badly worn, but I have a door off a LHD car that can supply them, so that fixes that problem.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for that. I have the same job ahead of me. I have bought the more expensive red panels although I anticipate the fit to be still crap, just the metal to be thicker. I see you kept the original stiffner at the hinge. Thats interesting, I never thought of that. The panel comes with the stiffner fitted. I guess its easier to leave it in place, and derust it, if its not rotten.
Avoids messing with door alignment. I will have to replace the hinges on the drivers side as the pins are badly worn, but I have a door off a LHD car that can supply them, so that fixes that problem.
I think that I would try to use the original door frame post
Could end up being a real pig to line up the door if you end up cutting it off
 
#8 ·
I've had to mess with those door frame repair panels quite a lot to get them something like
The passenger door one had to be beaten flat and then I reshaped it around a length of angle iron for the bottom of the skin to attach to and still leave a neat channel for the door seal to fit
So I've tacked the frame repair piece on
Reshaped it so it will meet with the skin and tried the door on to see how it looks in relation to the car
 

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#16 ·
Okay. Its easy to beat it flat and then redo the first 90 degree bend in my vice with two lengths of angle iron, but how did you create the second 90 degree bend to create the channel for the seal? Thats a little more tricky without some sort of buck.

Also did you remove the lower hinge flap at all or just worked round it?
Cheers
 
#10 ·
Time to get serious with the door gaps
I should point out at this stage I think that at some time in the past the car has had a hit on the B post
I found some proper clagg in the roof skin and the upper part of the B post
I think it may have had a pull on the gutter so it will never be perfect
 

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#12 · (Edited)
It turns out that the edge of the door skin is a bit rusty
So I cut the rough off and let in some new steel
I also welded up the holes for the trim
Then I tried the door on again
I'm fairly happy with the fit
So far it's cost,
£32 for the repair panels
A cutting disk
And half a can of weld thru primer
Some prep next!
 

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#17 ·
I just happen to have a length of angle iron just the right size
I beat the panel straight, then cut a length of wood to go inside the door frame repair panel
Then clamped the wood, panel and angle iron together and rebeat the repair panel back round the angle iron in the correct place
The angle iron is just the right thickness for the gap
Here's a picture of the passenger door bottom that had the angle iron treatment in primer
 

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#21 ·
Excellent, thanks for that, that's very helpful. Hopefully the red panels will be better formed, but I'm not holding my breath!
 
#18 · (Edited)
Here's some photos of today's prep including the hole I found under the old paint
I run a 8mm drill bit through the rust and mig welded it up, this door really should have had a full skin!
And some evidence of the old B piller accident damage
 

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#23 ·
Well I probably spent 8 hours or so on the metal work
But I did fanny around trying to get better door gaps
Then there's the prep
I'll probably spend as much time getting the primer on
If I was paying I guy to do it I would recommend a full skin
It would be a faster way to a better job done
And the cost may weigh out the same in the end
Were my time is my own so it is cheaper for me to sand the filler to get a good door
Careful it's easy for the cost to run away with you in a workshop and you still may not get that good a job done
And insist on lots of weld thru primer in all the seams and areas that you cannot get to when it's all welded up
Good luck I hope it turns out well
 
#25 · (Edited)
Found the time to finish the sanding off and set up the panel stand
When I say panel stand I mean the makeshift solution that I came up with
Which is a old workmate and the handle from a lawnmower that died on me the other week
The handles fitted in the holes on the workmate perfect so that it will hold the door well for when I paint it
Notice the beetle front spindle and brake drum being used as a counter balance on the workmate to stop the weight of the door pulling the workmate over
 

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#26 ·
I sprayed some etch primer in the channel were the door seal goes trying to cover 100% of the metal neatly
Any bare metal behind the seal would bring on rust so fast it would be like dropping a alka seltzer in water!
And I've put some seam sealer in the joints around the door skin and frame
I just need to find the time to full prime it now
 

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#28 ·
Made some good progress recently
Did some work on the bonnet
It was as rusty and needed the same repairs on the other side and I made good the lip of the bonnet under the handle were they always split
It's now waiting for me to find some time to prep it for primer
 

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#29 ·
Nice work. Looks like I may well have to replace the corner strengthener on one of my doors. A previous 'expert' has drilled through the rivets that hold the lower flap with a large drill bit, not leaving much material to bolt the replacement flap onto. mmmm. We shall see.
 
#32 ·
I suppose I should be grateful to have 4 good hinges on my doors
Been prepping the primer on the door
Sanded it with 240 grit with my 200mm sanding block to get it flat and smooth
I reckon it will probably be a bit rippley when you look down the panel in the final finish
But I'm not trying to build a really high quality bug just something that looks good for sensible money if it were a problem you'd just fit a full skin or maybe a full door (they are expensive at Heritage I don't have that much in the rest of the shell)
Some pictures
 

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#33 ·
As far as I'm aware you cant get skins for late doors, only early ones, and you have to cut the skin along the swage line, which sounds worse that doing the bottom repair to me! I've got too sets of doors, all rotten, and as one set is LHD managed to get 2 hinges for a RHS door that aren't worn to death. But drilling out all the rivets is a real drag!
 
#35 · (Edited)
You need to read the small print, they are small window skins. You need to chop them at the swage line. I managed to do one door bottom yesterday. Not as neat as you, but it will do. Main thing is I kept the strengthener at the hinge, so I know its in the correct place.



 
#37 ·
Yes they look a lot better
I payed £20 each for my crap ones but then I am a tight fisted penny pinching Yorkshireman
I just feel glad I didn't find out about the full skins the hard way
Would have done my head in to cut an £80 skin up when I did basically the same thing with the cheap £10 repair panels

Reprimed the door again today
Put 20% thinners in the primer this time because I don't need the primer to bury all the sanding scratches in the body filler like I needed it to on the first coat and I was looking to get a good finish in the last coat of primer
When you look at the reflection of the tool box drawers in the wet primer I don't think the shape of the door skin looks too bad either
Now I need to strip the dash down and unbolt the front wings for yet more prep
 

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