Door Dent Repair - Advice Needed

Discussion in 'Cosmetic' started by sg74, Apr 24, 2019.

  1. sg74

    sg74 Member

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    Hey guys,

    New member, first post. I bought this beautiful '74 Maverick recently and I'm finally getting around to attempting to fix the huge dent on the driver's side door, the only real problem with the car. I bought the car in this condition after a hit and run, besides the dent it is in great condition.

    The body shops I've gone to haven't wanted to touch it, saying that I need to get a new door, the damage is too severe. I've been scouting for doors online but haven't had any luck finding one from a '73 or '74, those are the two years that I know are compatible, not sure about others. I'm also not super keen on dropping in a new door since the paint won't match, and I'd like to avoid repainting the entire car since the original color still looks so good. I've not had luck sourcing just the exterior panel either, and am not sure how one would replace it, the assembly looks crimped and welded.

    So I wanted to try and see if I could make some progress on this dent, maybe to the point where a shop would be willing to finish it off. Unfortunately, the point of impact is directly in front of the anti-intrusion bar, and was strong enough to bend the bar out of shape to the point where the window doesn't roll down all the way. There's also really limited access to the interior of the door panel, and the anti-intrusion bar is blocking much of the affected area that would need to be formed back into shape.

    Right now my best idea is to remove a portion of the anti-intrusion bar and cut away some of the door sheet metal (red box) to gain access to the interior of the dent to work on it. This would mean cutting both the sheet metal and the anti-intrusion bar, which I'm not eager to do since it would be pretty destructive and would compromise the door's integrity. Maybe I could weld the bar back into place, but I'm not confident that would really provide any significant benefit.

    Am I crazy for wanting to try this? What would you guys do in my position?
     

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  2. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

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    Where are you located? Mavericks are in the junkyard around here. Either way you go about repairing your door it will be repainted. A good painter can paint to match the rest of your car.

    100_4284.JPG
     
  3. William623

    William623 Member Supporting Member

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    What junkyard is that?
     
  4. William623

    William623 Member Supporting Member

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    That is a very hard dent to fix, There is multiple angles there and it is on the body line. Plus you have the brace behind the door which wont allow you to get behind the dent. To fix that you would have to have a puller or spot welder and it wont be perfect. That door would not come out perfect and would need filler to straighten it out. That is ALOT of work there. It will have to be repainted.
     
  5. rthomas771

    rthomas771 Member

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    This yard is Johnson Auto Salvage in Griffin, GA.
     
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  6. RMiller

    RMiller My name is Rick

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    There are a few guys on here that are parting cars in California. No doubt either would be able to help you. One is junrai and the other campmaverick.
     
  7. sg74

    sg74 Member

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    I'm in northern CA, a GA junkyard might be a bit too far but anything goes if the part is good.

    Thanks for the tip Rick I'll check with those guys, maybe I'll get lucky.
     
  8. Craig Selvey

    Craig Selvey Indiana State Rep - MCCI

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    Bottomline: You need a different door. And as Jeff stated, a good painter can match the paint.
     

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