12 replies to this topic

[Mr_Laurence]

Hi there, I'm sure topics like this have been discussed no end on here, but every repair is slightly different, and rather than jumping in at the deep end with some huge repair or splashing out on a brand new door, I'd like to get some opinions on what the best way to approach this would be.

The worst bit of rust on my mini is on the door - it isn't structural, and hasn't bothered me, but equally, I worry that if I just leave it, it'll get worse and be a much bigger issue later on. The biggest section of it, on the far left is roughly the size of a 50p coin, with the rest being slightly smaller. I've given what appeared to be the worst sections of it a solid prodding with my finger, and nothing happened to it, suggesting there may still be some metal behind it.

What is the best way to deal with this? I'm open to any suggestions, but I'm still very much an amateur in terms of any sort of fabrication or bodywork repairs, so bear that in mind.

Below are a few pictures of what I'm dealing with (please excuse the poor quality - hopefully they're good enough to see what I'm talking about though.)





Big thanks for any help in advance

[Swift_General]

Can you weld?

[Mr_Laurence]

Can you weld?

Not really - I've tried once or twice, and made a right mess of it.

[Deathrow]

Mini door bottoms rust from the inside out typically. Once you can see blisters on the outside you're most likely going to need a new door skin fitting.

You could sand that down and repaint, but it's just going to come back.

If I were you I would make do with it until it's more of a problem and then get the door re-skinned and painted. You could spray some Dinitrol ML on the inside of the door at the bottom and it might slow the process a little.

[Swift_General]

Take back the paint and rust to see where you are, but as above any repairs can only be considered temporary and invariably you really need new metal. At the least you need to re skin the lower part of the door. This is harder to do than re skinning the whole door as you have a join and welding that can easily distort. If it were my door I would be re skinning the whole door, and potentially expecting to replace the lower part of the door (for which you can get repair panels), although your photos don't show this area.

[Steve220]

It's more than likely the inside of the door looks a bit of a mess by now if it's blistered the paint on the exterior. To do the job properly it will need a new skin. It's not a straight forward repair however there are a lot of mini friendly bodyshops around that can do the work for you. It may need the lower part of the door doing too, which is why it would benefit from a bodyshop doing the work.

[Ethel]

There's no welding along the bottom edge, it's just folded over, but joining in any repair sections would be best welded. It needs rubbing down and treating with a phosphoric inhibitor if you want to put off a proper repair as long as possible. Of course it's inside on the door itself that matters most and it'll be hard to do that properly. 

 

The reflections suggest it sleeps in a garage, leave the doors ajar and wind the windows down to allow better ventilation.

[Mr_Laurence]

There's no welding along the bottom edge, it's just folded over, but joining in any repair sections would be best welded. It needs rubbing down and treating with a phosphoric inhibitor if you want to put off a proper repair as long as possible. Of course it's inside on the door itself that matters most and it'll be hard to do that properly. 
 
The reflections suggest it sleeps in a garage, leave the doors ajar and wind the windows down to allow better ventilation.

thanks! It spends most of the time in a garage - I'll have a go at leaving the windows down and doors ajar - see if it can help slow down the corrosion at all

May have another look at door rescinding too - I remember seeing it being done a while back, and it seemed too hard. If it doesn't require much welding, there's a chance I might be able to manage haha

[sonikk4]

I'll be a bit more blunt about it, that is shot and will only get worse no matter what you do to it. In fact the longer you leave the more rust damage will occur to the door frame creating even more work.

 

Now at the very least you may get away with the lower door frame return to replace, however that will be highly unlikely and will need the complete lower section of the frame replacing. Now none of this is complicated, there are repair sections available to cover that area. The two areas that you cannot buy repair sections for are the side returns. These you will have to make yourself, again not difficult.

 

The skin. Now this is where it can go totally tits up. Three varieties of skins out there. Pattern alloy, Pattern steel (Magnum) and good old Heritage. Now i cannot comment of alloy but would not recommend it for a daily, its more a weight saving exercise and has its own problems fitting.

 

Magnum skins. Now these beasties can be hit or miss. The number one biggest issue is if they are bowed at the top. This can be addressed but you really really need to be careful here as its very easy to kink the skin. However they are by far the cheaper option.

 

Heritage, the best you can currently get but with the biggest price tag as well. They do fit well.

 

Fitting the new skin involves a modicum of seam welding and some spot / plug welds. What you will need is a reasonable quality panel beating hammer and dolly. You can buy a kit for somewhere around the £40 to £50 range.

 

Have a look at the Project Paddy link in my signature or look for Wills Mini Special or in my signature The Red One. All of them show what you will need to know about door skinning.

 

There are several tools out there you can buy for skinning doors BUT the hand manual one leaves marks on the folded return (found this out when i bought and used one) the over is a pneumatic type https://www.google.c...HYDD8dsPJT0hQM:

 

Been recommended one more for speed than anything else but i am not in a hurry when doing these jobs.

 

Now there is one more panel you can buy without removing all of the skin which is just a lower section of door skin. The one biggest issue with this puppy is you will get distortion of the upper skin, plus realistically you will need a joggler. Having done one of these on the wifes old Mayfair i would not do one again plus also with what i know will be hiding on the rest of the skin.

 

So if you need any tips holler out.

[Mr_Laurence]

Wow... Thanks. When I stop putting it off and decide the skin is completely past it, I'll be sure to take note of what you've said. Lots of really useful tips I'd not have know. About otherwise. Really appreciate it.

[pete l]

The thing is, you are going to have to spend time and money on that door, even if you bodge it, so you might as well cut out ALL the rust and do it properly.

[Ethel]

I didn't aim to be misleading. The door skin is only one part of a rusty sandwich there, of more importance is the door itself, which can only really be properly tackled with at least part of the skin removed. It's not difficult to patch, and there is a repair panel, but it's a balance against saving more of the original. The top corners of the skin are best welded/brazed to the frame. My comment about windows down 'n doors ajar are about improving ventilation and slowing corrosion, they'll do much less if flaky rust is already established.

[Mr_Laurence]

I didn't aim to be misleading. The door skin is only one part of a rusty sandwich there, of more importance is the door itself, which can only really be properly tackled with at least part of the skin removed. It's not difficult to patch, and there is a repair panel, but it's a balance against saving more of the original. The top corners of the skin are best welded/brazed to the frame. My comment about windows down 'n doors ajar are about improving ventilation and slowing corrosion, they'll do much less if flaky rust is already established.

not a problem! From what I remember, the last time I looked at the frame itself, rust hadn't done any visible damage to anything but the skin, but I've seen and heard of plenty of times when doors that looked fine have been virtually destroyed. After all, it's a part that almost always rusts from inside out, so by the time you see the damage, it's already too late...

I've looked into reskinning, and it was easier than I expected. Obviously, it needs welding no matter how you tackle it, but only a few spot/plug welds - far fewer than I'd imagined.

Also in regards to the leaving the doors ajar - I'm aware all that'll do is slow corrosion. I'm sure we all wish rust repairs were as easy as just winding down a window hahah