New skin or filler?

[Belgium R/T -68]

Cleaned the drivers door on the Challenger today, a donordoor btw. It looked almost perfect before I started with all nice paint but after getting all old paint and filler off I wish I never had done it. All those dents and small, small rustbumps. How does a proffesional bodyman handle such a case? I mean you can't reach the inside of the doorskin because of the "collisionbars sitting there. Is filler
the only option because I guess changing doorskins isn't that easy and cheap either.

Per

[1BAD68]

Nothing wrong with a little filler to smooth out that door. 99.9% of all cars old and new have some filler for that reason.
Its when you start stuffing holes with filler that you are crossing the line.

[charger_fan_4ever]

Nothing wrong with a little filler to smooth out that door. 99.9% of all cars old and new have some filler for that reason.
Its when you start stuffing holes with filler that you are crossing the line.

Ditto

Hammer out the dents from the back side and hammer and dolly the best you can and then scim on the filler to straighten it up. On a place you can't hammer or pry out ( like a rocker panel) i'd drill a couple holes and pull the dent out and weld up the whole and add filler.

With door skins being $300 ish over here its easier,less $$ and a better overall job to change the skin then paying $$$ to bondo up old beat up parts. Seeing as your in europe not so easy to just go get a new skin. With your door down to bare metal from the pic its hard to see how beat up it is. If its just the larger visible dent easy fix. If it is dented every inch down the panel it will take quite a bit of filling block sanding, then spray on filler and reblocking until straight.

[Belgium R/T -68]

How long time would it take a pro bodymen to change skin? Also consider I don't think they do that overhere normally.

Per

[charger_fan_4ever]

I'll find out for you, my brothers own and operate a bodyshop. Been at it for over 30 years. The skin needs to be installed with the door shell is on the car. They usually use the metal glue to give a little wiggle room then clamp it. After it sets a tack weld in 4 corners and done.

You'd have to get the old skin off, sandblast the shell and get it prepped for the new skin.

Installing the skin with the shell just on a table the fit won't be right.

[Belgium R/T -68]

I checked how to get the old skin off but it seems it's bended over the shell or?

Per

[tan top]

get  any dents out as best you can !! make sure there is no plink plink  oil canning , &  bondo it up , easy to shape & rub as the door is off  ,  just give the bottom a good check for rot starting 

[Troy]

If you can't reach the back side you can always use a stud gun. I'm not a professional by any means but I've been able to do a decent job of straightening small dents myself with basic tools (the cheap Harbor Freight hammer and dolly kit, a stud gun, and a slide hammer). On my Challenger it appeared that the previous owner was totally scared of doing any metal work as they used Bondo on every dent - no matter how large. The only ones that really took any effort (so far) were the ones on the body lines.

Yes, the skin is folded over all the way around the edge.

Troy

[CidE]

If you can't reach the back side you can always use a stud gun. I'm not a professional by any means but I've been able to do a decent job of straightening small dents myself with basic tools (the cheap Harbor Freight hammer and dolly kit, a stud gun, and a slide hammer). On my Challenger it appeared that the previous owner was totally scared of doing any metal work as they used Bondo on every dent - no matter how large. The only ones that really took any effort (so far) were the ones on the body lines.

Yes, the skin is folded over all the way around the edge.

Troy

I would go this route, it's how I did a lot of work on mine. A unispotter with a slide hammer and some dolly and hammer work could fix that right up. Then a light coat of filler to make sure everything is smooth. It will be much easier than reskinning if you can get access to the tools.

[vancamp]

I'll find out for you, my brothers own and operate a bodyshop. Been at it for over 30 years. The skin needs to be installed with the door shell is on the car. They usually use the metal glue to give a little wiggle room then clamp it. After it sets a tack weld in 4 corners and done.

You'd have to get the old skin off, sandblast the shell and get it prepped for the new skin.

Installing the skin with the shell just on a table the fit won't be right.

doors have to be off to put a new door skin on, grind edge all the around the door remove skin then remove remaining bent over lip either crimp and tack weld new skin on on crimp and glue new skin on either works but put some seam sealer in between the skin and bracing to keep rattles at a minimum.   if you just want to fix the dents use a stud welder and pull the dents as close as possible and skim coat it sand and prime.

[Belgium R/T -68]

get  any dents out as best you can !! make sure there is no plink plink  oil canning , &  bondo it up , easy to shape & rub as the door is off  ,  just give the bottom a good check for rot starting 

I plan on having the door sandblasted, the bottom is full of those small tiny craters and there were already some bubbles in the paint although it was a nearly new paintjob on the car. I'm alergic to
rust, especially on newly painted cars.

Per

[Silver R/T]

stud welder works great for places that you can't access from behind

[Belgium R/T -68]

Passengerdoor also done. Almost no dents but very poorly rustrepairs at the front bottom. They just filled it with bondo. Cut out and put a new piece in?

Per

[mikepmcs]

yes.

lots of work going on there. looks good.

[Arigmaster]

Vancamp has the right approach... Personally, I like to minimize how much plastic if any goes on the car.

There is a door tool for bending the lip over the inner shell that goes on a air chisel. It works pretty good on the long flats but not well on the curves. Dolly & hammer there. I have used a bead of Dura-bond 45 on the inside of the door where it makes contact (skin to inner door flat) followed by rolling it down flat on the outer. I only put 2 small tack welds on the upper two corners then work the lip over arount the rest of the perimiter. Once it's down and tight, I run body calk around it sparingly.

The durabond replaces any need for welding other than the tack welds and prevents moisture from entering the seam. the body calk helps on the inner visible area too.  (note: make sure you clear the door drains underneath the door if you use this method before the durabond sets up. Also run your finger around the internal edge to smooth any excess down so it wont trap water along the edge)

Everyone has different methods, This is the one I have used.