For the past several days, I’ve been working on the driver’s side door and the boot lid.
Having repaired the original boot hinge by welding a new “tip” into the worn mechanism, I painted it up and finally installed. I spent an entire evening trying to line the boot lid up so that it opened and closed correctly, but I’m close and think I will make some shims so that it fits even better. But for now it is good enough, as my next big task will be to remove and replace the rubber seal and do some rust repair around the edges of the lid and the rear clip.
My main task, however, has been to repair a couple of major defects in the paint on the driver’s door, replace the window felts, maybe replace the rubber seals on the vent window and replace the door card.
Derek referred me to this excellent video on replacing the window felts and the vent seal. I wish I had it before I started.
https://youtu.be/IHzHGMkpRB4
It looked like something heavy had fallen into the door and there was a dent just above and to the left of the door handle. Access from the interior was very limited, and I was only partially successful in pounding the dent out from the inside, using a dolly as my hammer.
And some rust where at the vertical piece that separates the main from the vent window.
I used some body filler to even things out, and then primed and painted the area of the door above the trim line, the door edge and the interior using some rattle can paint. Not perfectly happy with the result, as I will need to do some wet sanding and polishing. But I’ll give myself a B-, as I think it will be an improvement.
The interior of the door had 60 years of dirt, but not very rusty. I gave it a thorough cleaning, treated with some metal etch, then used some Eastwood Rust Encapsulator on the rusty area along the front and the bottom of the door. The piece that holds the window was quite rusty, however. I cleaned this up and painted with POR 15 for future rust protection.
Today’s task is to start making up the door card. I’ve opted to go with APB plastic, which is black, so I’m not sure exactly how I will do the layout. The old door card is quite warped and the lower portion is disintegrated, so its use as a template will be limited. And I’m not sure how I will attach. I think I want to use nylon “pine tree” buttons, but lining up all of the holes will prove burdensome, so perhaps I will simply screw on.
The door “armrest/pull” handle will be a puzzle. The handle seems to point downward at about a 30 degree angle. The supports appear to be aluminium or some other cast metal that does not appear bendable. I’m not sure if the handle is supposed to be that way, or if it is supposed to be supported by a triangular shim to straighten it out.