Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Aesthetics Door Rust Growing

Alright I have a silver csvt, it's pretty much in great shape except for the inside bottom edge of the doors. It's been rusting now for a while and I've already tried to repair it once, which I think is only going to buy me a little extra time before it becomes visible on the outside of the door. Basically when I attempted to fix it I sanded off as much of the surface rust as I could and then primed and painted it. The bottom edge of the door seems very hard to repair because the metal is folded over at the bottom and it seems to be rusting out from the inside . Alright anyways my question is this, what is the best way to deal with this, get new doors? get the doors repaired at a body shop? Try and find good silver doors from a salvage yard? Or attempt to fix it myself with the help of a friend who has very minimal body work experience? I do not want to get rid of this car, basically it will have to be totalled in order for me to get something else. It's almost paid for, it's mechanically solid, and I don't want to drive around in a rust bucket. I'm not totally worried about cost right now, because I believe I have time to save for the repairs that will be needed, so any solution or suggestion is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, you guys rule.

i think that the easiest way out will be to get good silver doors from a junk yard

My moms 2001 Explorer was doing the same thing. I know exactly what you mean about the pinch weld making it hard to get all the surface rust off. I took off the doors, and removed the doors then sand blasted the bottom of the doors to remove all the rust. I only blasted the inside so I didn't need to worry about touching the outside of the doors. Spend plenty of time to properly cover anything you don't want sand blasted such as the door panel etc... Then use a rust killer/preventer primer, and then finish with your Silver frost. It is actually quite easy and it works awesome. The exploer made it through 2 winters and 1 summer so far and it looks like new.

Just my 2 cents.


Jeff

Thanks a lot guys, good advice, I appreciate it.

use an oil can & oil the inside of your doors...remove your door panel & put some drops of oil where it'll drip down into the bottom, may help retard the corrosion

it's good to do this on new cars too as a preventative, especially in harsh climates

sand and thoroughly clean any area that is showing rust, inside and out and then coat it with 2-3 coats of POR15.