[Scott Collins]

I have a quarter size spot of rust, causing the paint to bubble up around the protective trim on the driver's side door. It's below the handle and getting bigger as we speak. (I thought galvanized bodies would not rust...)

Question:

Should I have it repaired and painted for a quote of $300 by a local body shop? I have used them before and they are good.

or

should I replace the entire door? I have a quote for a used door without mirror and handle for $225, which I would have to drive 2 hrs to pick up.

Thoughts? Thanks!

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[flash]

protective trim?

anyway, if it is rusting, then somebody removed the galvanizing, likely in a repair - this may have even happened in shipping the car from germany - very common - nobody even needs to tell you about it, as long as the repair is done prior to the dealership taking delivery

you can probably have it repaired, as long as it is only surface rust - however, being a handle, any thinning of the material will cause a weakness there, and any body work done will likely eventually crack

as to whether or not to replace the door, i would make that decision largely on the condition of the other door relative to yours, and what somebody would charge to R&R all the interior workings of that door

another thing to consider is that red is the WORST color for oxidation and color change over time - unless the neighboring panels have been recently shot, or the replacement door is red and perfect, you will likely not get a color match whichever way you go, and will likely need to blend the fender, hood, and quarterpanel, and possibly the roof

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[jlm968]

Rather than give you a definitive answer, I'd offer you the following advice:

First, consider that red is the hardest color to match. This will be true whether you have your present door repainted or if you get one from a donor vehicle. Black is black, as body/paint men say, but red's a b**ch.

Second, rust of that nature is insidious. It begins with some fracture in the finish, however slight, that allows bare metal to meet air (and moisture), and it keeps growing underneath the paint because it continually oxygenates itself. Unless you take an aggressive step to fix it, it will never stop.

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[Scott Collins]

Flash - Jim,

Thanks for the info - I'll give a call to see about the condition of the door.

As far as the "protective trim", I just am forever blocking on the proper technical names for some components. What I meant to say is that it is the protective side moulding that protects the doors from other doors opening into the car in the parking lot. The rust is under and around that spot, near the center of the exterior of the door, but not at the door handle.

Flash, it sounds like you are saying that I will probably need to paint either way.

-Scott

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[flash]

ah - i think the side mouldings are just stuck on, so repair done correctly there should have no effect on operation afterward

paint - probably - red is a VERY hard color to work with and match - it always ends up with one panel being either more orange, blue or pink than the others - you can certainly try it, but i am skeptical about the success, and if it doesn't work, they will have to strip the new paint back down, or you will have too much paint piled up

at a bare minimum you will have to do a complete buffing of the car to remove all oxidation, so as to even get down to the paint color to try to match

good luck

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[Scott Collins]

Alright, so if I probably have to paint anyway, then I will keep my existing door and have that repainted, especially since that will save me time and effort trying to fit the new door and swap the mirror and handle, not to mention the window motor and switches maybe not being up to par on the donor door....

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[banditsc]

Are you sure it's rust and not just the paint bubbling from a poor paint job on the door?

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[sstman]

I would have the door repaired, insomuch that I have recently had to replace my door mech on the drivers side (UK car right hand drive) after the latch handle had snapped in two, and to strip out the door and rebuild the lock assembly is something I would not want to do again, the labour charge for that job in a shop would be 'high' swapping over to a 'new' door alone.

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[biotechee]

+1 on repainting the existing door.

If you have to swap interior mechanics into a new door, you will pay a hefty sum in labor or spend some quality time getting to know your door's innards. It will be quality time you will not appeciate. That I can guarantee!!!

Additionally, getting a *new* door lined up and shimmed so it aligns correctly with your frame can be seriously time consuming and frustrating. Remember, the 968 was not mass-produced on assembly lines like today's vehicles. You are liable to have differences from car to car, especially in something that is aligned like a door or a hood.

Regarding painting, if in fact red is one of the most difficult colors to match, I'd rather have an off-hue original door than an off-hue different door that cost me time and money to swap internals and to mount correctly.

Just my humble opinion, biased of course from having spent many hours inside 944 and 968 doors. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]

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[link517]

I have a guards red coupe that just was rear ended. A hidden crack in the bumper forced us to rely on the germans for a new one. My point is, i also had the front bumper taken off and repainted due to road rash and rock chips. I am getting it back tomorrow and i will see if i can take some quality pics of the paint borders, i am a little nervous about the color matching because the rear bumper covers a lot of real estate.

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[Scott Collins]

Link517,

Seems like it becomes every more difficult to match colors from plastic to metal surfaces. Both plastic bumper covers on my car are just slightly lighter in color than the rest of the metal body. It's only noticeable if you actually stop and compare sections for a minute, then you see it, and sometimes it is much more obvious in different lighting conditions.

Banditsc,

I am not sure it is rust. The paint is bubbling but has not yet come off and has not yet exposed what is underneath. I am reluctant to pick it off until I am ready to get to work, but I think I might have to do just that to find out what lies underneath.

I am now at the stage of PARALYSIS BY ANALYSIS. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

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