Rusty Door Bottoms

Removed my drivers door card yesterday, and found this:









Have I found a can of worms, or is this fixable?

If so, what's involved, and what parts do I need.

I suspect the passenger, and rear door are the same.


Also, I want to protect the bulkheads ( below the windscreen) there in good condition at the moment... just a small amount of bubbling showing;



What's the best way of protecting them?

Is it easy to get waxoil in there?

Thanks

i wouldnt bother with the doors unless u r really particular. just leave them till theres a gap u can fit ur head thru and then buy some new ones. never heard of waxing bulkhead. all u can do it make sure it covered (ie painted well) and either rub down and treat when needed or just let it rust away too and fix when its really bad. u can buy bulkhead corners for repair instead of whole new one but urs looks pretty good for a few years yet.

Sort the bulkhead asap
On my LR every door has rust holes in some big some not so big ,at some point i will get new ones.

That's what the door cards are for, covering the rust! Get 'em back on quick!

Cheers

Blippie

I had this with my back door. What i did was fix 1" wide strips of metal from end to end of the door frame wherever it was bad, obviously bolted onto the less rotten areas.
My front doors are the same, but im not bothered, as long as the hinges are fine.

I'd pay as much attention to your bulkhead as you possibly can, I thought mine was reasonably OK till I hinged the screen down last weekend and found it was rotten to bloody hell. Ended up getting a new bulkhead!!!!! If you can fold the screen down and wax the top and mebee squirt waxoil into the cavity which should find its way down into the side pillars. It would also be a good idea to take the door seals off and have a good go at the door pillars as well.

Thanks for the advice.


To fold the windscreen down, is it just a case of undoing the two bolts at on inside, bottom corners of the windscreen?

If it's a full tilt then yes. If its a hard top then you will have to remove the headlining, undo the bolts along the top of the windscreen and the two on the tie rods on the bottom and it may hinge forwards. If it doesn't then you may have to take the roof off!!!!

I, as I sure almost every defender owner has, have the same problem with the door bottoms. I found that a rub down with a wire brush to get the loose bits off and a liberal coat of some thing like Krust (rust inhibitor and reverser) appears to have worked a treat, and is a damn site cheaper that ignoring it and replacing the doors at a later date, though my middle row doors were shot when I got the 110 and may be replaced sooner or later. Trouble being that good 2nd row doors are hard to find, harder than the front ones anyway.

I aggree Sniperbait, I'll wop somthing in there to slow the rot down.

Seen this on Ebay..

Is this what I need to replace them?

eBay.co.uk: LANDROVER-DEFENDER DOOR REPAIR SECTION (item 190093298323 end time 18-Mar-07 20:42:25 GMT)

I'm not sure that would fit too well. That strip has a lip on either side and they would stick out the bottom of your door if you put them where the current channels are. You could put them above the current channels, but you would have problems attaching them as the door skins are alluminuim and the channels are steel. You could try welding thin steel strips on top of the current ones. Your doors really dont look too bad, most defender owners would be happy to have them looking that bad. I think that repairing them would be a labour of love and plenty of welding and cutting.

Gofish said:

Is this what I need to replace them?

eBay.co.uk: LANDROVER-DEFENDER DOOR REPAIR SECTION (item 190093298323 end time 18-Mar-07 20:42:25 GMT)

Click to expand...

It'd look daft with that seat in it and it wouldn't be very comfy!

Mine have all rusted through and are now letting the rain in. OK I don't mind running the 110 with an indoor pool, but it does start to smell after a while.
I am going to either weld some thin steel over the intire bottom or use no more nails to stick a new boor bottom panel on.
Then I have to work out a way of letting the water out of the bottom of the door. I think the easiest way will be to drill some small holes through the outer door skin at the points that the water collect and let them drain directly out.

Having just go hold of a mig welder - is there any reason why I can't weld a piece of box section inplace of all rot?


I was thinking of cutting so that It fit over the hinge holes ( as there pretty bad too), and allowing for drainage holes.

Seems to this would be the simplest, and strongest repair - other than replacing the door.

Would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

My door bottoms have rotted off just waiting for this thread to open up. bloody dial up!

if you unscrew the door hinges from the bulkhead there's a square hole where you can squirt waxoil in. Or your favourite gloop. There is also a drain hole under the bottom where you could insert a spray tube if you have one of those, but it might be tricky to get right up to the top.

Those doors look lovely, I would like some like that. Have already done the mid row doors at 150 each