[landarts]

Here are a few close-up pictures of the damaged area on the driver's door. So I proceeded to remove the window and regulator since the regulator was toast and needed to be replaced. Removed the mirror and the wind wing assembly so that everything is out of the way to do the repair. The damage on the door I thought could possibly be pulled with my stud gun and Steck Lever. Well, that was an epic failure for sure. The main portion of the crease was tied to the side panel in the door where all the strength is, so it really did not move after about twenty-plus pulls. So I decided to cut out the damage and attempt to shape it and shrink it back to fitting after pounding on it for a bit on the anvil portion on the back of my bench vise. Then I proceeded to shape it back into place so that I could spot weld it back onto the door. Do a little hammer and dolly work to adjust a few high spots and then add a little filler to smooth it all out. Also welded in the mirror holes and addressed the uneven surface there.

While this door is being repaired I just mounted another spare door I had from my parts stash. Then after the major dent was addressed I went over the door with a DA and feathered out any chips or nicks and filled it with 3M white spot putty. A few rounds with the DA and the door is about ready for primer and paint.