MK3 Rover Passenger Side Rear Door Repairs
Nov 2, 2021 13:49:45 GMT
Phil Nottingham, johnwp5bcoupe, and 4 more like this
Post by enigmas on Nov 2, 2021 13:49:45 GMT
I've owned my Mk3 P5 coupe going on to 30 years now. Bought as a basket case and re-engined with a Leyland P76 V8 all those years ago. It was restored over a 2 year period and then used as a daily driver for over 20 years, clocking up at least 300,000 kms during that time. These days it lives a leisurely existence on Club plates.
The coupe originally, AFAIK resided in NSW for most of it's early life, so no salted roads but it did endure a hotter climate for most of that time prior to my ownership. The interior has been refurbished twice under my care, the second time fully in leather. The door cards are still largely original apart from the arm rests that were reupholstered with the leather seat material.
I repaired sections of the body work all those years ago. The car was in quite good shape with no major rust apparent or visible dings. The paint of course (originally juniper green) had seen better days as had the complete gear train, but that's another story.
Repairs to the PS Rear Door.
I'd removed the original stainless steel side trim during the initial rebuild all those years ago and replaced it with self adhesive 'chrome' (plastic) side trim; it's still in place to this day. I have a personal dislike for drilling holes in metal panels and affixing metal clips to painted surfaces with pop rivets.
A crack started to appear on the rear PS door and as the car was in regular use I decided to leave it. Obviously over time the crack grew in size. Several months ago (Victorians were in seemingly permanent lockdown) I decided to remove the offending piece that had released itself from the ever growing crack.
The following is a pictoral description with a minimum of text.
Moisture had worked through the original trim holes. Note also the internal corrosion escaping on the lower RHS of the door panel.
Starting repairs to the top portion.
The tape line indicates material that needs to be cut off to straighten the lower door line.
Cutting away rotton panel steel. Note the untreated raw panel once the outer skin was cut away. These 2 panels are in close proximity to one another and make a perfect moisture trap.
Increasing the cutout section
A spare door skin (1950s MG Magnette) provided the repair patch.
Reinforcement strip acts as a panel joiner.
I had to temporarily remove a section of the inner door skin to effect repairs.
This was latter welded back in place.
Note the patch panel had grown in size. Holes were drilled evenly spaced around the perimeter of the repair section and plug welded using a MIG welder. Welds were later levelled with an angle grinder.
To be continued.
The coupe originally, AFAIK resided in NSW for most of it's early life, so no salted roads but it did endure a hotter climate for most of that time prior to my ownership. The interior has been refurbished twice under my care, the second time fully in leather. The door cards are still largely original apart from the arm rests that were reupholstered with the leather seat material.
I repaired sections of the body work all those years ago. The car was in quite good shape with no major rust apparent or visible dings. The paint of course (originally juniper green) had seen better days as had the complete gear train, but that's another story.
Repairs to the PS Rear Door.
I'd removed the original stainless steel side trim during the initial rebuild all those years ago and replaced it with self adhesive 'chrome' (plastic) side trim; it's still in place to this day. I have a personal dislike for drilling holes in metal panels and affixing metal clips to painted surfaces with pop rivets.
A crack started to appear on the rear PS door and as the car was in regular use I decided to leave it. Obviously over time the crack grew in size. Several months ago (Victorians were in seemingly permanent lockdown) I decided to remove the offending piece that had released itself from the ever growing crack.
The following is a pictoral description with a minimum of text.
Moisture had worked through the original trim holes. Note also the internal corrosion escaping on the lower RHS of the door panel.
Starting repairs to the top portion.
The tape line indicates material that needs to be cut off to straighten the lower door line.
Cutting away rotton panel steel. Note the untreated raw panel once the outer skin was cut away. These 2 panels are in close proximity to one another and make a perfect moisture trap.
Increasing the cutout section
A spare door skin (1950s MG Magnette) provided the repair patch.
Reinforcement strip acts as a panel joiner.
I had to temporarily remove a section of the inner door skin to effect repairs.
This was latter welded back in place.
Note the patch panel had grown in size. Holes were drilled evenly spaced around the perimeter of the repair section and plug welded using a MIG welder. Welds were later levelled with an angle grinder.
To be continued.