Door bottoms rotten

[hampstead38]

Overall, the rust level on the D200 is less than I expected for an east coast work truck. On other hand, there are some problem areas. The bottom seams on both doors is completely rusted out. It's not visible unless you look up from underneath the door or down (as I was doing today replacing some window gaskets). Is this generally a sheet metal repair gig or shop for better doors?

[wally426ci]

Randy (dogtrk) may have doors, he is also in Hampstead, i was just there Wednesday actually. But if not, you could patch them pretty easy i think. Did that truck come from Fallston, Md??

[hampstead38]

I've exchanged emails with Randy. We'll get together at some point and talk truck. I suspected that because of the location, a guy could cut out the rot and weld in some replacement metal without getting too fancy. Since my floor pans have some issues, I though I might roll all of the work together. I'll job it out since I have no welder and very little welding skills. If the doors can be repaired, I'd rather save them and let some other guy use replacement doors for a rig that is in worse shape.

Yup, I picked up the D200 out of Fallston. I wanted a 3/4-ton pickup circa '67 (or thereabouts) to tow the '67 Airstream. I'd had good experience with my old '65 Dodge D100 so when the D200 hits Craigslist, I was on it like a fat kid on a Snicker's bar. I picked up a couple of boxes of parts and a pretty heavy duty square-receiver hitch. He also tossed in the factory shop manual, some old Dodge truck memorabilia and the some other stuff. It's been quire a few years since I've turned any wrenches, but damn... it's nice to look inside an engine compartment and know what I'm looking at.

I'm not stressed about the body work... since there's a good deal of mechanical stuff to do. I'd like to get all of the rotten metal out, patched and hit the frame and new metal with POR-15. Something about rust that just bothers me. I'm trying to get a roof over the D200 because my little shop is full of Airstream crap... so we'll see how that works out. If you pass through Hampstead, drop me a note. I'm always up for a shrimp & crab fondue bowl at J&P. Good stuff.

[wally426ci]

You got it! Sounds like a good plan. Im dealing with some rust myself, trying to get mine on the road and then I'll be doing floor work and a few other things.

[Hobcobble]

The doors could probably be saved if the rust isn't too extensive. You could
probably save some $$ by making up your own patch panels and taking them
to someone to weld in for you.
John

[nfury8]

I am sure they can be saved if you wanted to. It is just a mater of money,
if you don't have the stuff to do it yourself. If you do decide to try and
fix them, make sure to leave in a couple drains. Clogged drains are a big
reason why most seem to rust out on the bottom. My crews doors were in
pretty good shape, and all the drains were clear. My Adventurer though
had clogged drains and I didn't realize it till I heard the water sloshing around
in the doors when I opened them! I took a hack saw blade and cleaned them
out and probably a gallon of water came out!!! The window whiskers had
degraded and were allowing a lot of water into the doors. Even worse, it
was chunks of the whiskers that were clogging the drains!

[tom-adc]

Mine were pretty well shot so I patched them.
BTW Jim's CD has a great section on doing door repair.