As the cargo door came to completion, I focused my attention on the passenger dogleg and passenger door panels. Like the driver’s side, the dogleg was replaced with a mediocre aftermarket piece. The problem with the aftermarket pieces is the internal segment is short by about 3/4″. This requires separating the aftermarket halves, extending the lower internal segment, and re-welding them back together. My spot welder was really helpful for this application. No pictures here as it was essentially the same as the driver’s side.
Once the dogleg was welded into place, I turned to the passenger door. Unlike the driver door, the passenger door skin was too far gone to repair.
So, while waiting for a new door skin to be shipped, I started removal of the rusted portions.
The door skin edge has about 100 factory spot welds. Fortunately, many of the weld spots were weakened by rust and decay, and separated easily with a cold chisel.
Once the panel was off, I ground down the spot welds and sprayed with cold-zinc.
The internal frame was in pretty good shape. The “H” support piece however, was rusted at the lower attachments. The bottom inch or so was cut off, and with 22g steel, I bent up some extensions to weld and replace.
Another area needing repair was along the drip edge of the bottom sill. I made a “c” shaped replacement piece, and welded it up.
Since all of the door frame components were accessible, I cleaned/lubed the lock mechanism, and sealed the frame with POR-15. Once the POR-15 was dry (the next day) I sprayed the inside edges (that get moisture) with undercoating and cavity wax.
The new door skin arrived a few days later and is a great fitting panel. It is made in Brazil by IGP, and was not expensive.
I epoxy primed the internal side of the new skin before attaching it to the frame. When dry, I used my spot welder and MIG to tack the new skin on.
Once everything was in place, I seam welded the sides and lips. A generous application of seam sealer was applied to keep moisture out of the edge overlaps. But welds are needed at the window frame attachments.
After the new skin was welded into place, and seam sealed, it was epoxy primed, followed by urethane primer, then the blue single stage urethane topcoat.
Finally, the widow regulator and lock components were refastened. A complete window seal kit was ordered from BusDepot. Oddly the kit had a bright finish aluminum window scraper that was different from the kit I received for the driver’s side (last fall). It’s a nicer reproduction piece.
Completed pix to come…