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Straightening a dented door...


Big.Mike

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My 110 CSW has a very dented rear door, it's around the handle and is so bad that there is a 5mm gap around the top. The handle took the brunt of the impact which cracked in two.two.

My question is, is there an easy way to straighten this, if so how? I'm tempted to take the door card off and hit it with a lump of wood from inside, trying not to break the glass.

My gut is telling me to get a new door, but I like that it has a few battle scars... I just want it to function as a door.

Cheers,

MikeMike

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Do you mean one of the second row doors? Or the actual back door (I only ask as I don't see how the handle on the back door would break).

I had my passenger door dented quite badly when some drugged up idiot threw a shopping trolley into it last new years eve. I've managed to get most of the dent out but it is by no means perfect. The steel frame reinforces the door in the area you are speaking of (assuming I'm on about the right door :) ) and this is glued to the aluminium skin. I ended up cutting the glue and straigtening the skin as best I could then straightening the reinforcing. I then reglued the skin to the frame using sikaflex and clamped a bit of wood across the door to keep the skin flat till it dried.

Not sure if what I've said is any help in your situation.

Before

post-25689-0-90505900-1348496946_thumb.jpg

After

post-25689-0-12190900-1348496955_thumb.jpg

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Hello fellow member from the Horsham area!

If you have a picture then we could make a decision. It sounds like with a bit of panel beating then it could be made servicable again.

It does sound like it's the passenger rear door, not the back door. I have (A tree has) pushed my door handle into my door twice now and I have successfully pushed it back out again with a bit of panel beating here and there to regain it's former shape.

I am now doing to one piece lift up handle doors to hopefully cure the problem!

Steve

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@steve200TDi thanks for the Horsham greeting.

Sorry I should have been clearer: the passenger offside second row door ;)

Problem 1: Fixed, I put a 4x2 in the door and pushed on the top to bend it back into shape, then I moved the hinges to fit, gap gone. :rolleyes:

Problem 2: Dent is right behind the handle (I suspect caused by the handle) I'm tempted to drill a hole in the door skin and use a hook to put the panel out, I have lots of plugs to fill the hole.

post-25707-0-42902400-1348576833_thumb.jpg

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

Mike

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I would remove door card, window mechanism and handle and using a variety of small hammers and drift slowly work it back into shape.

Steve

It doesn't look as bad in the photo as it actually is; the entire door has taken a hit.

I'll give the drifting a try, but I actually suspect I might have more luck getting the door on a flat surface and hitting it with a lump of wood!

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It doesn't look as bad in the photo as it actually is.......

I don't know, from the reflection it looks like you were taking pictures in your dressing gown in the afternoon..... I'd say that looks bad :P

Seriously though, it is amazing how well photos seem to play down dents, if you take the picture looking along the door they tend to show up better ;) If you go the lump of wood route it's easy to over do it and make it harder to repair, it's easy to crease the aluminium by catching a corner of the wood or steel frame.

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I'd get a my favorite hammer and add some more dents throughout the vehicle just to even it up :P

Ha! Daisy is already reasonably dented. I don't mind the dents, in fact I go on the same principle as some photographers; the more abused she looks the less attention she'll attract.

The only caveat to this is that the dent's don't affect the water-tightness or function of Daisy. Unfortunately both are affected at the moment.

Cheers,

Mike

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