Door Rust Repair - Patch or Replace?

[AngliaGT]

I'm looking at a vehicle that has some rust on the bottom of the door.
The rest of the door appears to be solid.
Would you repair or replace it?

 

[glemon]

I am sure the "right way" is probably to reskin or replace the door--what kind of car? Common to the point where a good door might be easy and/or cheap to find? Lots of options, as long as you get all the rust out and it is strong and straight I think you are good to go. Of course I come from a time when the most common repairs seemed to be grinding the rust out and smearing with Bondo for a repair that was good until the next winter, so my standards may be out of synch with the times.

 

[AngliaGT]

It's a '95 Dodge Dakota.

 

[DrEntropy]

Replace it if possible. Have you looked at Long Motors?

 

[AngliaGT]

V12 & straight 8?

 

[JPSmit]

car-parts.com - looks like a couple hundred bucks. Labour would be twice that or more.

 

[John Turney]

If you were still in California you could go to Pick-n-Pull and get a replacement door. Too much rust in Virginia.

 

[glemon]

When my son got damage to both doors on one side of his Subaru a few years back found some matching (color/year) doors at a junkyard half a day's drive away. So for $250 and a day we did a body shop $3000 repair. The doors weren't perfect, but they matched the rest of the car better than new paint would have anyway.

 

[AngliaGT]

JP,
carparts.com doesn't have doors.

John,

I found a couple of doors in NC for $250.
I think I'll pick them up this week.

glemon,

That would work IF they were the same color.
This truck's been repainted,so matching it might not be
to hard for a body shop.

The front bottoms of the front fenders shouldn't
be too hard to repair.