Rusty bottom door hinges

[Gordon]

OK, so I knew it was going to be rusty, but I wasnt expecting it to be this bad...

The Bottom hinge has some noticable give in it (Suprisingly enough!), but hasnt parted company with the door beam yet. Has anyone had any luck repairing these?

Any suggestions? Anyone?

[Candles]

I had my doors apart a while ago and there was some surface corrosion but nothing like this! Could you perhaps sandblast, jenolite the rust away, then polyester resin and glass over the area to effectively make a new structure around the outside of the box section?

Other than that, find a crashed one with a good door?

Candles.

[Doug]

haven't heard of that before -- can't tell how bad it really is, but agree with above suggestions.

check the other side too while you're at it . . .

also rainwater must be getting down in there more than it should so have a look at the seals on the door and where the window lowers.

[Gordon]

It's really difficult to get the camera in!

I'll have to get the door off, and strip out the glass runner - should be able to get a better look at it then, with the weight of the door off the hinges. Dont really want to lay it up for the year just yet!!

What's the availability of doors? - anyone got one for sale? - colour not important, as she's being painted this winter...

[Gordon]

Just a little followup - having stripped the door, it was shot. virtually nothing left of the bottom hinge arm. Salvage door was the answer.
new (2nd hand) door
Interestingly enough, the other side is perfect - pretty much "as new" condition... (more than could be said for the rear wishbones, but that's anoher story).

I think the main thing to learn from this was; If you've got any drop/lift in the door hinge area, check for hidden rust! - you could bearly see anything wrong with the hinges while the door was assembled...

One thing for sure, it would have had a dramatic effect on the strength of the side-impact beam.