'Hyper Extended' Driver Door - Flex
 

I'm looking for some advice on a minor (seemingly) door repair for my '87 targa.

I originally posted on the 'Porsche 911 Technical Forum' as I didn't realize there was a bodywork discussion forum. The link to the post on the other forum is listed below:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/701400-another-door-stay-situation.html

In a nutshell the driver's side door has an outward bend on the lower, hinge side. This is obviously due to a classic case of door stay damage.

Take a look at the post on the link above and please provide your thoughts.

Thanks!

Hi Steve

I actually had similar damage to one of my doors prior to my resto. I'll be honest and say I used very little finesse and just smashed it out with a block of wood and a hammer as I was always going to repaint... If you want this sorted right, you may need to use a pro...

Cheers

bump!

Ok, the door is fixed and let me just say my door was completely futched up; had to be slammed to close completely, top of the door frame didn't meet the targa top seal, the front lower region of the door was flexed out nearly 1/4" from the body,when closed.

Having done some research I was pretty sure that not only did the repair require the door skin to be pounded (and I mean pounded) back in line with the body of the car, I would also need to realign (read as bend) the door hinges to bring the door back into the original alignment.

I started the door realignment by closing the door on a 2" x 4" to bend the hinges back to their original position and it worked out fine and no more slamming the door! And the top of the door frame meets its mating surface one more.

I then went to the door skin portion of the party. I basically smashed the lower corner of the door with a sledgehammer. That's correct a rubber mallet didn't do diddly. I used a small piece of 3/4" plywood to help absorb the blows and to my surprise, the paint surface was not affected in the least and I was able to pound the edge back flush with the body.

Done deal...:cool:

Pictures to follow. Can't upload from my iPad...

then the front edge of the doors get bent out like that they are always a suck ass repair to fix .
the proper way to repair that type of damage is this .
we 1st check the hingers to be sure the gap on the back of the door and along the rocker is as it should be . going even with the top edge of the rocker and then the bottom starting on the roll of the door to QTR gap going from small to larger from bottom to top . once you have the gaps right there and the door is sitting at it right hight to the top of the QTR and front fender you then need to see just were and how far the leading edge of the door needs to go in and were .

what we did at my shop is cut a piece of oak to the shape of the new door to follow the contour of the door and it's step that goes under the front fender all the way from the bottom of the door to the top of the door .
once we know were and how far the leading of the doors edge has to get moved in and we mark it we then remove the front fender .
once we know how far the door has to get pushed in say 1/8 " we take a measurement fron the A-piller to the doors edge (with the door closed ) . doing that it tells you how far you need to get with out having to put the fender on and off after every time you move the edge in .
with the oak piece we have we then hit that with a big ass hammer to move the door . you do not want to hit the outter skin of the door but the wood is sitting on the step in the front edge of the door . with the curve in the wood that matches the door you will not flat spot the door like it will just by using a flat piece of wood . also by hitting it on the step on the front edge you will not or should not damage the door skin any more than it is from the doors edge getting bent out .
once you bang the front edge of the door in and take a measurement to make sure it's moved in that say 1/8 inch you then see how the fender fit's by reinstalling it .
6 out of 10 times you don't have to do any body filler or paint work by doing it that way .
you then can pull the door off if needed and do the needed repairs to the door check area and replace the broken door check and life is good again .