animus_divinus

ive posted about a month ago about a sagging driver side door... well, i managed to remove the door properly, cut off the old hinge pins with my dremel, install the new bushings, new pins, and reinstalled the door just fine

however.. it appears this door has been sagging quite some time, and something i overlooked before, but am now noticing with the new hinge pins is the latch did in fact take damage due to supporting the weight of the door

where the screws on the side hold the latch to the sheet metal of the door, the sheet metal itself has torn apart, previous owners tried using large washers to make up for the holes ripped in the door... also, a couple of the screw holes got stripped out

my plan now, now that the hinges are fixed and supporting the full weight of the door, is to get a piece of sheet metal to pop-rivet over the torn up section of the door as a patch... then make a template of the hole locations on the passenger side door, flip it over, and re-drill the holes for the latch inside this patch panel

at this point i would have removed the latch from inside the door, and on my drill press i will drill out and re-tap the latch mechanism, and fix it back into the door with new bolts

does this plan sound OK to everyone? can anyone see any problems with this?.. i dont want to risk melting through the sheet metal trying to cut out the damaged section and welding in a new piece... and im a while away from getting myself a MIG welder... will the pop rivets be adequate enough to patch the hole on the door?...

as it stands i dont even feel that this vehicle is all that safe with the latch mechanism pretty much not working... and in a few months when i do eventually get a MIG welder i can drill out those rivets and weld in a new piece that i can then re-paint to match the door entirely.. but thats a ways off

CrazyMacaw

If you're in Tennessee like I am just take the door off and have a nice day.
From what I see around here doors, hoods, fenders, and mufflers are apparently optional

animus_divinus

its a daily driver.. and im not down south, i need doors.. im going to buy a hand river tool tomorrow, some pop rivets of appropriate size.. a drill bit for the rivets, a drill bit to drill out the latch mechanism thats been stripped, a tap for that bit, and some screws and get to work.. maybe a can of paint for touch up work on the body