Door Repairs

See here also.

The doors had cracks and delamination along the joint between the inner and outer halves, and also had cracks and some damage around the handles, as well as having one of the lock mechanisms pretty much ripped out when the body fell off the retaining wall.

The lower front corner of the drivers door was sticking out about 1/8" when the door was held in position.  Since the adjustment mechanism had been removed, the only way to alter is the door's fit is with a grinder!  This was really no hardship as the door was cracked in this area anyway.

Using the angle grinder and zip disk, I cut a slot into the area that  needed to be pulled in.  Notice the split where the door skin joins the inner part of the door.

I clamped it, then glassed it from the inside to secure it in the clamped position.

After that had cured, I used the grinder to remove the inner part of the door, leaving the outer skin intact, and still bonded to the door by the glasswork just completed on the inside.  See the crud that had washed into the crack?  

More grinding, then the outside was the carefully glassed.  The flange was built up substantially.

Then ground to the edge of the original door profile, and later filled and sanded.

The bodyman pointed out some other technical problems.

From what others told me that Europas can break where the door handle mounts.  The pic above seems to support that notion.   The post S1 door handles were  meant to be installed on thin sheet metal, not fiberglass!. 

I decided to reinforce the rear a bit, so I made up some 'band-aids' by laminating light cloth and mat onto a sheet of waxed paper.

Then smoothing them onto the area behind the door handle.  I'll peel the paper off later.  Keeps the hands clean!