UUUHHH Went to pick up my son today from school and on the way back to my car (just washed and waxed 2 hrs earlier) A woman in her mini-van backed into my passenger side door. Messed it up pretty good, actually a 5" crack in the skin, all above the door guard strip (upper half of the door). Got 2 questions for you that have had door damage in the past

1. Is the door made out of fiberglass? Looks like it.

2. If it is fiberglass, how would they fix it or should I have the door replaced?

Sorry for sounding so naive but I'm 30 yrs old and this is my first fender bender (at least it wasn't my fault!)

Thanks
Travis

 

i had something similar happen to my 90 bird i took it to a body shop and they wanted about $450.00 to fix it. I just got another door from the junkyard which was a door in really good condition and only paid 35.00 for it and it was complete, mirror, glass, lock actuator, window motor.

 

tell me about it man... I just got back from the muffler shop getting my cutout installed.... and some bum an old escort HAD to have the spot next to my car, where he put a chip in my paint swinging the door open carelessly. I saw the whole thing, but didnt notice the chip til I got home I even ran out there and checked it after it happened and didnt see it at the time.

 

Well, just got back from the body shops with estimates. Basically they don't really know because I live here in England and they have to wait (time difference) to call the states to get prices. They are going to go ahead and just replace the whole door which is good but the bad part is that they need to respray my rt side now to blend it in so that sucks. But the up side to it is that I have some other parts that needed painting and they are going to hook me up. Wish I could get a hood delivered here, I would hook that up as well. Thanks for the replys!

Travis

 

i kno for a fact you will just need the skin if thats all that is cracked, my friends got hit by an old lady not payin attention backing up put about a 2ft crater in it an cracked it all up, body shop only got the skin an replaced it, looked great, even blended the paint perfect so make sure u go to a reputable body shop

 

The door is fiberglass and you should replace the entire thing. I don't see how you could do just the skin of it. Because when mine was raped, the whole thing was replaced. It required a lot less bodyshop time, by replacing the whole thing.

 

Yes, make sure they replace the whole door skin and also make sure that they can match your color because silver is a hard one to match. They should have to blend it to the fron fender and quarter.

 

it all depends where you go, any decent bodyman could do the doorskin in 2 hours time and then a little extra for prep an paint and it could be cheaper, but it all depends i mean hell you could pick up the entire door on here sometimes for $100-$150 depending how badly someone wants it sold ya know? then u gotta add in shipping since he is in the UK unless he finds a seller there cuz our doors are heavy as all hell so he really needs to weigh all those choices out for himself, if he goes to a talented bodyshop with experienced employees he might pay a little more per hour, but they will prolly do it quicker, you always gotta weigh that in thats why when i get my car worked on i rather spend more per hour @ a specialty speed shop then have some general mechanic do it cheaper per hour, get it dont slower an maybe not even correctly. so Travis make sure you got all that lol i know it was alot but its important to weigh out all the little things

 

he raised a good point as well, silver and most metallics are weird you could have them mix the paint just like the micro fiche told them to, an have it a 1/2 shade off, you wouldnt believe it but theres so many variants of white it would blow your mind, even when you look at the swatches it all looks the same white....paint one of the panels on a car with a wrong variant an then step back in look , same with silver so like i said make sure you do a little research in your area for a reputable bodyshop, see if they have a PPG paint mixer or a dupont one that way they mix their paints in house an could get those variants right down to the color of your car, cuz paint from the dealer is made in batches, sometimes they are a perfect match sometimes a shade off....an a paintshop who mixes their own, could have it exact =)

 

Well the good news is that these people specialize in GM, Chrystler etc because they don't sell those cars here in the UK. Fords and Vauxhalls everywhere but no GM or Chevys and these guys specialize with them so that does make me feel a little better. Just got a call from them today that my insurance wants them to try to repair it first but they are pretty certain that there is enough damage to warrant a new door which would take 2 weeks to get here just got to sand it down first and look. My commander had her 01 corvette keyed a couple of

 

Well the good news is that these people specialize in GM, Chrystler etc because they don't sell those cars here in the UK. Fords and Vauxhalls everywhere but no GM or Chevys and these guys specialize with them so that does make me feel a little better. Just got a call from them today that my insurance wants them to try to repair it first but they are pretty certain that there is enough damage to warrant a new door which would take 2 weeks to get here just got to sand it down first and look. My commander had her 01 corvette keyed a couple of months ago and they matched her red paint perfectly so I got that going for me. Thanks for the heads up.....I am definetly keeping those in mind during this ordeal!!

Travis

 

The doors on Camaros are a little wavy do to the fiberglass if you look at it closely from angle. It doesn't look like a steel panel. If they tried to repair it, wouldn't the bondo or whatever they use and the sanding make it look smooth, therefor not matching the rest of the door?

 

i dont understand where your commin from? you order an entire door skin its going to be the same as the one that you get from GM that was on the car, as long as your not doin aftermarket its going to be the same as the current one, you wouldnt use bondo they have adhesives such as duramix and the door skin wraps on the inside of the door its not sealed on the outside so im not sure why you think it would look any diff, explain plz

 

I'm guessing you already tested out the power windows/locks on the passenger side, right? hehe, I just don't want them to change the outer skin and you find out the bad news later.

 

I had a small accident where I scraped a cement block and it basically ripped a small section out of my door. The shop I went to replaced the whole door instead of trying to fix it.