Patching sheet metal.

After blasting I found rust holes on both the inner and outer skins of the first door. Using a 1mm cutting disc I removed the damaged area. I left the edge of the door in place because it seemed sound and because it is formed around a radius which would have been difficult (for me) to repeat.

Here is the hole I cut together with the piece that came out. Repairing the rusty inner parts of the door would have meant much more cutting and I'm not sure of the benefit. After a bit of head-scratching I blasted it clean and gave it a coat of the rust paint.

I used the damaged cut-out as a template for a new piece of 18 swg steel. The welding magnet does a great job of holding the the patch flush with the surface.









Out with the trusty MIG and a grinder fitted with a flap-wheel and a result that I'm very satisfied with. It will take very little filler to finish that ready for paint

Stripping the doors

The sandblaster was making very heavy weather of the cab doors so I have changed my approach and used these pads on my grinder quickly to remove large flat areas of paint.

These do a great job as long as you remember to move about so that heat does not build up in the panel. The first door is pretty much rust free.

Some of the internal paint is fine and will never be seen again once the door trim is on so I didn't bother stripping that. I'll just rough is up and paint over it. I will tidy up the tricky bits with the blaster.

The only repairs needed are on the inside front lower corner.

Once I had cut this out you can see a rust trap created by the inner panel that carries the door hinge captive nuts.

Although the inner brace it rusted away below the hinges it is all still very solid so I am not going to worry too much about repairing it. The card on the left is my repair template for the inner door. There are also some other tiny holes in this area which I am not sure how to deal to best so I have run a drill through them for now:

I found this nice clip from a chap in Australia who calls himself Desertrodder

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVs4AkKQ4iQ

It covers almost exactly the repair I need to make.