General The Perception of Doors - with apologies to Aldous Huxley

[John H]

As promised.

The first picture is about a year ago:

it had been treated as much as I could, twice previous in the year prior to this picture.

First time I dug out the bubbled area, back to shiny metal and then treating with a phosphoric acid treatment. Followed priming, undercoating and top coatingand produce a really good match. Finally copious ammounts of thinned waxoil applied with the liner off the door, and the door being heated a bit to ease the flow.

Second time the finish was a sloppy match, as it was winter, which isn't a good time to paint outside, and I just knew it would come through again.

This picture is the latest, the water is after washing all the dirt and salt off:

You can see the rot is advancing down the seam in both directions away from the initial bubbles - this is despite the work detailed above.


As I understand it, there is an area inside the seam where the outer and inner sections of the door join which starts to rust, and can only be stopped by removing vast chunks of the door.


However, I think I'm in line for a Robertsons "Jammy B*str*rd" award.
There was a "post it" on the door of the Panda a week or so ago, which asked if I was interested in a pair of doors which had been fitted "brand new" 18 months ago, to a Panda which is now scrapped.
They are the correct colour too.

Needless to say I bought them (40UKP each, which is enough, but the fitted cost was 350UKP).
On the plus side, I had a tailgate thrown in with the deal.
On the minus side, they have clear glass, instead of the tinted the CLX has - so I'll probably swap the glass when the mood takes me.
Also the passenger side has an "envy scratch"! and a bit of a ding too, which both need filling and spraying.
Then there's a "coach line" which I have either to remove, or match on the rest of the car.

If it's a bit warmer on Monday I may fit the drivers door.

More work, so little time... is Pandafan collecting time, as well as clocks?
I think we should be told.



John H

 

[Steven]

Excellent John. That was a stroke of luck. Solid Panda doors are becoming a rare commodity these days.

 

[Martiny10]

The doors really are a pain - I have also been unable to stop the return of the little bubbles, despite two years of zinc treatment and liberal paint application.

The combination of thin metal - and water/salt attack from all sides appear too much for a DIY repair. The damn window drainage arrangement leaves the slightest vulnerable area no chance. Perhaps with a kiln, and more skill I could do it!

I had better luck with the sills - so far the waxoyl and paint has kept the metal solid.

I did manage to stop the tailgate rusting, which is the other weak spot on Y10s. By luck, the car had been treated to a new tailgate just a couple of years prior to my purchase. After 10 years the orignal tailgate disentegrated!

I coated the non visible parts with several layers of paint, paying particular attention to the bottom edge. I also fitted mud flaps - the idea being to prevent salt spray onto the vulnerable tailgate. This seems to have done the job.

Plan B) for the doors was to fit mud flaps at the front and then in desperation replace the lower part of the door with a strip of plastic. This never really got off the ground, I suppose for obvious reasons.

But I am going for plan C) which is a different car. A shame but I only have room for one project, and the Y10 is no longer going to be it.