Rust inside door frame

[BaaderMeinhofWagen]

Well after a bit of a struggle I was able to pull the interior driver's side door trim to clean and re-lube my stiff window mechanism and replace my door handle gasket. Unfortunately the bottom inside of the door appears rather corroded. There's a couple small holes but the metal still appears to have some integrity. I'm suspecting a poor repair job was done sometime in the past. 

An input on how best to proceed further is appreciated.

I havent pulled the passenger door card yet but I suspect 

[tech71]

2 hours ago, BaaderMeinhofWagen said:

I'm suspecting a poor repair job was done sometime in the past. 

Possible I suppose but I doubt it, rust in the doors as pictured is very common.

Time and moisture cause it, not bad repairs.

Cleaning  up the affected area, applying a rust conversion coating will slow it down.

Looks like water intrusion in the worse spot , figure out why ( leaking seal, car left out in the weather for years etc) and correct.

There are drains to prevent water accumulating, indentify and make sure they are clear.

Not that bad really, seen far worse

Edited October 21, 2023 by tech71

['76mintgrün'02]

 

The back corners of the doors have a pocket that holds dirt, which in turn holds moisture, which leads to rusty blisters.  I made a little wire hooked tool to clean the dirt out of the corners and pulled a lot of it out.  I wish I had done that the first time I was inside the doors, followed by WaxOyl of some sort.

 

All of this dirt came out of that corner.

 

[Son of Marty]

Even with new seals and a properly adjusted window a surprising amount of water enters the door cavity.

[Mike Self]

I did a couple of columns on fixing problems inside 2002 doors--one dealing with the lift mechanism and the door check strap assembly, another on dealing with rust inside doors, and a third about adjusting the glass so that it moves up and down properly and seals as well as it can (not an easy combination to achieve, especially after 50 or so years of wear.).

 

PM me if you'd like a copy of one or all...

 

mike

[BaaderMeinhofWagen]

Thanks for all the input. Yes could be much worse. Corrosion could have been exasperated by the fact that there were no mirror mount rubber seals on the car when I got it. I've since installed them. The drain holes are clear.

I'm going to remove the rust best I can and re seal with some kind of cavity product.

[BaaderMeinhofWagen]

1 hour ago, '76mintgrün'02 said:

 

The back corners of the doors have a pocket that holds dirt, which in turn holds moisture, which leads to rusty blisters.  I made a little wire hooked tool to clean the dirt out of the corners and pulled a lot of it out.  I wish I had done that the first time I was inside the doors, followed by WaxOyl of some sort.

 

All of this dirt came out of that corner.

 

Thanks, I'll have a look at the corners tomorrow. Drain holes are clear

[JsnPpp]

My thoughts - After you clean/wirewheel/wirebrush/scotchbrite/etc the bajeezes out of the area I'd use a rust conversion product (OSPHO, etc.) to convert whats left. It's a long road to completely remove rust especially if it's left pits in the metal. You need to poke at each pit with a scraper + chemical to make it go away. It's doable generally speaking but super hard inside a door. + the door has a separate piece of metal at the bottom that is impossible to get behind.

 

Regardless, after it's rust free you can top coat it a primer + paint. I'm not a fan of POR-15 but I know others have used it to their satisfaction and does not require the same level of work.

 

Once done, spray some cavity product like fluid-film, etc. 

 

Depends on your purpose for the car if it's worth it or not.

Edited October 22, 2023 by JsnPpp

[Alexander]

Don't trey repairing it. Yes, you may be able to repair it if you replaced the door skin. But, then you still have rust in the frame. This type of repair is cost prohibitive as it costs more than a new door. Get a new door. That's the only solution.

[paulyg]

Like others have said, most cost effective way of addressing this is a new door. Until then, just clean it up, rust converter, and send it. Nobody sees this and it is about as non-structural as rust can get. 

[BaaderMeinhofWagen]

And now the passenger door. The door seam on this one was rusted toward the front. I wire wheeled and brushed it as best I can. I'm going to apply some rust converter and then prime it to seal it until I can get a professional to look at it.

Is epoxy primer the way to go? There's some bubbling on the outside of the is one.

[JsnPpp]

Candidly I would leave as is until you have someone look at it. It won't deteriorate that much in the interim (unless it's years/months). You don't want to make it hard for them to see what is happening.

 

If you plan to have it fixed that is. I'd strongly consider looking into a new/used door for both sides. Not sure what is out there but worth a look.

 

Jason

[tech71]

That passenger door would require a new door skin as well as a lower inner support structure at least.

Partial door skin (lower) are also available but require more effort.

That said, there's no telling if a new door skin and inner support would get all the rust out of there, probably not.

Complete, new, aftermarket doors are available from MVP for under $800.

Thats probably how I would go, non rusty used doors are pretty scarce!

In the mean time, clean it up inside, treat it, seal it, paint it and roll on.

Looks like that door skin has separated from the inner support pretty well, I would  probably get a tube of decent body sealant (or may be structural adhesive) and fill that in.

Heres a couple of sites that will be of interest...

 

 

 

Manufacturer of Vintage Car Parts,MVP,BMW2002,BMW,bmwclassiccars,bmwclassic,bmw2002classic,bmw02club,mvpvintageparts,recreate a legacy

WWW.MVPVINTAGEPARTS.COM

---

Manufacturer of Vintage Car Parts,MVP,BMW2002,BMW,bmwclassiccars,bmwclassic,bmw2002classic,bmw02club,mvpvintageparts,recreate a legacy

 

BMW Parts: Restoration Design Inc.

WWW.RESTORATION-DESIGN.COM

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by tech71

[Tdh]

You can consider the following a professional opinion…

 

I don’t need to see anything more than the two photos you posted to tell you that the cost to repair what you have will be more (and possibly way more) than it’ll cost to buy an MVP door and have it painted, provided you’re willing and able to test fit/fit/bolt on all the parts yourself. Even if you’re not willing to it’ll be cheaper to buy the new door. 
 

Go ahead and have a local pro look at it anyway, but give him/her the option of the new door. I’ll bet you a $1 they’ll jump at the new door option and it’ll be much much cheaper. 

[tech71]

Would love to see a review from someone who's installed one, MVP door that is.