Door skin queston

[gkahrs]

Request advice on best replacement door skin for a '73. OEM is $2K more than anything else.
Is it worth it.
Thanks.

[Elferhelfer]

Hello,
I would look for a good used door.... If you only want to repalce the skin, you can also look for door skin from Dansk or Restoration Design. But what do you have to repair, a rust dammage or accident?

[gkahrs]

It rust damage. Do you know if the aftermarket sheet metal that Stoddard sells is from Restoration Design?
I think I'm going to use their product.

[Esposito]

the after market sheet metal is useless.
A good used door is the way to go.
Even if you have a OEM skin, it still requires a lot of fitting

[356rider]

Since you are only asking about the skin and you say it is rust, I assume your entire door is not horribly rusted. If it is the usual rust along the outside near the bottom, it is better to have a competent metal guy replace (i.e. butt weld) the lower 3 or 4 inches of the outer skin. A comptetent guy can use sheet stock and doesn't need a whole or partial skin. He'll need the whole car so he can make sure the contours and gaps all match especially with the rocker. It's a better fix, is usually less expensive than the other options and you keep your original door, not to mention it's easier than putting on an entire skin. I've had this done many times on 356s and a few 911s. It's better to keep as much original metal as possible on these cars. It also makes for less detectable repairs.

[gkahrs]

Is the comment that aftermarket sheet metal useless true for everything. The car will need a new left rear quarter panel, front suspension panel, both door jams and some other small repairs. Thoughts?
Thanks for the input. GK

[gearjam]

I did a door skin many years ago. I would not go that route again if the door is just rusted in the lower area. The problem is getting all the gaps correct. The skin was not very straight and the front edge needs to be releaded to get the gaps correct. I would just piece in the lower door skin next time.