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Greetings from a newbie. I tried searching this topic and couldn't find anything. I recently bought the car. I noticed an issue with the door. It rides up when closing and sags when open, the window rattles at high speeds and I noticed the skin coming apart from the door and a crack in the door. The guy I got it from said alot of people use the open door to pull themselves up when exiting the car. I would imagine this probably caused it. Right side door is fine.
My vett did the exact same thing, I took the door off and used 3m panel bond to fix the door skin. My door still has a small crack inside the door jam but the panel bond holds everything together, it's been fixed for about 6 months now with no problem .
You might be able to fix or without taking the door off but I wanted to get the weight of the hinge where it was separated and that was the best way.
My vett did the exact same thing, I took the door off and used 3m panel bond to fix the door skin. My door still has a small crack inside the door jam but the panel bond holds everything together, it's been fixed for about 6 months now with no problem .
You might be able to fix or without taking the door off but I wanted to get the weight of the hinge where it was separated and that was the best way.
I went to a body shop today that painted my truck a couple years ago. I showed him the pics and he said they can bond it and possibly fabricate a bracket to help keep things together.
They are also gonna take care of this for me:
I thought it was decals but upon looking closer one of the previous owners hand painted the silver lettering. It looks horrible close up. It makes me wonder why people do such things.
I went to a body shop today that painted my truck a couple years ago. I showed him the pics and he said they can bond it and possibly fabricate a bracket to help keep things together.
They are also gonna take care of this for me:
I thought it was decals but upon looking closer one of the previous owners hand painted the silver lettering. It looks horrible close up. It makes me wonder why people do such things.
One other option on the rear panel. They do make a stainless lettering kit that might cover up that poor paint job if you like the look of the silver lettering. They have other colors too. Not sure if that would save you any money but if you like the letters to be a contrasting color might be worth investigation.
One other option on the rear panel. They do make a stainless lettering kit that might cover up that poor paint job if you like the look of the silver lettering. They have other colors too. Not sure if that would save you any money but if you like the letters to be a contrasting color might be worth investigation.
Yes. Their plan is to try and clean up that paint as much as they can and I'm going with the stainless steel letters. I prefer it to look original but the body shop guys highly recommend putting something there after they clean up the paint.
Door cracks on C5s are relatively common, especially with the driver's side door. It's also not uncommon to see fractures near the hinge mounting positions on the inner portion of the shell.
Unfortunately - and I know this through personal experience with my car - OEM door shells were discontinued a few years back, so the only recourse is currently used or through a re-cycler. The assembly itself is a shell made out of SMC with an SMC door "skin". Your prior owner like egress-ed from the vehicle by clutching the door; a big no-no. If you're having difficulty exiting the car, then you need to jostle yourself 90 degrees and use either the halo or A pillar for support (I typically grab at the lower side door sill, so as I don't damage the paint with my wedding ring or watch latch).
Personally, and this isn't a jab at the body shop you took the car to, I would really try and secure a door in much better shape without any cracks. If you do try to fix it I agree with a post above; you need to have the door completely removed and patch the damage that way.
Yes, the body shop will remove the door, glue it and put it back together. They mentioned possibly fabricating a small bracket or support. They do alot of high end stuff so I don't think it will be a half *** job. They said that a used door, with shipping, could be close to $1000. They stressed "with shipping" when I told them I saw doors online in the $300 range.....i didn't see how much they wanted in shipping.
The prior owner did tell me not to grab the door while getting out. When I saw the crack the light bulb went off.
Its not a DD so I'm gonna try the fix first. If it don't hold I'll replace it.
By the way, what is SMC?
Thanks for the input. I'm learning alot going through the old posts.
03-26-2017, 02:33 PM
Cracked door / skin separating
