Dropped my door, can it be salvaged?

Schwifty Rich

Schwifty Rich

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
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226
Location
St. Louis, MO, USA
Alright so I just moved into a new house and the garage already had some hooks from the person who lived there before me. The hooks looked pretty sturdy so I decided to hang my doors from them while i went to pick up some tools for other jeep projects yesterday. When I got back, the driver side door was on the ground and I about died. The screws had come out of the stud and I was left with a bent door. FML. I'm an idiot, this is the worst. At least it wasn't both.

Is there a way to bend this back to more or less its original position. I have read some ideas about using hammer, some heat, and some wood to soften the strikes. I cant be the only one to have had this happen..

The paint is already flaking off and i just picked up some KGZ ( black forest green) spray cans for the hinges so i figure there wasn't much to worry about when using heat.

As always any and all help, comments, and ideas are welcome.
Thanks!

Here are some pictures. I am trying to bring myself to terms with buying a new door or transitioning to half doors for now.

door1.jpg
door2.jpg
door3.jpg
 
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I had the exact same thing happen to me a couple months ago. I was able to fix them using some big vise grips and a hammer and a lot of elbow grease. It will take some time but you can fix them.


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GeorgeSully said:
I had the exact same thing happen to me a couple months ago. I was able to fix them using some big vise grips and a hammer and a lot of elbow grease. It will take some time but you can fix them.


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Click to expand...

I knew others had to have experienced a similar issue, thanks for chiming in. It helps my nerves in thinking I can get this back to the way that it was for the most part.

How did yours turn out? Any tips you can think to pass along if you had to do it again?
 
Ouch...You should be able to bend that back as long as it didn't affect the structure of the door itself. Vice grips will work to get started, then I'd probably take the inner panel off and try to get behind the door skin a bit. Use a hammer and dolly to flatten it at much as you can. Once you have it as straight as you can then you can take it in to a body shop for a skim coat of filler and respray.
 
Mike_H said:
Use a hammer and dolly to flatten it at much as you can. Once you have it as straight as you can then you can take it in to a body shop for a skim coat of filler and respray.
Click to expand...

Oh, good idea! thanks for the insight. I'll look up some techniques and uses for a Hammer and Dolly. I wasn't even aware of these.

Based on that last comment it seems I'll need to have the whole door repainted to do this right. Fantastic.

I was hoping to sand up a ways until it wasn't flaking but I wasn't sure how that would work with primer and repainting so that makes sense to do the whole thing. It will turn out to a nice even coat if i just do the whole door.
 
I took off the door panel to get the bends out and used the vise grips and a pipe for leverage to straighten out the hinges.


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Schwifty Rich said:
Oh, good idea! thanks for the insight. I'll look up some techniques and uses for a Hammer and Dolly. I wasn't even aware of these.

Based on that last comment it seems I'll need to have the whole door repainted to do this right. Fantastic.

I was hoping to sand up a ways until it wasn't flaking but I wasn't sure how that would work with primer and repainting so that makes sense to do the whole thing. It will turn out to a nice even coat if i just do the whole door.
Click to expand...
The basic theory is that you use the hammer to flatten the high spots, but you don't want to hammer on unsupported metal because it will move too far. That is where the dolly comes in. Its a heavy chunk of steel, with a nice smooth face. Lots of inertia, so you can hammer the sheetmetal and control how much it moves. It works pretty well, some guys are REALLY good at it, but I'm not one of them.
 
Mike_H said:
The basic theory is that you use the hammer to flatten the high spots, but you don't want to hammer on unsupported metal because it will move too far. That is where the dolly comes in. Its a heavy chunk of steel, with a nice smooth face. Lots of inertia, so you can hammer the sheetmetal and control how much it moves. It works pretty well, some guys are REALLY good at it, but I'm not one of them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the run down!

I might look at getting a piece of scrap sheet metal or something with similar thickness and replicate the damage then try and fix it. The more practice hammering metal i can get before taking one to my door the better. I SUPPOSE I could try and get a couple quotes from some body shops but I would much prefer to do it my self.

This one might be odd since it seems i would need to hammer from the inside and place the dolly on the outside to get that inward dent out.

All in all i have to remember its a Jeep and as badly as i want everything to be perfect i know it wont be.
 
Sorry, but a flat panel is about the hardest thing to fix. I don’t think you’re going to get it flat. If you take it to a body shop, the quote will be between 1000 and $1200. You can buy a new door skin or you can have them source another door and repaint it. Or, you can do what I did and chase down a door in the same color as your jeep and go get it yourself.

I’m sorry, because I know that is not a good day. Been there
 
That’s not actually that bad. Some hammer and dolly work and it could be done with little to no filler. Like it was already mentioned hammer and dolly work is an art. My suggestion would be to bring it by a shop BEFORE you attempted to do anything to it. Where that is located the first few hits are crucial to it either coming out really nice and easy and it getting locked in and you are buying a new door. That would be about an 8 hour dent book time. Going rate in my area is $50 per hour body. The door pays about 3-3.5 hours paint. Paint and material is generally figured 1.5 times body labor rate.
 
Is it worth a shot to ask a paintless dent repair place take a look at it, or is that beyond the scope of what they could do?
 
JMT said:
Or, you can do what I did and chase down a door in the same color as your jeep and go get it yourself.

I’m sorry, because I know that is not a good day. Been there
Click to expand...

Thanks, Yea it was not a good day. Considering my Jeep has a custom grand cherokee color ( black forest green PGZ/KGZ) i dont think ill have any luck finding one in the same color.

jeepndogs said:
That would be about an 8 hour dent book time. Going rate in my area is $50 per hour body. The door pays about 3-3.5 hours paint. Paint and material is generally figured 1.5 times body labor rate.
Click to expand...

At those prices I may be better off just trying to find a new driver side door.

$50 X 8=400
Plus paint would bring it to about $625 or so.

FUN FUN FUN lol
 
This is best left to a good body shop but if you are going to do it....

Get a proper body hammer and a dolly.
DO NOT USE HEAT !!

Heat is the enemy, work slow, let the metal cool, every hit generates heat.

It only takes light taps. Work across the dent. USE THE DOLLY.
You might want to remove the seal if it is in the way.

1303sr-04+eastwoods-hammer-and-dolly-set+cross-chisel-curved-hammer.jpg


A body shop will likely want from $500 to $1000 to fix and paint it.
But go there first..... you might get lucky.
 
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Mike_H said:
Use a hammer and dolly to flatten it at much as you can. Once you have it as straight as you can then you can take it in to a body shop for a skim coat of filler and respray.
Click to expand...
The straightening part is the easy part for a body shop..... and they will likely have to rework what you did anyway. Everytime you bend the metal you weaken it. You either want to save money and are willing to do it in the driveway with a spray bomb.... like I do..... or you want it done professionally. You won't save a penny if you do both.
 
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Sorry, but you guys are all wrong. I took a door to 3 shops and a classic auto restorer a month ago. It is not easy for a shop to straighten. Truth is, all 3 shops refused to try. The metal is too thin. One shop refused to try any solution. Another said source a new door. The last said source a new door and paint or get a door skin and hope it is a good fit and paint. I have actual estimates for the work. In my area 1100 and 1200. I sourced a color match door and paid $478. It was categorized as A 000. That is the best grade a salvage body part can receive. Here it is at the salvage yard.
EF4D2010-0D4B-46D0-A052-41D833263C3B.jpeg

After I cleaned it all up and installed on my rig
C82E5050-44CE-4579-AC16-00160D2B5246.jpeg

I’m now parting out the old door and hoping to recover $200.

Best of luck to the OP. Take it to a body shop and see for yourself.
 
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JMT said:
Sorry, but you guys are all wrong. I took a door to 3 shops and a classic auto restorer a month ago. It is not easy for a shop to straighten. Truth is, all 3 shops refused to try. The metal is too thin. One shop refused to try any solution. Another said source a new door. The last said source a new door and paint or get a door skin and hope it is a good fit and paint. I have actual estimates for the work. In my area 1100 and 1200. I sourced a color match door and paid $478. It was categorized as A 000. That is the best grade a salvage body part can receive. Here it is at the salvage yard.
View attachment 89810
After I cleaned it all up and installed on my rig
View attachment 89809
I’m now parting out the old door and hoping to recover $200.

Best of luck to the OP. Take it to a body shop and see for yourself.
Click to expand...
What damage did you have vs what the OP has? Going out on a limb a bit telling a guy who does body work for a living (or did) that he's wrong (jeepndogs) I think it could be fixed, but I'm a bit optimistic...He thinks it could be fixed too, and should know as he made his living doing it. There is a big difference between the center of the door being caved in and a corner being folded over.

Ultimately though, You're 100% right. Until the OP actually takes it to a shop, everyone is just guessing.
 
JMT said:
Sorry, but you guys are all wrong. I took a door to 3 shops and a classic auto restorer a month ago. It is not easy for a shop to straighten. Truth is, all 3 shops refused to try. The metal is too thin. One shop refused to try any solution. Another said source a new door. The last said source a new door and paint or get a door skin and hope it is a good fit and paint. I have actual estimates for the work. In my area 1100 and 1200. I sourced a color match door and paid $478. It was categorized as A 000. That is the best grade a salvage body part can receive. Here it is at the salvage yard.
View attachment 89810
After I cleaned it all up and installed on my rig
View attachment 89809
I’m now parting out the old door and hoping to recover $200.

Best of luck to the OP. Take it to a body shop and see for yourself.
Click to expand...


Been doing collision work, high end restorations, and custom work for over 30 years. That door is a easy fix. If the shops told you they couldn’t or wouldn’t fix it it’s because they simply didn’t want to. It’s not because they couldn’t. I could have that door ready for paint in a little over an hour.
 
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