Restoration Details – One Door

My previous posts have been a highlights reel of how things look and how things are going. Today I thought I’d post a detailed description and photos to illustrate the attention to detail that Volker does. You’ve seen the preview of the finished product in my Week 4 update, this post will focus on the passenger side door. I expect Andrea will enjoy this as it’s usually her arm resting on that window sill.

Here are a couple of photos to illustrate how the door looked at the start of the process.

IMG_0822
Before disassembly… the door is in pretty good shape.

You can see from the next shot how 30+ years of grime, rust-protection treatments and general use leave it looking.

the hinge area shows just how much gunk builds up over time.
the hinge area shows just how much gunk builds up over time.

Cleaning it all up, getting rid of the old rubber seals and the residual adhesive, cleaning inside the cavities and identifying all the rust and minor dents/dings was next. Each area that showed any signs of rust was cleaned down to bare metal and treated. The few dings that couldn’t be pulled back out were filled. There was nothing that required new metal to be added though, it really is in good shape. All the areas touched up that way were primed. The rest was left with the original paint intact as the base for the next steps.

Then it was time to start adding in the upgrades in preparation for paint. First up was a treatment of Stone Guard along the lower part of the door which was carefully applied. The bottom section of the entire length of both sides will get that treatment including body panels, doors and slider. This will also go into the front behind the grills.

Then the inside of the door cavity gets a good treatment of Lizard Skin Sound Control. This is where all of the doors/slider/hatch were at the same state so they all got this treatment at the same time. And they were all left laying flat to ensure it dried in a nice even layer (it’s water based so it can run if not applied and dried correctly). It’s also a messy product so careful taping off is required.

And when all of that was done and dried, it was time to paint. Y’all remember that discussion, right? 😉

IMG_0894

The final primer treatments were up first, including priming the Stone Guard for paint (bet you thought I’d leave that black… nope!). This step was followed by another buffing and finally all of the parts were ready to be carefully hung in the paint room. Spray, spray, spray!

Little details matter to both Volker and me so the charming original decal on the door was carefully covered and kept. Once they were nice and dry there were carefully put into a locker for safe keeping until it’s time to re-assemble. Last time I looked in that locker all the parts were red, now it’s full of Matador Orange.

And there you have it! The story of Andrea’s door 🙂

Volker & I talked about the things that need to be purchased, lots have already been sourced and are on hand. And the shopping list already includes parts for the next camper in the queue, he’s a busy man!

We talked about next steps, which will be tackling the body work. That will start with removing the dash, carpeting and a few remaining panels that are still attached to the body. And then addressing the things we found in weeks 1 and 2.

3 Replies to “Restoration Details – One Door”

  1. It’s going to look fantastic!

  2. Saweeeeet, jeez you are really makin mine look rough. Great detail to the work.

    1. Hey Jeff, Great to hear from you! She’s getting the full spa treatment, no more Assuan brown.

      Are heading down to North Carolina soon? Lots of Ontario folks down there already.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.