Is it possible to swap door skins? Sprung door dilemma

[TTait]

03238 came to me with a damaged passenger door - non repairable dents in several places. The damage was limited to the door skin.

The I found a good used door on ebay, at a good price. I bought it two years ago and installed it last winter, but the door is sprung - that is - the frame is bent to the point where it (apparently) cannot be aligned well. I knew this could happen, but I checked a few dimensions and it seemed okay. Lesson learned.

Before I start over again with a new door - two other options occur to me. I could take the sprung door to a body shop and try to have it tweaked in a frame machine (sounds expensive to get it right although I do have a straight door to match it to), or maybe... I have one door with a good frame, and another with a good skin. Is it possible to swap the good skin onto the good frame? I have little to risk other than time. I'm guessing the skin will split where I try to unform it from the door itself.

Any thoughts?

Tom

[David T]

03238 came to me with a damaged passenger door - non repairable dents in several places. The damage was limited to the door skin.

The I found a good used door on ebay, at a good price. I bought it two years ago and installed it last winter, but the door is sprung - that is - the frame is bent to the point where it (apparently) cannot be aligned well. I knew this could happen, but I checked a few dimensions and it seemed okay. Lesson learned.

Before I start over again with a new door - two other options occur to me. I could take the sprung door to a body shop and try to have it tweaked in a frame machine (sounds expensive to get it right although I do have a straight door to match it to), or maybe... I have one door with a good frame, and another with a good skin. Is it possible to swap the good skin onto the good frame? I have little to risk other than time. I'm guessing the skin will split where I try to unform it from the door itself.

Any thoughts?

Tom


It is possible to repair the door. You must undo all of the glue and spot welds, rejigger the door to the correct alignment, and then weld and glue it again. A very big job. Probably easier and cheaper to just get a good door. They are available. Reskinning is not practical especially if you are not experienced with working with S/S.