Door skin or a used door?

[When in Turin]

Hi all,

On my '85 Uno Turbo the doors are a little crusty at the bottom. Repair panels are pretty much all gone. It doesn't look too bad from the outside of the door. I have two options for this door, have found a genuine fiat door skin, which would mean trying to repair the inner door bottom but its less visible so less critical about evidence of repair. Or, a good used door, which I could transfer all the original bits over to but I'd be binning the good 80% of the car's original door which feels slightly... wrong. I would be concerned that just swapping a door won't be as simple as unbolt, bolt on, as it might first seem and getting may be needed. Any thought from the experts?! Both door and panel are £120+vat ea.

Cheers
Nick

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Door, every time.

Door skins I think are only for a light repair.

With a door, you can strip clean/repair as needed, in no rush.

Plus it will give you time to get oil into the hinges and screws etc.

 

[tom2207]

as above ,, door swap , and if its the right colour your winning hands down.

 

[zzr1200]

Its a 35 year old Fiat your lucky to have anything left, Fiat Mirafiori's used to last about 1 British Winter...

Lovely engine/gearbox, crap bodies...

 

[Popcorn]

I think it depends on how long you intend to keep it, if it's a keeper, repair the door properly along the bottom and reskin it.
Any other door secondhand will likely be as bad if not worse.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Welcome aboard, Nick

Can you examine the 'spare' door, or would you be buying 'blind', relying on the seller's accuracy of description?

Otherwise, as the lads have said ^^^.

 

[MCKDAVID]

or scrap the car and send me the front end, and I'll transplant into the Mk1 fiorino van we have on the farm.... which is a gutless 1.7 NA diesel and hence dog slow... everytime I drive it anywhere, I keep getting daft ideas about dropping in a uno turbo engine to give it a bit more pep.... that would be a bit of fun.... or even a punto turbo diesel engine...

 

[When in Turin]

I like a unanimous answer! Door it is. Thank you all

 

[Neilj]

Another vote for a replacement door, IF you can find a decent one!
That door in the pic is not only shot at the bottom, it's also rotting on the rear vertical seam between the frame and the skin and the rot will be far worse than it appears from the outside (they rot from the inside). Plus re-skinning a door is a pain unless you have the tools to properly crimp the skin onto the frame.
You just need to find a decent door now

 

[colnerov]

Its a 35 year old Fiat your lucky to have anything left, Fiat Mirafiori's used to last about 1 British Winter...

Lovely engine/gearbox, crap bodies...

Neck and neck with Alfasuds.

 

[MCKDAVID]

I like a unanimous answer! Door it is. Thank you all

unanimous answers on here, nae chance......

personally, I'd have at it with the welder, nothing to lose, unless you're trying to build a concours show winner, if it's keep it running / running rebuild, a couple of hours making patches and welding time would be easier than trying to find a door which is probably just as bad...

 

[When in Turin]

Welcome aboard, Nick

Can you examine the 'spare' door, or would you be buying 'blind', relying on the seller's accuracy of description?

Otherwise, as the lads have said ^^^.

Thanks. It's from a reputable seller with photos so should be ok.

or scrap the car and send me the front end, and I'll transplant into the Mk1 fiorino van we have on the farm.... which is a gutless 1.7 NA diesel and hence dog slow... everytime I drive it anywhere, I keep getting daft ideas about dropping in a uno turbo engine to give it a bit more pep.... that would be a bit of fun.... or even a punto turbo diesel engine...

I'll pass thanks

It's being restored properly, I'll put a resto thread in the projects section when I've cleared out the garage a bit more and I can finally start, only 18 years after I picked it up...

 

[Popcorn]

I can finally start, only 18 years after I picked it up...

These things can't be rushed

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@When in Turin
The replacement door will give you time to lubricate the hinges and other fittings you need to shift over to the new door.

The plastic clips in the door, holding the locking bars get brittle.
Dampen a rag in water, warm in a Micro wave, wrap round the clips. Wait and with care you can remove the bars with out the clip going.
"Ping"
Then you going:

Oh dear me.

 

[MCKDAVID]

^^ I was only being semi serious, not about scrapping your car, but about finding a turbo engine for the fiorino, which believe it or not, apart from one spot of rust around the back window the shell is totally rust free, just gutless. It's really only used for shifting stuff around the place which it's great at, but it's basically no fun at all to drive if you have to go anywhere, dog slow. That said it's a good carrier, plenty space, and doesn't seem to make any difference how it's loaded, no change in power, none.....

 

[tom2207]

Its a 35 year old Fiat your lucky to have anything left, Fiat Mirafiori's used to last about 1 British Winter...

Lovely engine/gearbox, crap bodies...

yep but the engine and box went straight into a Capri ,,, and Lada's

 

[zzr1200]

yep but the engine and box went straight into a Capri ,,, and Lada's

I helped one into a Morris 1000 pickup, it was a true wheel spinning machine even with 8 inch wide wheels and serveral bags of sand.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Neck and neck with Alfasuds.

My Lancia HPE was totally rotten at 7-8 years old

 

[MCKDAVID]

My Lancia HPE was totally rotten at 7-8 Months old

fixed that for you.....

when I was a kid, next doors had a beta coupe, front suspension mount caved in with rust, thing was barely a year old...

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

My Lancia HPE was totally rotten at 7-8 years old

fixed that for you.....

when I was a kid, next doors had a beta coupe, front suspension mount caved in with rust, thing was barely a year old...

They were rotten when they were being built.