Club 80-90 Forums

Remember my "bit of body work and full re-spray" saga a year or two ago?
The one that I was told would be 6 to 8 weeks and I didn't get it back for over two years

Well a year, almost to the week, after finally getting it back I have a couple of slight issues that I shouldn't have after paying Williams Autobody of Saltney, Chester £3,600

One of them is a small rust bubble at the lowest front corner of the sliding door. When I attacked it with a small conical wire brush on my Dremel, to prepare for Vactan and Ruzstolem, it opened up into a hole and water dripped out, quite a lot of it

I intend to wait for a warm spell, take the door card off, dry it out inside, de-rust as best I can, Vactan and then Rustoleum.

Question though, as per the title, "Should the sliding door have drain holes"? (because mine hasn't)

i have a 'new' late door here so will have a looksee for you
mm

thought not, just checked a brand new door and no holes, when i do these (as in repair) i usually ad a pair
mm

£3,600 for a resto job. Worth every penny!

Ralf85 wrote:£3,600 for a resto job. Worth every penny!

dont rub salt in theres many a paint job/blow over posing as a resto through no fault of the 'repairers'
mm

metalmick8y wrote:thought not, just checked a brand new door and no holes, when i do these (as in repair) i usually ad a pair
mm

Thanks for that. Once I have done my best to fix whatever rust is in there, I will add a couple of drain holes.

How did the water get in?
My guess is window rubbers are not fitted right

Condensation I would guess. Vehicles sweat a lot.

Very interesting to read what mm has said about there not being drain holes. I've just checked mine and yes it does! 

They look very neat and tidy and I'm sure are factory made, one on either end of the door. Maybe different years (mines a 1987) had different pressings?

that looks like a reskinned door though,is there a seam inside
mm

If you have a sliding window in it, they can leak.

Yup, after-market sliding window fitted (many many years ago).

I am guessing it will be a leak somewhere to do with the window / seal. A lot of water came out
I will attend to it properly when the weather gets warmer (for the sake of the repair, not me being nesh).

All in all, pretty damn peed of with the now apparent poor attention to detail that Williams Autobody did, and the 2+ years wait to get it back, and the last minute ~30% price hike. I have been considering taking it further, but I reckon the hassle and likely end result not worth it. I certainly won't be recommending him to anyone!!

Even sliding windows fitted from new can leak eventually. In my case it rotted out the floor beneath on the side opposite sliding door and no I don't have a fridge.

I repaired the mess but left a drain-away in the floor should it ever happen again.