DAMMIT.....Futzing around in the shop, I knocked a big length of steel over and it crashed into my once perfectly straight drivers side door on my 72. Had not sanded it down yet, it was the last panel i had to go. I have a straight door from a later car, with the scissors window mech. and reinforcing bar. however, I have noticed from replacing the passenger door with a later one, there is a BIG weight dif.

So....would you write off the old door and just replace? OR would you fix the dent on the old one?

fix the dent. post some pics it cant be that bad.

just get a stud gun and puller. pull the dent. hammer it back to straight as possible. sand with 80 grit. bondo. shape. 150 grit. self leveling filler. shape. 150 prime. block. prime. block. prime. wet sand. paint.

Since it's the driver door, and it wasn't painted, I vote to replace with a later door. It's reinforced and safer. I did this on mine, as did my Dad on his /6.

However, all the newer door needs is some sanding....

The car already is running the mate to the newer door on the passenger side. Just wondered if there was a good reason for keeping the old style door on, other than weight.

Or let someone else do it(for pay of course)

As much as I detest body work (the mess, the tedium, the never-endingness of it), its something I am capable of, and hopefully, it will save me a lot of money, so i can spend away on more fun parts of the car.

You can debate the theoretical benefits of one door over another as long as you want, but my opinion is that for a daily driver type car, who cares. Run what works and enjoy the car.

only reason would be weight. and a newer door only needs sanding assuming you find a good one then you have to pay for it and it should really be stripped completely and then you may find damage underneath.

if you dont wanna do the work bring it my way. ive done tons of body work on cars(porsche only) with 20k+ paint jobs.

The later style doors have a better window lifting mechanism, and the advantage of the side impact door beams, though I'm not sure how much they would help if the door jamb isn't reinforced. If I'd be in a side crash, I'd want the side beams.

Having said that, either should work fine, go with your own choice.

IIRC, the side seals on the roof panel must be changed to fit the later windows. Then again, I don't think the early seals are available anyway.

--DD

My experience with early model windows showed the them to be quite fragile. The regulators, the plastic button that holds the regulator to the window, and the metal pieces attached to the window all broke several times over the years. Finding spare regulators at Pick & Pulls is becoming more difficult. And it's a hastle pulling everything out of the door, replacing it and adjusting the window.

The late model regulators appear to be much more robust. My current car has the late model doors and I look forward to many years of trouble-free window operation. As a street-only ride the extra weight is not a factor.

Toss em both and get a set of 73 doors