Time to replace two doors
Before you look at these photos of my very rusty door frames on two doors, please let me explain that the rest of my truck is actually in fabulous condition. But as you will see, two of the doors very definitely needed replacing.
Landy-ites might find my attempt to do this myself amusing and amateur, and there are probably techniques & tools that could have made the whole process easier (such as being parked in a big shed). Despite how much hard work it was, & despite getting caught in a thunderstorm, in the middle of swapping out one door, I am immensely pleased with myself for this accomplishment.
Also wonderful to know I have two new doors!
The old doors
Lulu's previous owner had informed me when I purchased her back in Aug 2019 that the 2 right hand side doors had been replaced already. Yah.
I knew that there was some rust on the frames of the left hand doors, but it was not easy to see it behind the door cards (that is what they call the lining on the doors - I learnt that through this process).
Left rear door
The image below shows the rust that was visible above the door cards on the rear door.
This image below shows the rust that was visible on this rear door when I took the door cards off.
Left front door
The rust on the front door was mostly concealed by the door card, but was quite scary to look at once revealed when card was removed.
I wonder how the door was even staying on the vehicle given the deterioration around the hinge bolts! One solid bump 4x4 driving and the door might have fallen off the vehicle!
The plan - the original plan that is
I originally planned to buy two new replacement doors.
They are very expensive at around AUD $2,500 each - I have bought cars for less than the price of one door!
I had the doors ordered and had even paid for one, while I was waiting for my supplier to source the second one when I met a lovely couple one day near Golden Beach who gave me the name of an alternate supplier.
This is how it happened....
One sunny weekend I was hanging out near Golden Beach on the Sunshine Coast and had parked in the shade of a large tree next to a Discovery 3. When the owners returned I began chatting with them and one interesting thing lead to another and they (Rick & Rita) gave me the name and number of someone they said could help me get parts for my Landy.
Paxton came highly recommended by Rick & Rita and when I asked around I heard good things from other Landy owners, so working with Paxton to source my new doors lead to Plan #2: replace the doors by using blank door shells
Paxton was able to source two new door shells for me, saving me a lot of money.
I also went ahead and purchased from Paxton a full set of new galvanised hinges and stainless steel bolts which I fitted as a part of this process.
You can contact Paxton through his website: www.heritageseriesparts.com
Saving how much??
Price quoted to buy two new complete doors $5,000 AUD from another supplier who did great work attempting to source the complete doors for me - thanks Dave :).
Price quoted by Paxton to buy two new door shells $3,100 AUD.
Yes, that is a lot of money saved & all that is required is some hard work on my behalf to swap the door mechanisms from old doors to new doors, how hard can that be, I tell myself!!
So, how hard was it really to swap out the mechanisms & glass etc onto two new door shells?
Let me show you in the video clip below which you can also watch on my YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/0p3dKtV5FCs
Another not-to-chance encounter lead to another new acquaintance and another part that I needed
Thank you universe for bringing another Landy parts supplier into my life.
Parking near the harbour in Cotton Tree on the Sunshine Coast I noted a gentleman checking out my truck as I reversed into my parking spot.
Not long after parking he came over and we started chatting about Landy's, and it turns out he used to have a second hand land rover parts business, and thought he might possibly have a door card I could use.
So, why didn't I have my two door cards you ask? - well, silly me....
When I thought I was buying two new complete doors I threw out the two door cards from the doors I was swapping out. Little did I know that they are very hard to come by and incredibly expensive to buy new (duh).
My new friend Adrian had a door card which he cleaned up for me and sold me for a very reasonable price. And much to my surprise and pleasure he and his wife even invited me to join them for Christmas lunch - wow!. I love how the universe does that.
Thank you to Adrian and Terri for a fabulous time with your 'tribe' on Christmas day!
Here they are, my two new doors. freshly installed.
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