Bending door back into shape

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

NotAGolf

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Had a nice little suprise yesterday when I went out to the garage. Some delightful soul(s) attempted to get into my car. There's crowbar marks all around the passenger side door. The lock's been smashed in too, but fortunately still works. The door still opens and closes fine. The window is intact but can no longer be opened. Luckily they didn't manage to get in.

The top edge of the door was hanging out by about 2 inches. With a bit welly I've pushed it back in so now it looks like this:
uWna9.jpg

Any hints on how I can get it back into position? It's on it's last legs anyway, so I don't want to spend any money on it since I've just paid a few hundred for the MOT and tax. I'm thinking a block of wood and a hammer, but I'm worried about cracking the window.

I'm not concerned about looks as it's been ruined by all the crowbar marks anyway. It's just so everything stays dry when it rains.
 
Presumably it's just the bend in the door frame that's stopping the window from opening. If so you should be able to push the top of the door frame into place and hold it there whilst someone else opens the window.

Once the glass is out of the way you're free to bend the frame back properly without worrying about the glass breaking.
 
What car is it?
I would go for a new door (scrappy or ebay) tbh as this will give a 100% fit rather than trying to fix your current one.
Trust me, you do not want water getting it - From my personal experience! Taking seats apart to dry out the foam is a massive PITA.

By all means try to bend your current one back into shape, but put loads of towels on the inside of the door then empty a watering can all over it to check how watertight it is.
 
kaiowas said:
Presumably it's just the bend in the door frame that's stopping the window from opening. If so you should be able to push the top of the door frame into place and hold it there whilst someone else opens the window.

Once the glass is out of the way you're free to bend the frame back properly without worrying about the glass breaking.
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Didn't think of that. Nice idea. My concern would be that I wouldn't be able to get it straight enough and then I wouldn't be able to do the window back up.

Brookert said:
What on earth could be worth stealing from an old fiesta?
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God knows. I don't know what they were thinking, if you have a crowbar and wanted to get in the car you'd put the window through. There was no concern about making a noise based on the state of the lock they'd tried to smash in.

To those mentioning a new door from a scrappy, I don't think it's worth that hassle, I don't want to spend the cash and without colour matching it'll look ridiculous. The car is in the garage for 90% of the year, so leakage would only be a problem while out and about (which is rare).
 
Is it just the top portion that's out of alignment (glass part) or the full door?

I had to have a new door on my previous Octavia, and although it was a genuine part, I had a gap.

Not as bad as yours though.

If it's just the top part, wind the glass fully down, put your knee against the inside and pull!

Then shut the door to see if you are any closer.
 
I annoyingly had this happen to me years ago and no matter how I tried to sort it the only thing that would have done it properly would have been a new door, it was never the same again.
 
No real advice for you to shape the door I'm afraid.

Had this happen to me a few years ago with my first car, a Corsa B. Couldn't quite get the door to line up as it should do and finished up with a door from the scrappers. Luckily enough it wasn't a fortune and was exactly the right shade of blue to match.

One thing I did learn though, doors are much heavier than I imagined!
 
In all likelihood you will need a new door. But theres no harm in trying to bend it back. If you do, then give it a good soaking with a bucket or a hose afterwards to check for leaks and then take it on the otorway to check to wind noise.
 
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