Restoring Land Rover doors

Like many restoration projects, what you see on the surface isn’t always what you get. After sandblasting, the lower sections of the door frames revealed the typical rust issues—but there was also evidence of galvanic corrosion, especially along the bottom edges where the aluminium skin wraps around the steel frame.

Galvanic corrosion occurs when dissimilar metals—steel and aluminium—are in contact with each other in the presence of moisture. Over time, this reaction causes the aluminium to oxidise, leading to white powdery deposits and pitting in the aluminium beneath.

When I peeled back the aluminium skin, years’ worth of dirt and sand came out. This buildup had been trapping moisture for decades, accelerating the corrosion process. Once everything was cleaned out, I cut away the rusted sections and welded in new steel to bring the frames back to life.

Thankfully, the door skins themselves were in decent condition. Still, they needed some love—several hours of panel beating and heat shrinking helped to remove waves and dents. I test-fitted them on the vehicle, which is essential to check door gaps and alignment.

Door alignment on a Series Land Rover is somewhat of a dark art. It often involves tweaking the position of the bulkhead and hinges, sometimes millimetre by millimetre, to get something that looks "sort of" right.

Once I was happy with the fit, I moved on to paint. The process started with an etch primer, followed by a high-fill primer, which I blocked back to achieve a flat surface and then the top coat.

Under workshop lights, everything looked great. But once I rolled the car into the sun, I could ripples, minor dents, and stretched spots from old damage stood out like a sore thumb. The rest of the vehicle looked so straight, but the doors just didn’t hold up.

After some digging, I discovered brand new reproduction door skins for a few hundred dollars. I ordered a pair, and they turned out to be a great investment. Once fitted, I repeated the prep process—priming, blocking, and painting. The new skins gave the doors a clean, ripple-free finish that matched the rest of the build beautifully. I am really happy with the results.