Rusty doors

[frog]

There are a few rust spots developing on my 5 Door (family car) 8v.
Is it best to fit new doors or to get the rust treated.
If i get new doors the problem i've got is that i will need to swap both the central locking and the electric windows over to the new doors and not sure if this is worth the trouble.
(Previous and only owner from new) had the car fully upgraded before buying it so i have electric windows on all 4 doors, realistically if i'm replacing doors then i will need 2 doors but as its the family car i cant afford to have it off the road for to long while everything is swapped over so once again is it worth swapping doors or just getting original doors fixed?

[mr_angry]

Hiya,

Was in a similar situation with my last golf - car was tidy apart from a few spots on doors, tailgate and the spare grommet winscreen wiper. Found a reputable painter who just resprayed every panel with a rust spot, and all the door bottoms up to the trim, then put it on polishing machine. Total cost of this was 450 quid including a new windscreen. Took him 4 days, and the car came back looking mint - and still does nearly 18 months later.

[FBF]

it all depends on the rust and how bad it really is!

if it were my car id treat the door for the rust but if its along the bottom of the door and is rotten through than replace it. small holes can be fixed  big ones are never going to be right long term.  post a pic.

[Uruk Hai]

I've got a red 5 door and have just started to sort out some rust on the doors (mainly on the bottom inside and where the bolt secures the crash protection bars in the back doors) and the key to doing an effective job is to completely remove all the rust, if you can get to the inside of the door panel or patch where the rust is then do it. I use a dremel with the grinding disc's and find it very good for getting back to clean rust free metal, then I put a good rust treatment on it, sand it back smooth then etch prime and paint it. If I can get to the inside of the panel or any area that cant be seen from outside the car I'll grind that back then cover it with several layers of waxoil but as I said getting rid of the rust is the key otherwise you'll be doing it all again in a couple of months and chasing it forever.