Replacing a lower door skin

[A-man930]

Anyone done this?  

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/kpt-0482-171l

[Eagle_SX4]

Cool to see more sheet metal from key parts for our vehicles. But with how many Cherokees are in the junkyards around me it is not worth doing the skin. A whole door is between $60 and $100, and if your lucky you don't have to paint it.

[89 MJ]

I’d replace the whole door. It would be hard to weld that panel on without warping. 

[87MJTIM]

I bought them for my doors. I didn’t do the bodywork though. I’m pleased with the results 

[A-man930]

I already bought doors and I noticed this minor rust after the fact, but they're in way better shape than my originals so whatever. 

Ultimately, I'd rather spend the time and effort fixing these, and I have my doubts that many local salvage doors won't have this issue brewing anyway.   

Painting is not an issue. 

 

 

[89 MJ]

That is nothing that will require patch panels. I would open that seam up, sand blast or grind it down to bare metal, prime it, and then fold it back over. 

[A-man930]

12 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

I would open that seam up, sand blast or grind it down to bare metal, prime it, and then fold it back over. 

 

How do you propose I reach both sides with this approach?

[A-man930]

I should clarify - the goal is another rust-free 20 years on the road as a daily. This is a full "resto mod" and I'm making every reasonable effort towards that.  

No band-aids or halfway repairs - particuarlly regarding metal or body work.  

[89 MJ]

Based on what I'm seeing, that rust that the doors have is from the outside. The paint cracked from shrinking most likely or the seam sealer cracked (I can't remember if the factory used seam sealer there or not) and it let moisture in. That rust does not look like it originated from inside the door from moisture getting in there. 

 

In any case, what you'll have to do its undo the fold where the outer skin wraps around the inner skin. This will give you wiggle room by separating the inner and outer skins. Then you will be able to evaluate further. If you do this, make sure not to fold one little section all the way over. Slowly work it bit by bit in the opposite way that the factory would have done it. This is exactly what was done on my MJ's doors and tailgate. 7 years later being a daily driver in the rain and dry in fairly humid WI. Rarely does it spend the night inside during these months. The truck is parked for the winters, but it is not climate controlled. There are no signs of rust or swelling. My Dad, who restores cars for a living does this and has never had a problem on any of his customer cars. He recently saw his old 70 GTO that he restored in high school (car was painted in 91) and it was still completely fine. This is the right way to fix it. 

 

I would agree that those doors are likely the best ones that you will be able to find around you easily. I will also say that you will be time ahead to drive farther south and find nicer doors as opposed to cutting the bottom off of those doors. You'd probably have the better part of a day in each door for cutting the bottom off, making the patch fit right, and then rewelding it with minimal warping (and I say minimal because on a panel as thin and flat as MJ/XJ doors, it'll be hard to keep them from warping, especially if you're welding in one of the larger flat spots). 

[A-man930]

43 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

Based on what I'm seeing, that rust that the doors have is from the outside. The paint cracked from shrinking most likely or the seam sealer cracked (I can't remember if the factory used seam sealer there or not) and it let moisture in. That rust does not look like it originated from inside the door from moisture getting in there. 

 

In any case, what you'll have to do its undo the fold where the outer skin wraps around the inner skin. This will give you wiggle room by separating the inner and outer skins. Then you will be able to evaluate further. If you do this, make sure not to fold one little section all the way over. Slowly work it bit by bit in the opposite way that the factory would have done it. This is exactly what was done on my MJ's doors and tailgate. 7 years later being a daily driver in the rain and dry in fairly humid WI. Rarely does it spend the night inside during these months. The truck is parked for the winters, but it is not climate controlled. There are no signs of rust or swelling. My Dad, who restores cars for a living does this and has never had a problem on any of his customer cars. He recently saw his old 70 GTO that he restored in high school (car was painted in 91) and it was still completely fine. This is the right way to fix it. 

 

I would agree that those doors are likely the best ones that you will be able to find around you easily. I will also say that you will be time ahead to drive farther south and find nicer doors as opposed to cutting the bottom off of those doors. You'd probably have the better part of a day in each door for cutting the bottom off, making the patch fit right, and then rewelding it with minimal warping (and I say minimal because on a panel as thin and flat as MJ/XJ doors, it'll be hard to keep them from warping, especially if you're welding in one of the larger flat spots). 

 

The FSM excerpt I have calls out seam sealer there, but I'm not sure I see any evidence of it on these particular ones.  

 

You make a compelling case for at least peeling it apart to investigate.  Now I just need to figure out how to reach in there... 

[89 MJ]

That will be the tricky part. It will be slow going, but worth doing, in my opinion. 

[Pete M]

personally, I'd rather track down clean doors than try to repair the inside of a seam.  our trucks rot from the inside-out.   solid doors are still out there.

[A-man930]

On 5/11/2026 at 9:39 PM, Pete M said:

personally, I'd rather track down clean doors than try to repair the inside of a seam.  our trucks rot from the inside-out.   solid doors are still out there.

 

I lack the time, willpower, and storage space to go hunting down more parts.  I'll make these work