Bay Sliding Door Repaır

Bay Windows love rusting, few places more so than the bottom of the sliding door. Here’s how to fix yours when the time comes

- Mark Walker

The sliding door on a Bay Window Bus can suffer really bad with rot. The vast majority of RHD Buses will have required some form of repair in this area, due to blocked drain holes, damage or just the fact that all these Buses are now nearing half a century old. In fact, if you’re tackling the job and the door you’re working on hasn’t been previously repaired, then your luck is in.

The fact that it is a tricky area to repair, means it comes in for a lot of bodging, with filler, newspaper, seam sealer and even expanding foam, along with the old patch welded over a rusty door bottom trick.

Your bus deserves better, so we’ll show you how to remove all the grot and replace the whole lot with a new genuine VW repair panel. Of course, you could try and source a rust-free replacement, but expect to shell out a lot of £££ for one. Why not follow these steps and repair the door you have in the right way and make it last for years to come?

 01.Prep

This how to will focus on the actual repair of the door, so you will need to remove it first and support the door correctly in order to be comfortable while carrying out the repair. As you’ll be doing a lot of welding and grinding on the door, you would be wise to remove the glass and trim from the door before commencing work, as stray sparks will damage upholstery and embed themselves in the glass, causing it to rust and ultimately rendering it scrap. We also elected to remove the wool type insulation from the inside of the door with a sharp blade, as we didn’t want a fire on our hands. As you’ll see in the pictures, we chose to support the bare door on some high stands, making for a more comfortable working height.

02.Mark up outer skin