Since the purchase of this Porsche, the one repair I have been dreading is dealing with the sagging door on the driver’s side. Yet this is also the one issue that I am greeted with every time I open and close the door. My habit of pulling up on the door when closing even became muscle memory, applying the same technique on my other cars that have no issues. As much as I didn’t want to attempt the repair, I knew this would be a fix that would greatly improve my driving experience every time I got in the car.

My initial troubleshooting indicated that there was play at the upper hinge pin. Additionally it was clear that there was movement between the tabs that are welded to the frame, which attach the hinge block. There were clear signs of some half-baked repair attempts on the frame tabs and on the door. Usually a bad omen for what is hidden underneath.

First step was removing the door, which ended up being a much easier task than expected. After removing the door card and disconnecting the switches I was able to locate the two connectors for the door harness. These connectors are tucked away under the dash on the left side of the driver foot well. Once the door was unbolted, connectors fished through the tiny pass through holes, and the door away from the frame the extent of the damage on the frame was revealed. Along with the nasty weld repair there were cracks at each of the tabs.

Onto the door itself. The upper hinge was clearly the one with the most wear, so that was where I wanted to start. After some penetrating fluid and a bigger hammer/punch the pin was out. I was relieved the pin came out with such ease. With the pin removed it was easy to see where the wear was present. Typically when a hinge is worn you would expect the hinge tab or the pin to be worn. In this case what was worn is the bushing material that interfaces between the hinge tab and pin. This means a new hinge tab is needed.

Brewing with optimism I moved onto the lower hinge. That hinge did not have much wear but since I had the parts and the other pin was so easy to remove, I went ahead and started banging. A couple hits in I knew something was not right. With each thud I could feel the hinge tab that is welded into the door move. Once I noticed this I knew removing the pin was not the priority anymore. This nasty weld was placed here for a reason and there was no way I would leave this as is.

I dove right in and started to cut away the weld and any compromised material. It did not take long to see what the real issue was. It appears the weld between the hinge tab and the door frame broke on the sides, but was fully in tact on the far side. Based on how the welds broke it looks like the factory welds never fully penetrated into the door itself as the break was way too clean.

Given the location of the weld it would be difficult to re-weld it, at least for an unskilled welder. I decided to manufacture a plate that would stabilize the hinge tab buy tying it to the surrounding sheet metal. The surrounding is just a closeout and very thin so it was important to make the plate as large as possible. I manufactured the plate out of 0.063” 4130 sheet, making it thick enough to provide the stiffness needed but not so think that it would be difficult to weld to the thin sheet metal of the door. Prior to getting everything welded I primed all the surfaced with weld through primer to increase the life of the repair as much as possible.

I took the door to Accuweld in Oceanside, where Jeff the owner personally welded the repair. He was even able to get a 0.5” weld at the location of the broken weld. Super happy with the outcome of the door repair. I decided not to risk replacing the hinge and pin given there was little to no wear.

With the door fixed it was time to take care of the frame and mounting tabs. I ground away all of the questionable weld repair and any paint and corrosion around the cracks found. I’ll admit it was difficult to discern where the repair weld stopped and base sheet started but it I persevered and the results were reasonable. Luckily the damage was not severe and could be easily welded up, that is if there is no hidden corrosion on the back side. It’s not uncommon for the metal to just pop when welding when corrosion is present, even when it’s on the far side of the weld.

For those not aware, the rule is if you own a welder you are morally obligated to help a friend in need. Much like if you own a truck. So I called on my good friend to take on this challenge. I have to admit I was worried what would happen, especially since it was a MIG not a TIG. Good thing he has a lot of experience with vintage race cars and botched repairs from previous owners. I was glad to find that there were no surprises when welding and it all got buttoned up. A little smoothing of the welds and it was good to go.

A couple coats of self-etching primer, basecoat, and clear to make it look better than new. Once the door was installed I was so happy to hear the door close with that characteristic Porsche vault door clunk. It has been over a year now and the door is holding strong with no signs of letting go.