Fy33 Door Replacement: Tribute to Infiniti Construction and ease of repair

[JRJ]

Last year my daughter backed her car into the passenger side of my 99Q45T in my driveway damaging the front door mildly but crumpling the rear door badly. Due to having three college age drivers with cars and tickets and recent fender-benders on their record my insurance agent advised against claiming the damage for fear of having the family coverage dropped. Being up for a project I was able to get a color matched door from the junkyard and did a total switch out of all the door components. It was an easy job that took an afternoon. With the FSM the disassembly and transfer of the window, regulator, speakers, wiring, lock mechanism and wiring harness was not difficult. Taking down the interior trim and pillar trim and unbolting the old door and putting in the new door was a one man job and hung true and straight. Because of window tinting I transferred the window glass and weatherstripping. Reassembly was very easy. The results look great, I have not repaired the dent on the front door but cosmetically the car looks acceptable for my use. I was fortunate to find a color and year matched door in good condition at a reasonable price to clean up the mess. Sorry I didn't do photos.

[Jesda]

How much did it cost you?

[JRJ]

I was able to pick up the door at a local junkyard in the Tampa area already pulled from the donor car for $380. The body shop estimates for repair of both doors and painting was $1600. I have the donor door parts and window glass in the garage if any members are in need of these parts.

[BadQ45t]

Your a stud, I cannot do @#$@ on my 97', I just do not do enough wrenching to make do anything in a reasonable amount of time. My dad taught me how to fix stuff by using the Yellow Pages!

Post pics.

[JRJ]

Here are photobucket links to the before and after photos. I did not take any shots of the actual repair in progress[IMG][/IMG]

[jmorasch]

looks great.everything line up right when you got the door hung the first time? good job!! howd you hold the door when you were putting it on???

[JRJ]

When the door has all the components and glass removed it is not very heavy. When I placed the door hinge studs through the pillar holes I used a cardboard box to prop under the bottom of the door to support it when I tightened the nuts. Allignment was no problem, the strike lock mechanism was out so I closed the door and shimmed the position with pieces of cardboard then final tightened the nuts. Then reassembly of the door components was done with the door frame on the car.

[Rex]

Well done.

You should have had your daughter out there helping ... at least taking action pics.

You should put her in charge of selling the spare parts (glass, motor, switches, etc) to offset some of the costs. Of course you get the cash

[JRJ]

My daughter is still in big time debt to me for the repair to my car and her car. In addition she had a front end accident on her go to college car (2006 Honda Civic on which I'm still making payments). I replaced the A/C condenser, dryer, and low and high side supply lines that were smushed and had the system recharged. The front bumper cover was not repaired. She then speared the rear into my Q45 on the driveway with fender, trunk, and tail light cluster damage. I replaced the light cluster with a recycled part for $60 and bent/adjusted the trunk to close again. Her car wears daily reminders on the front and rear of her repair cost debts. It's hard to extract any money from an 18 year old college freshman with no job. I'll hold these IOU's for later. But I still love her.

[jmorasch]

you d be surprised at the problems people have had with getting a door on right...your daughters truly blessed!!!!

[coolyun_98]

People learn better from mistakes. Your girl will be a much better driver after this series of incidents.

[burgy240]

what JY in Tampa has a Y33? I want to go check it out!!

[JRJ]

I got the door from Starkey Road Auto Parts on 66th street in Largo. I did not see the donor car in their yard. The door was already pulled. I found the part there on an internet search. I called them up and they confirmed the details on condition and color and had the part waiting for me to pick up.