Midget door components include complete replacement doors, door skins for re-skinning a serviceable door frame, and door bottom repair panels for localised corrosion repair. The door is a relatively complex assembly consisting of an outer skin, an inner frame, a window winder mechanism, door latch, lock barrel, interior and exterior handles, glass channels, and the drop glass itself.
Complete Doors and Door Skins
Complete replacement doors are handed (left and right) and are supplied with hinges fitted and the outer skin attached to the inner frame, but without the glass, winder mechanism, handles, lock, and trim, these must be transferred from the original door. This approach ensures the mechanical components, which are specific to the production date, match the car's specification. Door skins are available for owners whose door frame and inner structure remain sound but whose outer skin has corroded beyond repair, re-skinning a good frame is significantly less work than fitting a complete replacement door and transferring all the internal components.
Door Hinges
Door hinges bolt to the A-post with countersunk screws and shakeproof washers. Sagging doors are most commonly caused by worn hinge pins rather than failed hinge plates. When a door has dropped noticeably and the gap between the door trailing edge and the B-post is wider at the top than the bottom, the hinge pins should be examined first, replacing worn pins is a much simpler repair than replacing the entire hinge assembly.
Door Check Straps
Door check straps limit the opening angle of the door, preventing it from swinging too far and damaging the front wing or overstressing the hinges. The straps were originally produced in colours matching the interior trim, though colour options are no longer available, current replacement straps are supplied in a standard finish. The check strap retainers and mounting screws should be inspected whenever the strap is renewed, as the mounting points in the A-post can corrode and weaken over time.
Door Bottom Repair
Door bottom repair panels address the most common area of corrosion on Midget doors, the lower section of the outer skin, where water collects inside the door and attacks the steel from the inside out. When fitting a repair panel, the corroded metal should be cut back to sound steel, the repair panel offered up and clamped in position, and the joint welded. Seam sealer should be applied inside the joint, and cavity wax injected into the door bottom through the drain holes to prevent recurrence. The drain holes at the base of the door should be checked and cleared at every service, blocked drain holes are the primary cause of internal door corrosion.
Waterproof door curtains fitted behind the door cards are a worthwhile preventative measure that significantly reduces the amount of water entering the door interior through the window channel.