cbeierl
Well-known member
I developed a serious rust problem along the bottom lip of the right rear compartment on my 2005 Vectra. As you can see in the first photo the area circled in red is essentially falling apart, including the metal holding the right-hand door latch bracket. The only thing holding it together is the plastic molding along the bottom.
To fix it I cut off the old compartment faceplate above the rusted area and then made a drawing of what I needed and took it down to a local sheetmetal fabricator. They charged me $75 to make the new piece. The new sheetmetal can be seen in the second photo, temporarily clamped into place. Since I had clearance (from the door latch assembly on the inside of the door) to do so I made the bottom piece under the battery compartment a couple of inches taller to give me a little more structure there.
The third picture shows the new piece painted and installed, with a new plastic molding strip along the bottom.
The last picture shows the completed repair, with all new rubber seals applied. I think it came out very well!
To fix it I cut off the old compartment faceplate above the rusted area and then made a drawing of what I needed and took it down to a local sheetmetal fabricator. They charged me $75 to make the new piece. The new sheetmetal can be seen in the second photo, temporarily clamped into place. Since I had clearance (from the door latch assembly on the inside of the door) to do so I made the bottom piece under the battery compartment a couple of inches taller to give me a little more structure there.
The third picture shows the new piece painted and installed, with a new plastic molding strip along the bottom.
The last picture shows the completed repair, with all new rubber seals applied. I think it came out very well!