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Hi fam,

After some suggestions on best way to go about getting this damage repaired (photos attached)

Would also welcome any suggestions on specific garages to take it to around Melbourne South East suburbs.

One place has suggested that the whole whole door would need replacing as the damage has gone quite deep. Essentially what's happened is my car was hit while it was parked and I was away from it. But I deduce that a truck has dríven past it and had scraped across it.

The door could be repaired, but the reason they would have said to replace it comes down to cost.

A secondhand door skin from the wreckers, $100 maybe

Or a few hours for them to have one of the panelbeaters carefully stretch/shrink and generally hand beat that section into shape again, before then having to use some filler, sand, etc.

To fix it they'd have probably had to quote you atleast a few hundred dollars, before they've even considered the painting time/cost.

Or, a secondhand door comes in, they strip the paint, spray on the right colour, bolt it on and it's done.


If you're in Melb, I think that Jan guy who parts the MX5s out has one in this colour, so you may be able to just skip the paint work all together and just buy a door and guard off him.

Yeah that does make sense to just replace the door and the panel to avoid mucking around. Thank you for the advice.

Any leads on how to get a hold of this Jan person?

I'm not sure if he's on the forum, but he's on pretty much all of the Aussie MX5 facebook groups under the name "Jan McCallef"
I don't have any contact details other than that sorry.

If you cant find him there, maybe just post a wanted ad (both here, and on FB) and either him, or one of the other guys in Melb wrecking MX5's will likely be in contact if they've got parts.

I only mentioned Jan specifically since I'm pretty sure I saw him post an ad a few days ago which looked like he had a twilight blue NB being parted out.

hks_kansei wrote:The door could be repaired, but the reason they would have said to replace it comes down to cost.

Hit the nail on the head. A lot of places won't repair these days, they'll only replace. There's a lot of hours that go into a repair and a lot of skill to not just fill it with bog until it's hidden. The skill is dying out and most shops are forced to turn over as many jobs as they can so don't want to spend the time on a repair.

I had a repair done by a mate earlier in the year. Took a few days to do. The bottom rate for a panel beater is around $25/hour and that's their pay, not what the shop will charge so 3 days work even at the most basic rate is $600 just in labour cost. Add materials and profit margin and few people are willing to pay that when it can be replaced cheaper.

One of Yahn's Gumtree ads with his number: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/tarneit ... 1192062498

Just get a quote - if you have insurance you are up for an excess. If you get hold of a used door it will still have to be painted and that could cost at least $500- but a few quotes will cfm. You can always offer cash- it might help. There are stacks of panel shops. MX-5 factory could do it easy ( Ringwood)

Thanks for the tips guys. I've gotten a hold of Yahn and he's looking into it for me on a replacement.

it is cheapest to buy a secondhand door ($200) and guard ($150). Sometimes you get lucky and get a colour match. So far replaced left door, left and right guards, and nose. Needed to paint one guard.