Door dented - Repair or replace?

[68RGR]

The driver's door on my '68 Ranger has a pretty good dent in it at the lower, rear corner. The dent affects the rocker panel molding as well. I'm thinking the dent won't be easy to fix because of the contour of the door in that area. I can think of two options:

Get the original door repaired, prepped and painted.

Or, use a door from a parts truck that is a different color and has a bit of rust in the same area as the dent on the original door.

The downside to option 2 is the color difference means prepping and painting inside and out. But, it is dent-free. Upside is that I keep the original door and hood in place and drive the truck while the work is being done. Oddly, the parts truck door USED to be the right color! So, it's already been recycled at least once.

I will also have the same issue with the hood which is scratched and slightly dented but rust free. The parts truck hood is dent-free but has a bit of surface rust on the underside.

I have zero experience with body shops in the past 20 years and need some advice from those of you who are more familiar with this kind of work.

What would you do and why?

If the parts were painted off the truck, would matching the paint be more of a problem?

[70 ranger]

posting a picture of the damaged door would make it easier to give an opinion. If the original door is repairable the interior would stay all the same gloss and the exterior could be blended within the existing panels instead of having to blend the cab and front fender to match. could you post some pictures?

[68RGR]

could you post some pictures?

Sure. Here's three views of the dent.

[70 ranger]

If you replace the door it will need to have the inner pannel, arm rest and window winder removed, be painted on the inner and then have the existing door removed. Then the new one installed. In order to get a good match it is recomended to blend the fender, cowl, windshield post and cab corner. This is the proper way, you can always take short cuts if you want to risk the color match. The other way is to repair the existng door and just blend within the door panel and the cab corner. The R&I times don't exist and neither do the inner paint and most of the blends, but the repair time for the door does! I would keep the existing door. I would also ask your body shop for quotes either way.

[Joe_68_F100]

I'd fix it. Do you have a stud welder & slide hammer? You probably want one for that. Good Luck!

[Whateverman]

fix the original,it'll be less work and $$$$
-your trims not mangled too badly,i had nearly identical damage and my trim was MANGLED

[72BahamaBlue]

Another vote for fixing it. Stud welder kit might be best, or weld small flat washers along the creases, pull out with a slide hammer with the hook attachment.