While fighting door gap issues (separate thread) my attention was re-drawn to this odd divot on the passenger door:

It was clearly filled before paint, but blasting off the paint and filler exposed it.

Here is a close-up

There is no deformation outside of a 3/8" radius.  This small but deep divot seems machine-made, albeit a mistake.  And the divot had a hole in the middle that was filled with some factory material that looks identical to the bonding adhesive used inside the door.  Here is a pic what the backside looks like:

Anyone have any insights here?

 It looks like something a pellet gun could cause. Is the paint original or a re-spray?

I did some digging in the material oozing thru the hole and it turned out to look like simple filler.  So it seems to be later damage that was just filled.

What had me suspicious was that the impact that caused the divot did not deform a larger area.  Physics suggests this was a rather high-speed projectile that cratered and pierced the door rather than something pointy that fell against it.

Oh well, just gonna fix/fill it and get back to more serious metal issues.  🙂

I agree, that’s the least of your worries!😄

Looks like a bullet hole to me.

Is there a matching hole in the door panel?   

Crossman Pellet gun back in the day. 

1 hour ago, Captain Obvious said:

Looks like a bullet hole to me.

Is there a matching hole in the door panel?   

Whatever the projectile, it had enough energy to punch a clean hole thru the outer skin.  No hole or dent on the inner metal panel of the door, but if the window glass were down, that would explain it.  Now I need to take a look at the data code on my passenger door window and see if it matches the car!

2 hours ago, Yarb said:

Crossman Pellet gun back in the day. 

After cleaning out the Bondo, I gauged the hole with a (drill bit) to be 5/32 (0.156"), which is a bit too small for a standard .177 pellet or BB.

But interestingly (well, to me) is that the clean fit of the drill bit shows the direction of travel.  The shot came from slightly fwd and above the door.  Almost as if someone stood next to the car and shot.  With something.

Just another mystery about this car.

 

Edited December 28, 2024Dec 28 by Broman