Questions on body work

[wickedCircuits]

I'm not sure if this is the right spot for this, so please move if needed.

My recently inherited Xterra hasn't had the easiest of lives. My sister seemed to like to hit things with it. Most of the damage, I can take care of. Pull the panel, beat it straight, and go from there. But I've never worked on a door before.
I'm wondering what the best avenue of attack would be when you aren't able to get to the backside of the panel?
I've heard of people drilling holes and using a slide hammer, but that doesn't sound like a good idea, too easy to rip and tear.

pics of damage:

 

[Xterrorista]

No matter what those side steps are in your way.

Hot water and a plunger?
Someone will definitely be chiming in..

 

[Prime]

Honestly, looking at that door, I'd be scouring junk yards for a clean white door and just swap it. But I'd rather turn wrenches than do body work. heh.

 

[General_Tarfun]

The door I'd definitely try to find on a junker. I've seen more than one attempt at a repair like that (DIY jobs) that turned out way worse looking than the original damage.

The other folded metal piece that appears to be on the truck body you can probably bend back out but be prepared for the paint to crack. You'll need to sand all the cracked stuff down and repaint to keep it from rusting.

 

[wickedCircuits]

The door I'd definitely try to find on a junker. I've seen more than one attempt at a repair like that (DIY jobs) that turned out way worse looking than the original damage.

The other folded metal piece that appears to be on the truck body you can probably bend back out but be prepared for the paint to crack. You'll need to sand all the cracked stuff down and repaint to keep it from rusting.

Turns out white 2nd gen xterras are rarer than unicorn shiate around here (in the junkyards, anyway). I'm headed to pick n pull for some headlights this weekend, but the only two in the dfw area are silverish colors.

I saw on someone elses post somewhere on the forum it looked like they welded little rods to a panel, and I'm assuming they pulled on them with some sort of slide hammer? I feel like tack welding would be difficult on a body panel

 

[Brunnie]

Turns out white 2nd gen xterras are rarer than unicorn shiate around here (in the junkyards, anyway). I'm headed to pick n pull for some headlights this weekend, but the only two in the dfw area are silverish colors.

You don't care about color, you want a door. If it has the interior panel, fine, if not transfer the present door panel to the new door.

 

[General_Tarfun]

^ This. You can the right stuff to paint pretty much an exact matching color at Automotive Touchup for less than 50 bucks.