[JIMMIEM]

My 30+ year old BILCO Basement (Bulkhead) Door has a lot of rust but no rust through. The header section is the worst and I was considering just replacing it. Am I wasting my time chasing rust? Maybe just replace the whole thing. BILCO is a big name and I just saw another manufacturer called GORDON.
Any suggestions or recommendations?

 

[ZTMAN]

I don't know how "rusty" your door is, but during this pandamic I ran out of projects and decided to paint the inside of my bilco doors. They had a lot of surface rust.
Hit the doors with a wire wheel and painted with Rustoleum Rust Reformer paint. Turned out great.
I did take the doors and the opening and closing rods off to make the job easier. Painted the inside gray and the rods safety red.

IMO it is worth the few bucks investment in paint if the door is sound

 

[JIMMIEM]

I don't know how "rusty" your door is, but during this pandamic I ran out of projects and decided to paint the inside of my bilco doors. They had a lot of surface rust.
Hit the doors with a wire wheel and painted with Rustoleum Rust Reformer paint. Turned out great.
I did take the doors and the opening and closing rods off to make the job easier. Painted the inside gray and the rods safety red.

IMO it is worth the few bucks investment in paint if the door is sound

Nice job on your doors!!!!
I'm not sure how rusty my doors are. There are big differences in the amount of rust. I'm not sure if the heavy areas are too far gone.
Maybe just bite the bullet and replace the whole thing. If they last 30 years they will have outlasted me.
Thank you for the pictures and reply.

 

[Old Thomas]

I have use Gordon doors and they are good quality usually for less money than Bilco.

 

[JIMMIEM]

I just spoke to BILCO customer service and they don't have replacement doors for this old model. So I'm going to replace the whole thing. I will check out Gordon too.