My daughter has a 97 blazer. The strike plate on the driver side has been caved in before and I welded it. It lasted about a year with her (16 year old girl tends to slam doors lol).
The weld has broken and it is caving in again. I am unsure what to do. I was told that I will probably have to replace the body.....really??? Not going to invest that kind of money into a 97.
Any ideas?????

 

Depending on your skills you may be able to get a used body section from the wrecker, cut the entire striker section out & tack weld it in place. Or get some 16 guage sheet metal & fab up a section.I say tack weld so you don't warp the metal. Tack in various area so nothing over heats & keep going until it's a contiguous weld.

Grind, sand, prime & paint - good afternoons work with a couple bevies.
Make her do the grinding on a hot summer day. With all the grinding dust down her back, neck etc she'll NEVER do that again in fear of more grinding lol.

 

agreed