door hinge repair kit

I used a concrete block with a 1"x4" on top to hold the door while I changed them one at a time. I loosened the top hinge while removing the bottom and vice versa. Having a helper would be better, especially when bolting it back up.
 
You definitely need to support the door when removing the hinge, they're heavy as crap...... I used my floor jack to support the door while I replaced the bottom hinge on 2 different birds.
 
I have always used a engine lift with slings (cherry picker). Make sure
To put a blanket on the door to kid damaging the paint. Have done this with hinges on the car if possible
 
OK,I need to do this on mine,and the parts car that I have has good ones on it that I'm going to use.From what I see with the fenders off,there are two bolts and what looks like a stud that would go towards the inside on each hinge.Is this correct and if so,How do you get to the nut on the inside ???..... Can you guys help me out as well??????????????????
 
OK,I need to do this on mine,and the parts car that I have has good ones on it that I'm going to use.From what I see with the fenders off,there are two bolts and what looks like a stud that would go towards the inside on each hinge.Is this correct and if so,How do you get to the nut on the inside ???..... Can you guys help me out as well??????????????????

You need to take off the kick panel on the inside then you can gain access to the nut on the stud on the hinge. You need a deep well socket, extension, ratchet and maybe a swivel extension.
 
thats what i thought. me and my dad were lookin at it on wedensday to see what hadta be done.

when i did it on my friends cougar we took the fenders and doors off cause that seemed the easiest way.

wasnt sure if there was a trick to it. thanks for the advice,ill let u guys know how it goes
 
By supporting the door you can removej just the bottom hinge and replace. Like it was mention earlier mark the locations of the hinges before loosening or removing.
 
Door hinge repair tips.

Mark the hinge and the body and door for locations. Pull the inner wheel liner and the splash shield so you can get at the hinge with the door closed. Open it and mark the other side. (be careful you don't wipe your marks off when you clean the hinge prior to re-assembly... don't ask)

You really only need a friend to help when pulling the hinge out, and when putting the re-assembled hinge back in. The friend can lift on the door, while you pull the hinge out. The challenge with pulling the hinge out is that it has a stud that extends into the body. Enough lift needs to happen on the edge of the door to get that stud cleared.

DO NOT loosen the top hinge. There is enough movement to allow you to get the bottom hinge out. Open the door all the way and have your friend pull up on the bottom of the door out at the furthest edge. Use gloves.

The part that bolts to the door is the part that has to be sized to 15/32" for the various repair kit bushings. (not the part that bolts to the chassis)

Do not install the new striker pin yet. Save that for nearly last.

To align the door do this:
Once the hinge is in, close the door and let it latch. Position the loose hinge in the right location for your marks. And tighten down everything, in particular the part of the hinge that bolts to the door. If you're lucky, you'll never need to touch those again.

Open the door. Note how it's not exactly in a good spot. Open the door all the way and remove the striker pin so the door can now be closed and opened without it pulling the door around. Hold the door closed fully so you can see the true hanging position. Don't push it into position though as we want to see where it lines up without being forced into position.

Using the body crease line that runs down the car, right at the back edge of the door, use a tape measure to identify the distance that the door crease is above or more likely below the rear fender crease. Inches or MM, your choice.

Take your floor jack and line it up parallel to the side of the car you are working on. Have it so the cup of the jack is in the right spot to catch the corner of the door by where the striker pin was located. You want the jack as close to the side of the car as you can get. Raise the jack and position the door so that the jack cup just touches the bottom of the door. (use a block of wood to protect the door if necessary)

Lift the jack a tad bit more to put the door under some tension but don't move it too much. It just needs to carry the weight of the door, as the next thing we do is loosen the bolts holding the hinge to the chassis. (don't touch the bolts holding the hinge to the door). When you loosen these, the door shouldn't move.

With the bolts loose, use your tape measure to check the distance from the floor to the top of the cup on the jack. Then either jack up, or lower the door the same change in distance you measured between the body crease lines.

Tighten up the hinge bolts, and lower the jack, and check the fit. Chances are it will be close, but you can make it perfect. Measure the difference again (it'll be easier now since it's closer) and run through the process of using the jack to hold the door, loosen the hinge bolts, measure the jack as you lift or drop to hit the difference. Repeat until you have things dialed in.

If you find you still have issues, with up and down, you may need to take the bolts off the door. The issue here though is that adjusting this will require you lift at the front of the door as well. This may take two jacks, or a jack and a pry bar. Alternatively, figure out how much movement you need, put the striker back in, close the door and loosen everything to move the hinge where it connects to the door. Then re-do the cycle with the body bolts of the hinge.

Once you have the door positioned properly, install the new striker pin. Don't slam the door closed the first time. The pin will likely be in the wrong place. Slowly close the door, but don't try to latch it. Eyeball the alignment of the striker pin with the door latch. Adjust it by eye first. Then try and latch. Take note of the door alignment after it's latched. Did the door move up? The pin is too high. Did the door move down? The pin is too low. Open the door and adjust the pin location by hand, moving it in small increments and trying again. once you have up and down figured out, next is back and forth.

Can you lightly push the door and have it latch? The pin may need to move in slightly. Do you have to slam the door hard to get it to latch? The pin may need to move out slightly. How far in or out the pin is determines how tight the door closes against the door seal, as well as how hard it may be to pull the door handle.

Assuming the door seal is in good shape, adjust the door pin so that when the door is closed, the sheet metal door is on the same plane as the rear fender. That should be perfect with a good door seal. If you drive around and hear lots of wind, you may need to tight it up and sacrifice the door fit.

Another note. The hinge to door bolts can affect the alignment of the front edge of the door with the front fender. If you didn't loosen the top hinge, it shouldn't be a problem. But just so you are aware.

If you take your time, adjust the door first without the pin, then measure your changes, and set the pin properly, you'll finally have a door that closes with a nice thunk, doesn't need to be slammed, and doesn't sound line something is scraping when it is opened.

Comments welcome
 
Check out this link I found on Youtube for repairing sagging door. I haven't tried it yet, but like it because you don't have to access the nuts that are on the inside in behind the kick panel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVVozUkfDO4

Grinding the top of the pin is a good idea. My main concern there is to be very careful as the metal that the pin is in is used to help hold the actual metal pin from moving around (knurled top). Also getting the pin out requires some force, which can be difficult to generate for the bottom hinge with it mounted in the door.

Adjusting the door alignment can be tough, especially if a previous owner of your car messed with it to compensate for the bad door hinge. As the rebuilt hinge will throw it way out of whack. Thus my info on adjustment.
 
BTW guys..

Try this: remove the wheel, remove the wheel well liner, remove the fiber cover from the fender near the door.. and.. viola!

You'll pound your forehead with the heel of your hand wondering why you didn't see that before.. :D
 
Also, you can easily cut through the hinge pins with a triangle file and about 15 minutes of your time. That is another way to get them out.
 
Check out this link I found on Youtube for repairing sagging door. I haven't tried it yet, but like it because you don't have to access the nuts that are on the inside in behind the kick panel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVVozUkfDO4


Just finished fixing my sagging door....followed the procedure in the Youtube video to replace bottom hinge pin and hinge roller. Didn't need any help....did it all by myself....just me and the floor jack. Used the Dremel with a small cylinder grinding stone (#932 - see attached pic) to grind the head off the hinge pin. Door lined up with no issues the first time when I put it back together.

Definitely alot easier and took less time than I expected.
 

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