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Author Topic: Door hinge pin removal and replacement  (Read 1721 times)

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Offline SpaceCowboy1979

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Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« on: November 01, 2019, 09:35:13 PM »
Has anyone any info on this subject  ?
I replaced the pins on a 1979 Bug
A long time ago

Offline Henrius

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #1 on: November 17, 2019, 05:34:17 PM »
Pinto doors were heavy and the pins wore, enabling the doors to sag so they had a hard time latching. Naturally, this occurred on the driver door first.


I found a machinist who installed phosphor-bronze bushings with new hardened pins, and the problem is no more.


Changes are any junked hinge you find will have similar wear.
1973 Pinto Runabout with upgraded 2.0 liter & 4 speed, and factory sunroof. My first car, now restored, and better than it was when it rolled off the assembly line!

Offline SpaceCowboy1979

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2019, 07:19:01 AM »
Thanks for your input
Did pins and bushings come from dealership
And any chance anyone knows the part number
And are all years and wagons the same
Hinges and pins

Offline Henrius

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2019, 10:00:09 AM »
Thanks for your input
Did pins and bushings come from dealership
And any chance anyone knows the part number
And are all years and wagons the same
Hinges and pins

You won't find any new hinges at any dealership. And used ones will be worn. Which is why I had to pay $800 to a machinist to totally redo the hinges. He fabricate the parts from scratch out of stock he had on hand. Good machinists can fabricate anything, but it will cost you.

If you did not want phosphor bronze bushings, a machinest could figure out the original diameter of the pins and merely fabricate new ones out of a very hard steel.


Don't know if all models used the same door hinges or not. Doesn't matter, you can't find new ones anywhere.
1973 Pinto Runabout with upgraded 2.0 liter & 4 speed, and factory sunroof. My first car, now restored, and better than it was when it rolled off the assembly line!

Offline SpaceCowboy1979

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #4 on: November 19, 2019, 09:56:10 AM »
Thanks for the input
I have 3 sets of hinges
I'm going to pick out the best set
Out of those and mabey switch a pin or too
I wish I could afford to sub the job out
And many other steps in my restoration

Someone has to have a set of these replacement
Pin sets

Offline LongTimeFordMan

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #5 on: November 19, 2019, 11:32:08 PM »
I would suspect that you might be able to substitute a grade 8 bolt of the proper diameter for the pin.

Or if you couldnt then just find one a little larger and drill out the holes in the hinge to fit the bolt.

Then insert the bolt with the head at the top and maybe add a nut on the bottom.

My driver side door sagged a bit.. maybe 1/2" and a friend ofminewho works at a body shop used a tool like a 18"  pry bar that fits into the door latch and the latch on the frame and just lifted the rear edge of the door so that the latch aligned..

That took about 10 seconds.
Red 1973 pinto wagon DD, SoCal desert car, Factory 4 speed, 3.40 gears, Stock engine, 14" rims and tires, 60 K original miles

Offline oldkayaker

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #6 on: November 20, 2019, 04:24:34 AM »
I have not tried them but would any of the cheap Dorman universal door hinge pin & bushing kits be of use?
https://www.rockauto.com/en/tools/body,door,door+hinge+pin+&+bushing+kit,10711
Jerry J - Jupiter, Florida

Offline LongTimeFordMan

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #7 on: November 20, 2019, 04:40:11 AM »
Another thought

If you can find a bolt of the proper size or redrill the pin holes

I was thinking that it would be better to use a softer bolt rather than a hard one to reduce wear 9n the hinge holes..

That way when the soft bolts wear you can just replace them.. sort of sacrificial pins
Red 1973 pinto wagon DD, SoCal desert car, Factory 4 speed, 3.40 gears, Stock engine, 14" rims and tires, 60 K original miles

Offline TIGGER

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #8 on: November 20, 2019, 07:07:00 PM »
I believe my body guy used an early mustang hinge pin kit to fix the pass side door hinges on my 79 wagon.  I had them replaced while he had the fender off.  Funny on that car, the pass side hinges wore out first.
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Offline SpaceCowboy1979

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2019, 06:48:23 AM »
Thanks I will look  into that
I saw  at rock auto they have bushings
For 1974 pinto
Dont know if they are interchangeabl e

Offline JoeBob

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #10 on: November 26, 2019, 11:35:51 PM »

    You all may remember that my car was totaled and brought back from the dead last summer. I asked the body shop to replace the hinge pins along with the repair work.
    My doors started sagging about 12 years ago.I could grab the trailing edge of the doors and just lift them up and down. I did not know how to deal with the problem properly, so I just loosened the hinge bolts where attached to the body and shimmed just the lower hinge. That lifted the trailing edge back into place. If you examined the door gaps you could see they weren't right, but the doors fit and no one ever mentioned it.
    When my car was completed, the shims were still in place, the doors had not been worked on. When I complained, the body man said come back in an hour. When I returned there were no shims and everything fit fine. The body man said he bent the hinges and that was the proper way to handle the situation.  I thought this sounded goofy, but I could not complain about the results. Now that Long Time Ford man said the same thing, I am not sure it is so goofy.
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Offline LongTimeFordMan

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #11 on: November 26, 2019, 11:55:10 PM »
My driver door sagged and i had shimmed the hinges..

My  buddy said he had a tool to align the door and I assumed that it was some sort of hydrolic device.

I asked him about fixing my door and he said he would bring the tool during his lunch hour.

It was just a bar about 2 ft long  that had a pin welded onto it that fit into the latch on the door and a notch to fit onto the post on the body and he just positioned the door so it was open about 8 inches, hooked up the bar and just pried up the door.

It took about 10 seconds

I tried it and it only took minimal effort.

In fact he lifted it too much at first and had to lower it.

He said that they do it to cars  all the time so i assume that you ciuld twlake your car to a body shop and ask about it.
Red 1973 pinto wagon DD, SoCal desert car, Factory 4 speed, 3.40 gears, Stock engine, 14" rims and tires, 60 K original miles

Offline Henrius

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #12 on: November 27, 2019, 07:35:56 AM »
The real problem is too much slop in the hinges because of wear. The hinges will wear more in time, and you will have the same problem later. The cause was under-engineered hinges combined with a long heavy door.  So the ultimate solution is very wear-resistant bushings and a pin of hardened tool steel. Fabrication and modification is a lot of work, which is why it costs a lot.
1973 Pinto Runabout with upgraded 2.0 liter & 4 speed, and factory sunroof. My first car, now restored, and better than it was when it rolled off the assembly line!

Offline SpaceCowboy1979

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2019, 08:23:29 AM »
Thanks
All tips and methods are mutch appreciated
I already have the higes for two cars
Removed
I'm going to order some brass bushings
And pins 
I have some good basic machinist skills

Offline JoeBob

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Re: Door hinge pin removal and replacement
« Reply #14 on: November 27, 2019, 02:35:18 PM »
I admit that pins should be replaced when possible. It took 40 years for my hinges to show wear. My shimmed hinges gave me 12 years of additional service. It was a good deal for 20 minutes work. I can't visualize the bending process Long Time Ford Man describes. I did not see my body man do the work.
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