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Author Topic: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment  (Read 4798 times)

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Offline besthubcaps1

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80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« on: July 24, 2013, 10:57:54 PM »



[size=78%]As a collector of cars for 40 years, I have had and restored many  and at times I restored  very nice original cars and have been disappointed. I purchased an 80 pinto pony wagon about 5 years ago and use it in the summer for my hauler to the post office with my ebay packages. I never thought a Pinto would be a collector car but have observed when out and about my stock unrestored wagon will attract more attention than my restored 68 Pontiac Catalina red convertible. My plan is to keep the Pinto in it's original condition and preserve it. Any ideas on how to adjust the doors??   [/size]

Offline nnn0wqk

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2013, 11:55:52 PM »
How much play are in the hinges now? If the pins and bushing are wore out you need to repair that before you can adjust. The bolts for the hinges are slotted. Loosen them and you can move the door up or down and in and out. The striker is adjustable also to that you can get the door to latch at the back. But the starting place is good tight hinges. Those doors are heavy so be careful when you started loosening things.

Offline besthubcaps1

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2013, 10:57:32 PM »
Thanks, hopefully I can find new hinges somewhere. Lots of play in the hinges now.

Offline bbobcat75

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2013, 07:24:49 AM »
NEW HINGES WILL BE TOUGH! YOUR BEST BET IS A GOOD SET OF USED ONES AND PUT NEW BUSHINGS AND PINS IN THEM, HAVE A SET FOR PASS AND DRIVER SIDE IN GOOD SHAPE, THESE ARE USED AND NOT NOS!!
 
1975 mercury bobcat 2.8 auto
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Offline 74 PintoWagon

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Offline Pinto5.0

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #5 on: July 26, 2013, 12:59:21 PM »
The upper hinge is the same on both sides on 74-up cars. Get a passenger upper to use on the drivers side & just rebush the lower.
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Offline sedandelivery

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #6 on: July 26, 2013, 03:34:42 PM »
Question, is there any kind of lube to keep the hinges from wearing. I replaced mine last year and want to keep them from wearing out again...

Offline 74 PintoWagon

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #7 on: July 26, 2013, 03:54:19 PM »
A drop of oil or a squirt of WD on the bushings now and then would help, maybe someone else may have a better idea??..
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Offline 71HANTO

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2013, 04:25:01 PM »
Question, is there any kind of lube to keep the hinges from wearing. I replaced mine last year and want to keep them from wearing out again...
I use boat trailer bearing grease on everything exposed to the elements. It is water proof/resistant and stays put. It is also somewhat heat resistant. It's also called lithium grease. Good stuff. I am not a fan of WD-40 for anything other than to loosen a bolt. NEVER use it in a lock. It shelacs and gums up. A locksmith, as well as, a fine machines mechanic each told me it keeps them in the repair busine$$.
 
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Offline bbobcat75

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2013, 08:32:14 PM »
wd 40 is more of a cleaner then a lube. just my 2 cents
 
 
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Offline 74 PintoWagon

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #10 on: July 26, 2013, 09:35:21 PM »
WD is not much more than diesel fuel, lot of people use it as a starter fluid for diesels in cold weather, it also has kerosene in it.
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Offline amc49

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #11 on: August 31, 2013, 05:33:14 PM »
WD40 sucks. Let all the aromatics dry out of it and see what is left, the residue is best described as exactly like bubblegum which has dried enough to be tacky to stick to everything. That residue almost impossible to remove too, solvent won't touch it. I pretty much don't use it on anything anymore.

Oil works but dries out and runs off too fast, you'd have to oil the hinges every month.

Spray on like lithium grease best, and what I use. Ford used some sort of specced grease there. The grease stays for a while.

While new hinges are a great idea, if the hinge bushing is worn but still fairly thick-walled and not breaking up in pieces you actually can re-adjust the door to work and latch perfectly and with little effort. I've done it to cars before. The door does not really care about the hinges as much as the car owner, it merely hangs against whatever surface is there. The looseness does not really matter since door weight holds door pretty much one way only, the only sign you'd ever have is hitting a bump hard enough to lift door from inertia, do that and you'll hear far more than the door clanking against the looseness. As in the whole car will make noise there.

I carefully locate a jack under door using wood to not bend bottom edge and then forward/rearward until find the balance point, lift door slightly to negate its' weight and then loosen hinges and retighten after moving. A few times and you can get that door closing as well as a brand new one. The door weight will then hold door to that new location.

I've had ones that wouldn't close without slamming as hard as you can, when done you could close and latch with a very slight push, like a new one. One finger opening and no door hanging on the latch post anymore either. And no hinge changed at all. It's all based on getting back of door up higher to re-align w/latch and getting the door weight to settle onto hinge good and solid right then too. I figure if hinges actually truly dead you will hear the door creak or rattle as the car moves over bumps, it hasn't happened to me yet.

Now if the hinge bushings are broken or missing, yeah, you need something there to take up space, it just doesn't have to be like 'within .005" close', you can get away with up to .030"  wear there.

Did my '80 wagon like that and previously my '74 Mustang II, the doors operated fine after that for years more and nothing partwise changed at all.

Offline jeremysdad

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #12 on: August 31, 2013, 07:56:45 PM »
Agree with the lithium grease. It can be messy, just wipe off after application if it gets somewhere unintended.

Offline 72Pangrinto

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Re: 80 Pinto Wagon door adjustment
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2019, 12:37:49 PM »
Thanks for the info here guys. I have a 74 wagon that the rear of the foor is slightly off just enough so that it rattles around when driving and doesn’t quite line up properly. Going to head out and give these tips a try a bit later today. Thanks again.
ajcarguy72@ sbcglobal.net/gmail.com shoajcarguy72@gmail.com.