hinge pocket rebuild question - 1957
 

well, i gotta do something about the lower hinge pocket areas of my truck. if i rebuild them - does anybody have a thread or site i can go to see how it is done?
i also thought about replacing the hinges with street rod style hidden hinges. truckin magazine had a series of build articles on a 57 truck with corvette innards. they used hidden hinges somehow aligned so they could use the original truck's door pockets. i cannot find a copy of that one months articles showing how they did that.
anyway - if anybody can throw me some help i'd appreciate it.

Re: hinge pocket rebuild question - 1957
 

You would probably have to attack the hinge pockets like you would if you were doing body patch panels. I noticed that places like Brothers makes most of the sections to rebuild the whole lower pocket. I've never seen any articles on doing it, but if you've got a welder, it shouldn't be too tough. Are yours just rusted away? It's a common area for water to accumulate and rust out. Plus, the cowl vent drains down in that area, and if you get leaves trapped in it, it'll rust out.

The Corvette hinge idea would be alot of work. The factory hinges fit deep into the pockets and insert into the doors. To retrofit something else might be more of a headache. Door fit is critical on those trucks because the door edges have to match up to the windshield frame and all the body lines have to line up. One slight measurement off at the hinge gets compounded everywhere else. I think I know the truck you're talking about that did this mod. It's the '57 being built by a shop called Ironworks. They do incredible work. Also the Cimbian brothers out of Texas are building a 55-57, and they've had articles in Truckin' magazine on it. They built an orange '55 a few years back that ranks as one of the baddest trucks I have ever seen.

Re: hinge pocket rebuild question - 1957
 

thanks for the info. i will either be keeping the stock hinges and rebuild the pocket or using aftermarket street rod type hidden hinges.
naw, i wouldnt use corvette hinges. the reference to corvette was simply ironwork's theme for their truck.
they used the street rod type hinges but were able to make them fit to the actual 57's original hinge pockets in the doors.