Hinge Issues

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Looking to mount my new rocker panel on the drivers side and the hinge appears to be damaged and the door won't align! I'm looking for advice on how to fix it or at least a way to let me accurately mount the rocker while the hinge is out for repair.

You can see that a washer will fit in the gap with it fully tightened down.

[Chrysis]

My upper hinge on the driver side is the same way, so I'm interested as well. I'm not sure if it is the hinge or the door itself.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

My thoughts exactly, what is driving this? Bent metal at the hinge point or the hinge itself.

[Chrysis]

Yours is in better condition than mine. I've definitely got some damaged metal going on. Not to mention the brush on paint job that was done, lol. The door itself fits pretty well. My door sags about a quarter inch.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Haha, hinges look identical for the gap.

[MP&C]

The crack at the inside edge of the hinge seems to indicate the door has been sprung at some point in it's life, and is the primary cause of the fitment issue. You can see the inner part of the hinge is plagued with movement, the cracks show the metal has worked back and forth.. Hard to see in the OP's picture due to dim lighting, but almost looks like that one has a crack as well, going up from top bolt.

If you think hinge shim issues here are bad, try a C1 Vette...

[hugger6933]

The door has been opened way to far with the aid of a strong wind or the bumper of another truck maybe or the post of a carport. the carport post are the worst. People used to for some reason open the door and lean out and down to the left to back up and then WHAM the door was sprung into the post. Now on later model trucks I have put a block of wood in the door opening close to the hinge area with the door open of course and pulled on it pulling against the wood and bending the door. This would be the last resort idea before changing door shells but yours is damaged because of the crack in the hinge plate area and it is double and triple wall there. You may want to and need to try some new hinges there before any real money is spent on this problem area. If the door is bent and I think it is the hinge may be as well. the up and down slack that you are having from the door is the bushings from the door being worn out, so it is a two birds one stone thing. Jim

[Chrysis]

Heh Sorry if I hijacked your thread LF_MN_71GMC. Hopefully everything posted helps your issue as well as they appear to be the same problem.

Jim, in general my door fists ok, there is the slightest rub between the fender and the doorskin. So you are saying I should try replacing the hinges before trying to bend the door back into shape?

If I can get away with 16$ in hinge pins and bushings (which I was intending to buy anyway), and manhandling the door some with a 2x4, I'd prefer it. Likely because I am cheap =). If that doesn't work, I'll try the next step up. Though, I think I saw a Driver side door on Craigslist last week for 150$. I may hit that guy up and see if he still has the door. If it is in good shape he may be interested in doing some parts swapping or something.....

Anyhow, Jim, Thanks!

[MP&C]

I'd say until those cracks get fixed, in all the layers, you will never have the problem totally solved.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

No cracks on mine, thoughts?

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Second pic

[Chrysis]

Wanna trade ? =)

[MP&C]

Check this area with an ice pick to see if it is soft. Looks like it's starting in the same area as Chrysis' truck.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

I'll grind it to bare metal when I get home from my work trip and update this thread. We'll see whats under there one way or another. Thanks for the advice.

[hugger6933]

LF you do have a crack in your door it is right at the edge of the hinge. You may not be able to see it as it is just starting and is still little. But like I said above if a man were to weld that up and grid it back down nothing has been done to the other 2 layers inside.
Now, Chrsys I think bushings won't hurt a thing the door has more gap at the top than at the bottom in the front and opposite of that on the back, right? when you open the door you can wiggle it up and down standing behind the door? Yep you need pins and bushing. A lot of them were plastic on our trucks. Yes you read that right plastic and the replacments are bronze. So put those in first before any other actions on the door. Jim

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Alright, I'm home this weekend at some point so I'll yank the door and grind it down to bare metal to see what we have under there. Pics to come this weekend, assuming my girlfriend doesn't shanghai every minute of my time.

[Chrysis]

Heh, good luck with that one. My wife see's me look at the garage and suddenly there is so many things to go do.

=)

[Cape Codder]

When you get the door off don't be afraid to tap it with a hammer to see if it's solid. Cleaning the paint off won' show if the metal below is rusted inside.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Alright, removed the door again and ground the paint off to see what we have. Looks shiny.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

The pins on the hinges seem to have some play in them, I'm going to rebuild them or have them rebuilt. I'm not sure yet. Got a quote for 40 bucks per side from a resto shop.

The pieces behind the the cab wall that the hinge bolts to seem pretty loose but I've been told this is how they are by design. Does that ring true?

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Also, I didn't take the paint all the way down to bare on the door because I still have my marks for lining it up on there. So unless I absolutely have to I'd like to avoid doing that.

[Chrysis]

Pins and bushings run about 16 bucks to do both doors. I like doing things myself (read I'm cheap) so I'm going to redo mine myself.

When you were sanding did it seem like that area had a bow to it? If the door was hyper extended, it doesn't take much force to bend that hinge mount out.

[LF_MN_71GMC]

Man, I'm not sure, it didn't seem like the metal was 'bedside stiff' but it didn't feel like it was pot metal either. Which helps absolutely zero I know.

Any on here have info on how to rebuild these suckers? I too have a rather 'frugal' nature to my method.

[Chrysis]

If your talking about the hinge pins and bushings. It is just a matter of tapping out the original pins. The OEM bushings were generally plastic from what I hear and have long since disintegrated. New ones will be brass. You just tap them into place and replace the pin.

The only video I can find that shows a 67-72 is from powerblock TV and he mangles the hinge a bit, which is not at all necessary. Gives you a general idea though.


http://www.powerblocktv.com/episodes...or-replacement

[Cape Codder]

I just watched the Video, I am not to impressed with the way he just let sparks fly into the cab with the cut off wheel. A spark is a piece of melted metal and any piece of glass it hits will be pitted. Not to mention a good way to get future rust started. A piece of cardboard taped over the door opening will keep the interior protected but you also need to get any filings out of the space between the fender and cowl and bottom of fender. I don't grind until all else fails. I have a 10" long drift punch bought just for hinge pin work. Also when installing the pins a little grease helps them go in and they are prelubed when done.