outofspec

1963 Roadster. Driver side door sag. Hinges pulled.

There doesn't seem to be a retaining clip on the original hinge pin (See pics). Do I simply press it out? Can I drive it out with a hammer and punch? Any special handling I need to know about?
From reading old posts, it looks like the Doorman 38400 kit is the way to go, correct?
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

Nowhere Man

A punch and a BFH is what you need. Place a oversized deep well socket under the pin on the hinge so not to damage the hinge

DUB

When you get the pin out you will see the splines in the pin that 'bite' into the hinge when it is seated in place ...which is why it does not need a clip to hold it in place.

DUB

outofspec

Excellent! Thanks fellas. Fortunately, the BFH is my tool of choice.

Can anyone please confirm the Doorman 38400 Kit for C2 application? I've seen the number referenced in old posts, but when I check compatibility, it doesn't list 1963-67??

Frankie the Fink

That is what I used on my 63 coupe.

Larry Wegner

While you have the doors off, check to make sure the rivits holding the door hinge plates are not worn or loose on my 64 they were loose and that is what caused more door sag than the hinge pins.

buns

What Larry said...

Frankie the Fink

Some have "double-bushed' their hinges...grinding the flange of one set of splined bushings and pounding them down in the hinge hole followed by a flanged bushing then the pin through it all. I didn't do it but sure would have if I'd known about it when I had the doors on...provides extra support for little effort.

outofspec

Thanks for the heads up on the door plate rivets; great idea. I'll inspect accordingly.

Frankie, doubling the bushing makes sense for added support. I ran across a 2012 post by 65Silververt, that talked about a McMaster-Carr bushing PN: 6338ky452, Oil-Embedded Flanged Sleeve Bearing for 5/16" Shaft Diameter, 7/16" OD, 1/2" Length. 65SV states these dimensions matched the OE dimensions, even the flange was nuts on. the 1/2" length looks longer than what's available in the kit, so I'm giving these a try. Reusing original pins, so hopefully old bushings are the wear point and not the pins.
Thanks Fellas!

dkleather

When I did my 64 last year, I ordered the pins from NAPA. They were Doorman but were about 1/2 inch too long. I ended up reusing the original pins that showed no wear and just used the new bushings.
I agree with those above that you should check the door itself for up/down and in/out movement at the rivets that hold the hinge plates to the inner door. Mine had play that I needed to take care of as well. DansYellow66, DUB and Buns were right on with their advice to me! Dave
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...et-access.html

outofspec

Hey DK, Thanks!! I appreciate the detailed link. I'm going to inspect this weekend. Hoping I can avoid the extra work; looks like a real science project.
Noticed in your linked post you mentioned "Driving season". Like you, I'm in the currently not so frozen north and scrambling to get some bugs worked out of the car after a frame transplant last summer. It would be kind of refreshing to actually drive the car some summer. I'm determined to drag the old girl over the goal line this spring no matter what.
Thanks again!

DUB

I will throw this out there and hopefully not get my head chewed off for doing so.

Adding more bushing material in the hole is not going to provide any more advantage, It may seem that it would....but on a the numerous GM cars that had the extended bushings that I could see. The bushing still wore out. And this occurred on old Camaro/Firebird doors what were HEAVY as heck...and much longer than a Corvette door.

SO..on a mid-year door which compared to many other Corvette doors is rather light due to not having any safety structure for side impact. A person can add bushing until they fill up the hinge if they want to...I am NOT saying NOT to....I just know I don't due to when new bushings are installed...they are going last for a seriously long time....and I seriously doubt that a person would ever need to do it again while they own the car. Unless they own the car and they are 18 years old today...and have to do it again 50 years later. So if a person wants to do that...have fun doing it. I am not one to stop someone from having fun working on their car.

And as for checking the rivets in your door. Do this while the door is still attached so you can grab the door and raise it up and let it down and have your fingers on the heads of the rivets that are near where the hinges go into the door and also along the bottom. If you feel the rivet head move...then you should fix this....because it WILL NOT get any better...only worse. ALSO....have your door open fully...and while having your finger tips on the rivet heads...push the door out slightly more applying pressure and see if you feel the head move also.

Lastly...check the rivets that hold the steel plate to the fiberglass door shell where your latch is secured to this metal plate that allows your door to latch. These rivets can also become weak and loose and this can be attributed to bad own out hinge bushing and allows the door to move more than it should.

DUB

outofspec

Just in case somebody stumbles across this post looking for answers, the McMaster-Carr bushing PN: 6338ky452, did NOT fit my OE hinge pin or hinge on my 1963 Corvette. Not sure what the true measurement is as I don't have a caliper. Ordering the Dorman from my local parts store.
Dub, rivets look good, but as you suggested, I'll reserve judgement until I get the door hung and can apply some torque.

Frankie the Fink

The 38400 Dorman kit fit my C2 doors I think the pins might have been a tad too long but IIRC 2 minutes with a Dremel and cut-off wheel made short work of that problem..

DUB

VERY WISE MOVE!!!!

DUB