emdoller

My driver door seems to be sagging and from what I've read in this forum this seems to point to a need to replace my hinge pins and bushings. If I open the door there is much more play (I can move the door up and down) than I have on the passenger door.

With that said, I've searched this forum looking for instructions on how to replace my door pins and bushings and can't seem to find a good list of instructions.

Do they instructions exist anywhere and I just can't find them?

I'm assuming I will need to remove the door panels to start (I'm not even sure how to do that)

Thanks - Ed

MikeM

I'd bet your hinge rivets inside the door are loose.

emdoller

What's the best way to figure it out?

JohnZ

Open the door so you can see the rivets on the front face, and move the rear of the door up and down so you can see if there's any movement in the rivets.

emdoller

Got it. I'll give that a try tonight!

Pilot Dan

I have had success tightening the rivets by peening them again, but that was on the bench with the door off the car. Pilot Dan

Chuck Gongloff

That's the first place I'd check too.

When I had my 63 painted 5 or so years ago, when we had the doors off, we re-peened the rivets to tighten them up.

Mine had a little "slop", the driver's side being worse than the passenger's side.

Chuck

cam30era

Here is an excellent thread on how to replace the door jam rivets > http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...-66-coupe.html

Mark Lovejoy

If you find the rivets are loose, I still have some machined weld studs.

They are not cheap but work very well.

Note aluminum rivet at upper left.

emdoller

Thanks. I'll let you know.

Vet65te

Ed, if you do find that the door rivets are still holding well enough and the sag you're noticing is due to worn hinge bushings you will probably find that the replacement bushings are smaller in the barrel length than the originals as seen in this pic.

The bushings I've gotten from vendors as well as the ones that the local Chevy Dealer Parts Dept sells are the shorter versions but once they're greased up, they'll do fine. If you absolutely want to have the longer barrel bushings, I've found that a vendor for 55-57 Chevy Parts, Danchuk, sells a Nomad Tailgate Hinge Repair Kit and it comes with the longer bushings and I'm pretty certain they'd sell just the bushings since the pin is quite a bit longer than needed on a midyear door hinge.
Mike T.

emdoller

I took a few pics to show the door sag. I also added a short video to show the hints as I lift the door by the handle. It's hard for to tell what's going on.

When the door is almost closed is when I get the most lift and if I look at the hinge area it's almost like the door rolls a bit (click on view my video below).

I can't really see the rivets doing anything strange although it's hard to see them hone the door is almost closed at which the lift is the greatest.

So is it the rivets or the hinges or both?







View My Video

emdoller

Looked again, still not sure if it's the rivets.

Vet65te

Are you doing this checking by yourself? If you can, get someone to manipulate the door up and down while you are staring right at the front of the door/hinge area. Maybe that will help.
Mike T.

emdoller

Yes. I'll have someone help me this weekend and report back.

Ed

DansYellow66

Often when the rivets are loose and the door is closed, the front edge of the door will be pushed out past the fender edge by the weatherstriping. you can push on the front edge of the door and move it back in with a little effort. If yours is solid then you may be looking at hinge bushings only.

emdoller

What's interesting is your description looks like what's happening in the video I posted. I'll play with it this weekend. Thanks.

Ed

emdoller

Well I had someone help me and it sure looks like those rivets are moving - crap!

Anyone in CA wanna fix em for me :-)

From what I've read on this forum, it sure sounds like the "easiest" way too do this is to remove the door although I did read a post where someone did it on the car.

My next question is once I do get the rivets tight, how the heck to I get the sag out... do I do that while I'm tightening the new threaded rivets or some other way?

Thanks - Ed

BTW, here's a quick video I took (click on view my video below) to show the rivets moving... let me know if I called it right.

View My Video

cam30era

I'm planning on tackling my passenger side door tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

DansYellow66

You will have to remove the door and place it on a table or bench. With the glass and everything in it, removal is a two man operation to be sure it isn't dropped or paint chipped. Be sure and count the shims at the top and lower hinge strap so they can be replaced in the same number. Once the rivets have been re-peened or replaced with flat head bolts and the door rehung, it has to be re-aligned with the car so the sag will be a non-issue. But, check the hinge bushings while you have the door off to make sure they don't also need replacing. Tape the edges of the door and jamb with blue tape when removing and replacing. The first time you try to close the door, go very slow and look for signs of interference at the front, rear and at the bottom. Make adjustments slowly with just a couple hinge bolts snugged up. I usually place a floor jack under the door with blocks of wood supporting the door partly open to support it when I loosen a hinge bolt to move it. I loosen the bolt on one hinge at a time and make a small adjustment up or down at the rear and then tighten it and go to the other hinge and loosen it and make a small adjustment up or down and tighten it. That's assuming the front of the door is already at about the proper heigth on the hinges. I basically just wiggle it in until it closes, lines up with the fenders and has good gaps. You may have to adjust the latch on the body slightly. Good luck.