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Spent the better part of Saturday building a door holder and then pulled the door off on July 4th....I did chip the paint even though I was very careful....Oh well after some touch up paint it will just blend in with the rest of the chips. The door lines up good and the glass doesn't hit anymore when shutting the door.
Yep...Bushings too. I had to find a way to do it by myself.....The kid is in Florida for the next week. I didn't chip the paint taking the door off, I did it putting the new pin in....I had to grind the head down but I guess not quite enough.
Getting the retainer clip off the window crank handle was the most aggravating part for me....I enjoy carpentry work so building the door dolly was a breeze, it was also key to getting the door to re-align after the pins and bushings were replaced. Notice the 4X4 that the door is sitting on, don't pick the door up by the fiberglass skin. Let me know if you would like a drawing on the dolly....? Take some spray paint and paint the hinge/bolts head locations inside the door....Then just re-align them when putting the door back on. I had to grind one side of the head on the top hinge pin so it would slip by the fender and the same with the new one. Be careful with the pins, I clipped my paint.
The video posted above does a good job explaining the process as well.
An older thread but I just replaced my drivers side pins and bushings. I built a platform, nothing like the one above, I threw it away when I finished. I also used my Little Giant ladder to suspend the door from with ropes, just in case. The ladder worked perfectly, as it held the door upright and it rolled right back in with nearly zero adjustment at the hinge. What also helped was drilling the 1/8" hole through the hinge plate. I did not use the drill bits when replacing the door as pins. I could easily see the fresh hole in the hinge plate and it was very easy to align the hinge back to where it was using the drill hole.
I few doh moments I'll pass on for newbies like myself.
* The new bushings are TIGHT to get in using a hammer
* Be sure the bushings mount from the top and the bottom, not from inside the hinge.
* The new hinge pins are TIGHT and need a good solid hammer blow to get them in
* Cut the new pins off before putting them in if needed. The ones I bought where nearly 1" longer then the old ones. I had to file the bevel back on the end to make installing them easier. Longer pin heads would have been above the fender skin making chipping the paint really easy. Cutting them off to the original length put the head below the fender skin. Yet, I chipped the paint a tad even with that.
As a second recommendation from above.....the Little Giant ladder was a game saver for suspending the door and not allowing it to tip over once moved away from the car.
It took me about 5 hours for the one door from the time I walked into the garage and started building the lift platform to the time I walked out of the garage.
I'll see if I can come up with a set of plans....This one isn't for sale I may need it for the passenger side. I would loan it out to anyone in the north Georgia area, they would have to pick it up and bring it back...Or just use it over at my place on a pretty day.
Hinge pins....
