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Does anybody have dimensions of the bent screwdriver and the size of the shaft ? I bought springs from Mid America years ago but didn't know about the tool.
I am willing to sacrifice or buy a cheap one to make the tool. I would like to see a video with the hinge installed on a door also. There isn't a lot of room to tap it up, especially when there is a screwdriver in the way
See post #2 for the Wilcox door spring install video that Peterbuilt had posted.
Last edited by JETS C3-C4; Sep 6, 2025 at 08:25 PM.
2025 c3 ('74-'82) of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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Originally Posted by righthanddrive
Does anybody have dimensions of the bent screwdriver and the size of the shaft ? I bought springs from Mid America years ago but didn't know about the tool.
I am willing to sacrifice or buy a cheap one to make the tool. I would like to see a video with the hinge installed on a door also. There isn't a lot of room to tap it up, especially when there is a screwdriver in the way
I don't have the tool but my brake shoe adjuster and a small crow bar measure about 20%.
I did this little job a few years ago, having followed the Wilcox video. It's a little more tricky with the hinge actually attached to the door and in the car, but definitely an easy fix. I didn't tape anything, or cover anywhere. I think I had a "practice run" with the tool just to be certain which was the best angle of attack.
I did have a bit of a "discussion" with the supplier of the springs I bought as I did in fact cut one down a little. The supplier claimed I had not needed to do that and that they would fit without trimming. I confess that I did only have a very cursory try to fit it before the trimming, so he may have been right😄, but in any event It's bee on the car for some time now with no issues.
I had to grind about 1/8” off bottom vertical leg to get it to fit.
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Originally Posted by righthanddrive
Does anybody have dimensions of the bent screwdriver and the size of the shaft ? I bought springs from Mid America years ago but didn't know about the tool.
I am willing to sacrifice or buy a cheap one to make the tool. I would like to see a video with the hinge installed on a door also. There isn't a lot of room to tap it up, especially when there is a screwdriver in the way
I bought the correct tool and I was glad I did. It seemed to make life a lot easier. Having looked at the bent screwdrivers etc, the actual tool has flat sides etc that make it work just a little better.
This video shows the installation "in situ", but alas, the door is not on the car! But it does give an idea.of how it all works on the car.
Before I started I could not see how I was going to do the job, but as soon as I dropped the spring in from the top all became clear and it really was a 10 second fix. It is just that at forst glance it doesn't look possible, but it is.
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Originally Posted by righthanddrive
Thanks for the video. Unfortunately my door is still on the car, so There isn't a lot of room to tap it up.
There really doesn't need to be much room. I used a "toffee hammer" which is tiny, but my "ordinary" hammer would have fitted with no problem. With the door fully open it's not difficult, but I suspect that the correct tool did give me a bit more space.
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Interesting thread since I just did this yesterday on my '71 driver's side door. I did this years ago on my '77 but initially struggled this time until I watched a couple of YouTube vids. The hardest part was getting the new spring up and into position. I was afraid of scratching something so out of caution I taped off the end of the door, front side and lip just in case I accidently reached around the front while wiggling the spring into place. Better safe than sorry. Like stated previously by others, once I understood how to get it in place and where it went it was a 30 sec job.
I had the tool from way before, a Carlisle swap meet purchase. You kind of need it to "load" the spring and get it into position so when you tap it up the long end guides into the allowed recess space and the "notch" on the top seats into place.
The tool I had & the hammer I used to tap it from below into place
Really hard to see but this is the new black spring in position top and bottom. You'll see the slots and recess on your car and once you see these it all falls into place.
And, I meant to ask, why is your car a Right Hand Drive?
I was sitting in the drive-in in my 1979 Corvette watching 'Corvette Summer' , and looked down at my dash and glove compartment and said " I can do that ". I got the steering box and front linkage from a conversion company in Australia , and everything else was trial and error. I did have photos from an article in Vette Vues to help .
I was intrigued by this comment, so I had to nip downstairs and have a look at our '78.🙂
Maybe a '68 is different, but I confess that I couldn't see how the top hinge would actually fit at the bottom, at least with the spring and detent rollers attached. On ours there just doesn't seem to be room.
I'm assuming that someone has had the doors off at some time in the past and re-assembled it incorrectly? A bit of a pain if that's the case, to say the least.😡
they came off for paint yes. But he died (if you follow my restoration journey thread, you know)
the doors had not yet been put on nor anything else for that matter but the hinges were on the car. Did not realize they were wrong till we went to put the springs on.
too exhausted to take everything back apart to switch them and have no idea how an “expert” put the hinges on in the wrong orientation! Unbelievable!
Last edited by c1nicole; Sep 26, 2025 at 04:50 PM.
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Originally Posted by c1nicole
they came off for paint yes. But he died (if you follow my restoration journey thread, you know)
the doors had not yet been put on nor anything else for that matter but the hinges were on the car. Did not realize they were wrong till we went to out the springs on.
too exhausted to take everything back apart to switch them and have no idea how an “expert” put the hinges on in the wrong orientation! Unbelievable!
Hi, Apologies, I confess I obviously haven't followed your restoration fully. That's a real pain that the hinges are fitted wrongly. And I can imagine your frustration!
More than 10 seconds for me, and I did have to grind my spring. But a simple fix in the end. Easy enough and no real risk of damage. I had a pry bar I could bend to get the leverage. Spent more time watching the videos.
Use long *** needle nose pliers to get the spring into place, then like everyone says bent screwdriver, I used a bent prybar, small hammer, tap up and in. Simple with door on. New Spring from Top Flight was the correct size.
Last edited by JRS 94; Yesterday at 05:31 PM.
Reason: add info
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Ha, that's an interesting little video by Scott Groves. I dealt with scott quite a lot and in fact bought my door springs from him. He does great work, and has his way of doing things - when I mentioned that I may need to cut a spring down I was told quite definitely that it was not necessary - note the tone of his comments in the vid!😄
Alas, the post-Brexit tightening of restrictions mean that Scott no longer ships outside the UK.
