I've read many threads on how to install the door hinge spring but I'm still having a problem. Is there some trick to get the spring into postion; do you drop it in from the top or feed it up through the bottom? Also should the door be fully or partially opened? It seems if you have the hands of a 5 year old child you can reach in quite easily, but as an adult male I'm having a hard time just getting the spring into the hole/ slot.

thanks

 

do you have the installation tool? It is just a screwdriver with the end bent. But, very difficult to do without.

 

Near impossible w/o the tool. procedure that WORKS- open door fully, drop spring into far hole from the top, insert bent screw driver tool, twist until center part of spring snaps into center cutout, continue to twist and drive up on the bottom of the spring with a hammer until the near end spring edge seat into the SLOT (there is only a slot on the near hinge, NO hole) on the bottom of the near edge of the hinge. Done.

The spring i got had a little distortion on the front edge, i used a dremmel to cut off about 1/16" to flatten the edge, then the spring was able to move with the tool and stop binding on the bottom edge of the hinge, check your spring for this.

 

It's a 30 second procedure with the tool, although I think it's more like a massive drum brake adjuster tool made out of hardened steel. If you bend a regular screwdriver, it will just bend back when you try to install the spring. Without the tool, it might take a year...

 

This may help.

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/comp...placement.html

 

Thanks for the replies. I made an installation tool from an old screw driver I had lying around. I'll see if it works otherwise I'll have to spring (no pun intended) for the $10.00 (+ $10.00 s/h) to buy one.

 

I have to do this to mine too...the spring is on back order, so it may be a while. I hope it is as easy as the 30 second suggestions.

 

Pay the $20 for the tool. It's a must. I tried for 3 hours without it (with all manner of contraption) and couldn't get it in. Got the tool, done in less than a minute. Piece of cake.

 

I just did my driver's side door spring. I bought the tool; but it was not as easy as I wanted it to be. Maybe the geometry of my upper door hinge area is different; but I had some trouble and I probably used the "bent screwdriver" tool differnet from what was designed.

On top of the hinge, there is the far hole that the flat end of the spring must go in first. Then there is the slot that the center shaft of the spring slides into.

The problem was that I could not get the center shaft of the spring to go into the slot on the bottom of the hinge. The reason is that the end of the spring was touching the roller mechanism that keeps the door open against the spring.

At first, I put the tool into the bottom of the spring and tried to twist and pull at the same time to clear the rollers and slide the bottom of the spring into the slot. The tool would always slide out of the spring before the spring slid into the slot.

Next, I tied a 12" loop of cord around the bottom of the spring and pulled on the cord while twisting the bottom tang of the spring clear of the rollers. This worked.

The web site referenced above says:

04: Now take the hinge spring installation tool and press the blade of the tool against the bottom of the spring. Use the leverage area of the tool and lay it against the door jamb and snap the hinge spring into place at the bottom of the hinge. Remember to keep the flat area of the hinge spring in the slot at the top of the hinge while you snap the bottom of the spring into place. It’s that simple!

I never could figure out what part of the door jamb to pry against to make happen what looked like needed to happen.

Maybe my spring was not bent properly. Maybe my upper door hinge geometry is differnet from stock.

I wish the spring had snapped into both slots and then I would have just had to torsion the spring to clear the rollers. Instead, I had to torsion the spring and get it to slide into the slot on the bottom of the hinge.

I did not get any instructions with my replacement door hinge or the door hinge tool.

If I had to do another one, I could do it much faster. I'd do it the same way with the tool and the cord. The tool is bent at just the right angle to torsion the spring and slide it into place.

I sure wish someone would explain how this was supposed to work. And use alot of words to make it clear.

I was trying to do this:

Step 1: Flat end of spring in far hole
Step 2: top of spring center shaft in slot
Step 3: bottom of spring center shaft in bottom slot
Step 4: torsion spring to engage rollers.

It turned out that I had to do steps 3 and 4 at the same time. That was the tricky part.

The web site referenced in this thread:

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/comp...placement.html

It shows a passenger side spring being replaced.

It shows prying with the tip of the tool on the bottom end of the spring and the crook of the tool against the passenger side door.

Their spring must have fit into the slot on the bottom of the hinge without trouble. Then all they had to do was torsion the spring to engage the rollers.

I think there is a way to damage the paint on the leading edge of your door while fussing with the door spring. It would probably not be a bad idea to put some masking tape over it and pay attention to where the spring, the tip of the tool, and the leading edge of the door are at all times. If the door is maximum open, the spring cannot be installed without touching the leading edge of the door. Close the door slightly to get the spring into place.

I'm probably just confused about the order of the steps. Maybe next time I will try this:

Step 1: top of spring center shaft in slot on top of hinge
Step 2: bottom of spring center shaft in slot on bottom of hinge
Step 3: Flat end of spring in far hole on top of hinge
Step 4: torsion spring to engage rollers.

Any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

 

I remember this taking a few tries to figure out how to properly use the tool. It has been a while, so I don't remember the specifics on how I did mine, but it was fairly simple once I had it figured out. I seem to remember just using the tool to twist the spring into place after one end had been started.

 

With the door open fully it is easy to damage the leading edge of the door, be careful.
Some springs are difficult to fully seat due to being slightly long on the top of the lower loop , I have an old spring that I compare to the new ones and grind to match.