Yes Sir; How easy is it to change the door hinge pins & bushings on my 82 Corvette?? Or should I ask, how many people does it take. I had a body shop change the ones in my El Camino, They scratched about every thing on the jamb & hinges. Thanks & have a great day. Gene

 

Hi Gene-

This may help you.

Willcox






Willcox

 

gene, i changed the ones in my 79 a couple of years ago, i got a pin / bushing set at Orielly auto parts. i did as Willcox suggested with the floor jack and 2x4 board. i had my son hold the door steady on the jack, i remember i had to grind a little on the head of the top pin as it hit the fender while trying to come out. had to grind a small flat spot on the new top pin head to stall it also. the bushings just knock right out with a punch. i put a small amount of grease on my pins when i installed them. good luck.

 

These pics look pretty good to me. I'm in the same predicament as Gene. I'm kind of afraid to try it.

 

You nailed it.. But.. and I hate to say this... But... don't put grease on the pins... The bushings are oylite and the grease will cause them to fail faster... Just drive them in and go...

Willcox

 

No grease! Hmmmm...... oh well , wont be the first thing i've had to repair twice on this car since i've owned it.

 

Just spray it with some brake cleaner.. it will be fine....

The brake cleaner will evaporate the grease and should not hurt the paint. do a test area first just to be sure.

 

Hi,
I'll second sr8's point about the grinding the head on the upper pin.
Depending just how the fender was bonded it may hit the fender.
Much better to be cautious in this case.
Regards,
Alan

 

Yep. Go slowly.

 

Yes Sir; Thanks to all you guys, I appreciate all your help & confidence! The body shop said; It doesn't have that much play, You worry too much. Any play to me, is too much, He's talking about my baby. I will get it changed this summer. LOL Have a great one. Gene

 

I think I kinda know the answer, but do I need to change both upper and lower pins at the same time?

 

So, I've been reading this thread.. my passenger door drops approx 1/4 inch when opening and needs a good slam to close. When closed it's aligned correctly. I have opened the door slightly and pulled up on the door, and there is no free play what so ever.. I pull up on the door and pull the side of the car up also.

Does this sound like hinge pins, bushings, or is the hinge out of alignment ?

I ask as I have just replaced all my weatherstripping and I can't get the dam windows aligned (even after following all the advise here on the forum and the Wilcox/AIM instructions) When I get the windows aligned at the front they rub on the back when opening and closing the door, due to the 'drop'

Any thoughts would be welcome.

-Steve

 

Sounds like more then one thing wrong. No play suggests the hinge needs adjusting.sounds like the door is hung a 1/4 inch low and is forced up by the lock pin. Regardless the window should not hit.

With the door closed eyeball the gap between the window at the rear and the car. The gap should be the same all the way up. If its not even and tight to the front weather stripping it sounds like you have not installed the weather strip right on the front will causes the gap on the rear to be not straight.

The back and forth adjustment is the two bolts in the center of the door, thats the ones that would be right behind the door arm rest. Take the "T" top off. Have the window full up. While sitting in the car undo those two bolts. Go outside and move the window back and forth until it lines up with the front weather stripping and is straight on the rear weather stripping, its a fine balance. Then tighten those two bolts. No need to touch them again. Next you need to adjust the up and down and in and out...or maybe it will be fine.

If it still hits you will need to align the door by adjusting the hinges. You can adjust the up and down through the access panel mark as number 8 in the diagram above. Its the upper hinge you adjust in the door. First remove the access panel.

Jim

 

Thanks Jim,

Is there anyway you can take a couple of pics of where your side windows meet up with the front window frame, the weatherstrip and trim both at the door and at the top where it meets with the T-Top ? I have the AIM, but it's not really clear.

I'll PM you my email address.

Thanks in advance

-Stephen

 

I got your PM. I'm not sure photos will help. But I can send some. The easiest way to do it is to loosen off those two bolts I mentioned that are pretty well even with where the door arm rest is. these bolts are the first to be adjusted and MUST BE FIRST. This sets the angle of the window. Once you have the angle set and usually that means the gap between the back of the window and the body of the car is straight you can move on. Even a bit of a hang in your door should not allow for the glass to hit the the body. I assume your angle is not right. Check the bad window side with the good window side. If the gap is perfectly even when the door is closed but hits when opening it could be that you have the glass set to far back. There should be at least 1/2 to 3/4 space there. It is closer the question is why? Does it need adjusting forward as I describe in the next paragraph? Or is your front window weatherstripping not installed right...incorrect...or too stiff???

You can then move on to adjusting the distance between the front weather stripping and glass. If its too tight or there is a gap. You loosen the two center bolts on the front track. Notice the there are 4 bolts there. Two move the glass back and forth and two in and out. Adjust on the the two middle ones for now.

If the window sticks out too far or is in too much adjust the in and out with the two outer bolts on the front track. and the two bolts on the back track. these bolts are just for in and out adjustment.

All thats left then is the upper limit to adjust. You want the window to come up just enough to hit theweather stripping on the "T" top... not force up against it just snug.

This all sounds easy but its not. It will take a series of minor adjustments to get it right.

You are not too far from me anyway.....maybe 25km


Jim

 

I stand corrected. My gap is about 1/2 at the rear. It narrows to about 1/4...maybe less... when opening the door. I suspect a 1/4 sag would cause the the glass to to hit. You may have to raise the door. If adjusting doesn't work.

Jim

 

Yes Sir; I'm going to transfer this Thread to paper. I fight this adjustment on every car I work on. Thanks jdp6000, Willcox, Alan71, & Easy Mike, for the answers & stclarke & Aflac for the extra questions. This has been an enlightening Thread for me. Thanks again. Gene

 

I have to say that the easiest method and what I will now deem as the correct (at least to me) way to install the pins:

Pull off the door panel; remove the hinge bolt access covers. Spray paint the bolt heads with a good quick drying spray paint.. (Red, Green, White, the color won't matter).

When the paint is dry, remove the door from the hinges. Once this is done the hinge pin can be driven out and the new bushings and the pin re-inserted. Do this on the upper and lower.

Now why paint the hinge bolts.. So you have a witness mark for re-installing them in the same place. If the door has not been messed with by a PO, then you should be in the correct place. Tighten the screws and then re-install the door panel.

Now, why the change of plan: Well most of this came from Kevin in my shop:

You can install the upper pin by taking material off the head of the top pin and doing so will allow clearance of the door outer fiberglass panel. But to insert the bushings correctly, you must move the door outward off the hinge on the top (or the bottom) depending on which hinge you are on. When you use this method the door will get very close to hitting the back edge of the fender! In fact, it will get so close that it can and in most cases chip the paint from one or the other. One other issue is that cutting material off the top pin will also devalue the integrity of the pin.

I'm sure there are people that will try it this way and get it done without issue. But Kevin said it's not worth the risk because the time to install the pins is 1 hour by using the remove the door method and I don't think a little extra time will hurt anyone's feelings over risking a chip.

You will need a second person to help you when you re-install the door and painters tape would be highly advised for either method.

Another note: It is also advised to check the condition of the rear striker bolt. When a door is not striking it properly there is a good chance the rubber is worn from inside of it and/or you will find wear damage.

So... I must say that I've flipped on my advice except for the part about putting grease on the pins.

IMHO.. <=== a big one too..

Willcox

 

Thanks, Mr. Willcox for that info! It definitely makes more sense to do them that way.