Door hinges - revisited
Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2013 1:22 pm
Hi All
I recently got my Mirage back from a local body shop that had all but abandoned any work on it for me the past couple of years. Long story. Anyhow, they took the doors off the car with the intent of repairing the hinges. The drivers side of course the worst of the lot.
With the parts in my shop I examined the issues: busted bushings and egged out holes. No surprise. Debating a couple options we set about making some 18ga plates to weld to the outside of the door portions and aligned then with a gage pin for welding. Then massaged them up to .498 or so for a light tap fit of some new bushings I got from Clyde. That combined with new pins I'd hoped would be the end of it. (knowing the 18ga/bushing combo won't last forever yes..)
When I put one (passenger) side back on we found some oddities. The plates on the A-pillar are about 1.625" apart up top and 1.750" apart on the bottom. BUT, on the door both the inserted portions are now 1.600 thick. This including my 18ga plates (.048 under each bushing) plus the top hat of the bushing. No problem...it' fits right into the slot of the upper hinge. When fit the upper pair are not too bad. However, the lower pair now have an air gap of about .125 under the lower of the two bushings. Meaning the door is fit to its highest point.
The door does need to come down some for alignment. That's part of the problem. To do so would require we remove the bottom bushing from the upper door boss and grind off the plate. That alone would only net me the .048" tho. AND would mean there's an air gap on BOTH sides of the lower hinge pair.
Clyde and I have been talking about this and he says there's no shims in the pin assemblies to adjust the height of the door relative to the paring of the hinge halves. No reason not to believe him here. But I still have a hug gap and can't figure out how or why. Looking at an old pin they pounded out the witness markings seem to show the A-pillar plates are not way out of whack in how wide they are. A .375 pin easily fits them so I don't believe they are spread way apart. Certainly not .125" on th e lower pair!
I feel all of this still needs some work. But I'm lost as to why we have these differences and what's best to do to correct it. ?? I'm about to ask him for some new door portions (maybe, if he has them) and remove the welded ones completely and bolt on the new ones with an oversized single hole to align them then weld up the tabs.
Here are some pics. Anyone who can shed some light on this, it's greatly appreciated.
I recently got my Mirage back from a local body shop that had all but abandoned any work on it for me the past couple of years. Long story. Anyhow, they took the doors off the car with the intent of repairing the hinges. The drivers side of course the worst of the lot.
With the parts in my shop I examined the issues: busted bushings and egged out holes. No surprise. Debating a couple options we set about making some 18ga plates to weld to the outside of the door portions and aligned then with a gage pin for welding. Then massaged them up to .498 or so for a light tap fit of some new bushings I got from Clyde. That combined with new pins I'd hoped would be the end of it. (knowing the 18ga/bushing combo won't last forever yes..)
When I put one (passenger) side back on we found some oddities. The plates on the A-pillar are about 1.625" apart up top and 1.750" apart on the bottom. BUT, on the door both the inserted portions are now 1.600 thick. This including my 18ga plates (.048 under each bushing) plus the top hat of the bushing. No problem...it' fits right into the slot of the upper hinge. When fit the upper pair are not too bad. However, the lower pair now have an air gap of about .125 under the lower of the two bushings. Meaning the door is fit to its highest point.
The door does need to come down some for alignment. That's part of the problem. To do so would require we remove the bottom bushing from the upper door boss and grind off the plate. That alone would only net me the .048" tho. AND would mean there's an air gap on BOTH sides of the lower hinge pair.
Clyde and I have been talking about this and he says there's no shims in the pin assemblies to adjust the height of the door relative to the paring of the hinge halves. No reason not to believe him here. But I still have a hug gap and can't figure out how or why. Looking at an old pin they pounded out the witness markings seem to show the A-pillar plates are not way out of whack in how wide they are. A .375 pin easily fits them so I don't believe they are spread way apart. Certainly not .125" on th e lower pair!
I feel all of this still needs some work. But I'm lost as to why we have these differences and what's best to do to correct it. ?? I'm about to ask him for some new door portions (maybe, if he has them) and remove the welded ones completely and bolt on the new ones with an oversized single hole to align them then weld up the tabs.
Here are some pics. Anyone who can shed some light on this, it's greatly appreciated.