Replaced a door hinge?

ChrisDixon · Postby **ChrisDixon** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 5:43 pm

The driver's lower door hinge appears to have worn so the door drops slightly on opening. Is it worth thinking about changing it or should I leave well alone? I'm told the wing needs to come off so the bolts can be accessed.

Brakebuster · Postby **Brakebuster** » Wed Mar 25, 2009 7:59 pm

the hinge is actually not too bad to swap, but can be very fiddly on your own

fist of all, the wing does not have to be removed

the hinge body has studs on which go through the door , and through the body , the nuts are put on from inside the door, and from the footwell side trim,

the only problem i can see is that you may have to take off the door to remove the old hinge and put in the new one

the wiring plugs are inside the footwell trim

getting a good hinge can be difficult, as most are worn, and new ones are very expensive, or the dreaded NLA ( no longer available )

i would suspect both the top and bottom hinge are worn culminating in the total drop

hope this helps

BB

almcl · Postby **almcl** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:31 am

If you do take the hinge off, or perhaps get one from a scrap yard, a repair may be possible.

My SII XJ6 suffered the problem and our fabricator at work knocked the old hinge pin out (with a very BFH) and replaced it with the shank of a suitably sized stainless bolt. It was corrosion of the original shaft that had produced the 'drop' and his theory was that a stainless replacement would be longer lasting.

ChrisDixon · Postby **ChrisDixon** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 7:16 pm

Al, was the replacement pin a success? I had wondered whether it would be possible to just replace the pin (if it has one), as I remember years ago a problem with Ford Cortinas having door drop and you could get replacement pins. These were rolled steel and therefore hollow so it's no wonder they wore!

almcl · Postby **almcl** » Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:07 pm

Chris

Up until I sold the car it was fine and as far as I know the car is still on the road.

I gave up trying to get the pin out (my hammer was too small) but the guy who fixed it and who used to work on armour plating VIP vehicles is obviously better equipped. I think any general engineering works ought to be able to do the job at a reasonable price, and I think I supplied the bolt from a pack of mixed stainless ones obtained at a spares day.

I've still got some of those Ford rolled pins, BTW, no idea what they'll be used for, but you never know!

kelsham · Postby **kelsham** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 7:06 pm

I have just taken a door hinge to pieces on my XJS it has what looks like oilite bushes, tophat shaped.

they are very easy to damage.Dont ask. I have repaired the hinge using secondhand bushes. I can see no reason why a repair could not be made with ordinary oilite bushes using a spacing washer. The pins were re usable on my hinges regards Kels.

thereverend · Postby **thereverend** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:18 pm

I have put a request in to JDHT for new hinge pins. They are currently looking into it for me. However i don't hold out too much hope for this. I shall await the conclusion first but as our cars increase with age so does wear and tear. I work in the jewellery quarter and there are a lot of machinists/cnc people there who i'm sure if i gave a sample to would be able to make some complete with bushes.

I shall look into it tomorrow and get a rough ideas of prices. If yours haven't sagged yet they will. And i'm blowed if the best someone can come up with is modifying GM car parts. Are we not a nation of engineers?

Will post my findings as soon as i can.