michaels3241

I have problems with both my doors on my 87 firebird formula

The driverside doesn't shut well, when its closed it has a small crease still isible from the outside. It wont open, but it doesnt want to shut flush to the car.
Also, the cable connected to the handle on the inside is broken so i cant open the door from the inside. The lock also does not work.

My passenger side has to be shut a certain way, if you just close it it wont latch on.

My question is how to go about fixing these things, and what parts to buy. and possibly where to by them from.

Do i have to take the doors completely apart?

any help would be great.

I also dont have a key for the locks, so i will need to replace the locks. I found the locks and keys from hawksthirdgen.com i will order them soon

chevydrvr

iTrader: (1)

As far as the doors not shutting, that's pretty much a usual problem with these cars. Your doors are probably sagging, and by the way they sound, you either need to replace the door hinge pins or just try to straighten out the hinges bbut aligning the door(pulling up on the end of it). They sell a tool for that.

Murraydpsr90

What is the name of the tool to remove the hinge pins to replace them. I have a driver side door that sags and cut into the ground effects on the drivers side

HiG4s

Never done it, not sure how hard, but I understand you need one of these for each side. Debating whether to buy it and try it or not myself.
http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/ca...werpinkit.aspx

Murraydpsr90

What's the name of the tool to take the pins out

micktroup2

A cutoff wheel or grinder...

Murraydpsr90

So u just cut the pins and pop new ones back in ok got ya

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

To repair your door hinges your first step is to determine if you need just the lower hinge pins & bushings or if you need to replace the upper and lower pins & bushings. It is easier to determine if you have someone helping you. With the door open, grab hold of the bottom and inspect the upper and lower pins and bushings for movement. If you have movement in just the lower pin & bushings, the cost is a lot less expensive. The kit linked in the thread above is one I also sell and install for local customers, so I am very familiar with the process.

If you need to replace the upper hinge pins and bushings, you'll need to support the opened door while you work on it. There are a couple of methods. A body shop will use a door hanging tool. The one I have supports the bottom of the door, latches to the door latch and has an arm to hold it from the top. The tool has rollers on it so you can move the door away from the car once you have the top pins and bottom pin out. I sell a similar tool that connects to a floor jack in place of the saddle. If you don't have such a tool you can use a floor jack with rags on it to support the bottom and have someone hold it steady while you work on the door hinge repair. One customer suggested setting up a ladder in the "A" shape and sliding it over the door, then stuffing the gap between the ladder and door with towels. Another method to hold the door is to use a strap and engine hoist (aka cherry picker).

Once you have the door secured in the opened position, remove the door spring. I use a GM Door Spring Tool. Somepeople just cover it with a rag and pop it out with a large screwdriver. You CAN get it out that way, but how you get it back in without compressing it with the GM Spring tool is beyond my expertise. Next push out the lower pin. You cna use the Pin Popper tool or pry it out by pushing on the bottom with a long punch and hammer, then hit the top head with a chisel or large screwdriver to pry it out.

Then use a die grinder or dremel tool with a fiber-reinforced metal cutoff wheel to grind off the heads of the upper pins. Now you'll use a long punch and hammer to push out the old upper pins.

Now pull the door away from the car enough to expose the bushings and push them out. You'll need to open up the upper holes to fit the new bushings. They MUST be a slip-fit. If you force them in the hole will close up and impinge the new upper hinge pins causing too much friction. There is a mesh abrasive cloth that is included in the kit for this purpose, but it is slow going to use it. I've rigged up a special tool that consits of an aerospace pneumatic 90 degree drill. I install a sanding drum in place of a drill bit and grind the hole, test it for fit and grind again until I get it sized just right.

Once it is properly sized install the new pins with the loctite included in the kit. Next install the new lower bushings. I use the bushing tool that I sell, but you can gently tap it in place without one. Just be very careful or you'll crack it. Now push the door back into place and install the upper and lower pins. The upper pins are secured with a nut. You'll hold the head of the pin with a wrence while tightening the nut. The lower pin just pushes into place with a hammer or by using the Bushing Tool and a hammer.

Now install the door spring. A trick I learned is to open up the GM Door Spring Tool, remove the spring, then re-install the spring into the tool grabbing it by one extra coil than it grabbed when pulling it out. Then compress the spring tool again. This makes it easier to install the spring. You'll need to pry the tool off of the spring with a large screwdriver once you've opened it up.

That's the procedure. There are a few things I neglected to mention that you'll find out such as having to remove the inner door trim panel to access the single stupid Phillips head screw that is hidden behind the trim panel that secures the large traingular-shaped top of the door seal.

Lon Salgren