To anyone who knows, I have dragging doors on my 86 trans am and want to replace the door pins, but not real sure how to go about doing it. Do both bottom and top pins need to be replaced or only top? Also, if the fenders are off, can this be done with doors shut to ensure proper door alignment? Any help with this problem would be greatly appreciated.

 

Replace both upper and lower door pin bushings, and the pins if they need it. As far as alignment, it can be done with the fenders off, but to get an even gap on both sides I prefer to do it with the fenders on but loose.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/22849413?w...109356&veh=sem

This is what I used to align my door. I just pulled the door into place, worked awesome.

 

This is the set I am using on mine.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/82-92-CAMARO...dbb32c&vxp=mtr

Order 1 kit for each side. They include upper and lower bushings and pins.
You will have to cut or grind your original upper pins out as they are stamped into the hinge at the factory. The replacements have nuts to hold them in instead.

 

If you don't have any wires going into the door (power windows etc.) you can mark the hinge positions and just take the whole door off so you can do the grinding etc in more comfort and with easier access to the bushes.

 

on my 84 camaro the top hinge had two slotted holes in the body plus one unslotted hole.i took out the back bolt and loosened the other bolts and raised the door til it closed correctly.i tightened the two slotted bolts back down and used a smaller bolt and nut in the other hole.at least thats how i remember it.lol

 

http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/te..._chevy_camaro/

 

Is it necessary to remove the doors to replace the hinge pins?

 

Yes. You could possibly do it with the doors still on the car, but it will be way more work than it's worth. Those doors are in the area of 70 pounds each, do you really want to try and balance them while you replace the pins and bushings?

 

Khulsebus makes sence but to help the masses to those who have replaced their pins and or hinges we would like pics of how you kept the gap on reinstall and not mess up the paint .

 

1986 305 RS, if you replace the pins and bushings you are more than likely going to change the gaps anyways. To address your issue however, use masking tape on all of the edges where your panels may contact. It won't protect against a hard impact, but should save any scratches. That's how we did it years ago when I worked in a body shop. The next thing would be to have a buddy help you when you're lining the doors back up when you are putting them back on. 70 pounds isn't a whole lot, but gets really awkward when you're trying to bolt them back in. Like I said earlier, leave all the bolts loose, including the striker while you work on the gaps. Just work slowly, and a soft plastic coated pry bar helps give you a little more leverage to move everything around. Also remember that the quarter panels are fixed in place, so line the doors off of them, the adjust the fenders if they need it. Working panel gaps isn't the funnest part of doing body work, however if done correctly it helps make a car stand out when everything is done.

 

Ty. Yea im not looking forward to it but its my cheif complaint about my car. The gap is scary I hope it straightens out when the time comes. So what do I buy....from the store ive never bought anything from the net and dont intend to until I do my full interior.

 

Also the rear lip of my deck lid is hanging off the back a good half inch. Have you encountered that and if so how did you address it?

 

Honestly I haven't looked at door bushings and pins in years, but I think that Hawks has them. As far as your decklid, there are two spots where you have adjustment. The first as at the top of the glass where the hinges attach to the roof. I would hesitate to use that, as several people have broken the rear glass when attempting to tighten the hinges back up. The other place is where the decklid attaches to the rear glass. Again, loosen then up and adjust the lid in place. It may need some gentle persuasion after years of being fastened in place.

 

Ty. Yeah I figured as much. I hope the repair manual says how much to tighten it back up without breaking it.......I will wear a face shield just in case. If I had the money I would break it it has bad scratches. Have you ever seen glass without the defogger? Hmmm ty u gave me an idea for down the road. Or better yet go to a yard and see what it takes to remove the defogger from the glass.....I think its ugly. After all these years car manufactures cant come up with something that looks better? I wouldn't mind plexiglass either and have it covered in clear tint on the outside for scratches. Wonder what that weight difference is?

 

You should be able to find what you need here.

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/Bod...y-and-Interior

Plus do a search. I'm sure that you'll be able to find additional information maybe even a video.

Good luck!

 

Cool ty very much. I love this site its a bunch of nice people with the same interest and ideas that are all trying to reach the same goal......make their car bad a..

 

Since we are on the topic, I won't bother with a new thread.

My doors drag pretty bad on the top of the rockers at the rear of the door. Both sides.
The pins on both sides are tight with no slop. Even had a body guy take a quick look when he was doing up a quick quote for my body work. The gaps are pretty much perfect too.

Any ideas? Short from taking a mallet and a block of wood to the bottom of the door I'm not really sure lol.

 

This tool shown by Spaceboy1980 may do the trick

http://www.walmart.com/ip/22849413?w...109356&veh=sem

There is also one from TDS

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/Bod...y-and-Interior

I think just a slight adjustment will take care of your rubbing.

 

thanks for all the replies, they were very helpful and I think I should be able to mange now.

 

I prefer to do the hinge replacement with the door still hanging in place. I have a special tool I use called a door hanging tool that holds the door in place from 3 locations, below the door, latches to the door latch, then an arm grabs if from the top. I modified the tool to have the upper arm match the angle of the door. I also lowered the jack below the door to accommodate lowered cars (including mine).

If you don't have such a tool (and I really don't think it is worth the investment in buying one JUST to do your own doors), then you can do the job with common garage tools. You can use a nylon sling and an engine hoist. You can put a floor jack below the door with towels on the saddle, then get a ladder and form it into an A. Slide the ladder over the end of the opened door, then stuff the gap between the ladder and door with towels. Or have someone hold the door upright while it is on the jack, but they are going to get very bored and tired while you are doing the repair.

Lon

 

Sounds good. Any advise for me and other people on what brand name of parts to buy or is all pins and bushings pretty equal?

 

I myself just used the help! brand pins and bushings. The greasable ones are obviously better, I just couldn't justify the price myself. A friend and I did mine by balancing the door on a padded jack. We ground out the upper pins with a few stacked cutting wheels in a dremel tool and used the same tool to just zip through the bottom pin. I put grease down before installing the new parts and used the steck tool to adjust my door gap. I got my tool from Amazon but only because I have prime. I would not hesitate to order stuff from TDS, I got my hatch bushings from Lon and would order from him again.

 

Thank you.