I just bought new door hinges from year one. I THOUGHT they were just a bolt on type thing. THeyre not. anyone know how much these things would cost to get welded on? Or, my friend has a welder, you recommend me doing this myself? any worries?

Take care,
Jon

 

Cost me $100 to have those welded in and my door handle holes welded over, FWIW.

Steve

 

I was going to grind mine off and bolt new ones in. I don't want to weld the hinges again and in the future I wanna be able to swao em with out needing paintwork done. Just my oppinion and that's what they do one 4th gens

 

Why are you replaceing your door hinges?

It is a whole lot of trouble! I know, because I did it twice.

 

Well I can speak for me and say that after 173k mi they are spent and are sagging like a mother. Worn, bent, rusted etc...

 

Yeah, it doesn't seem like that much work. I just want to know what I'm getting into. You know cars. . . Seems easy, then takes you all week to finish. Thanks. ANyone elses .02?

Take care,
Jon

 

Hey Jon,
My door hinges sagged too, but rather than go to the trouble your about to embark on, I bought new lower hinge bushings and pins which are changable. You and everybody else are aware that that maintenace fix can be done, but what else goes bad is the top hinge pivot. To fix this, my Dad and I drilled out the non replacable hinge pivot with a huge drill bit that corresponded the outside diameter of a brass bushing that we got at the local hardware store. A 1/2" bolt fit inside the hole in this bushing. We chose the biggest bushing we could find, since it seems that the top hinge carries alot more weight than the factory figured which is why they go bad. We drilled out the top hinge so the new replacable bushing would fit in the hole, then spot welded a nut on the top of the hinge. So that the stainless steel bolt fit up from the bottom, through the new huge brass bushings we installed to carry the doors weight, and then screwed the bolt into the nut we spot welded on the top of the hinge. I coated the top the bolt threads with antiseize and a rubber cap to help prevent water from corroding the steel nut. This is a better engineered method of repairing your worn out hinges. I also bought a spare set of bushings so that I can replace them in the future should they ever go bad, which I highly doubt they ever will.
My two cents is, the above repair method above and send your recently purchased hinges back to get your money back. They will only go bad in time too. The only trick in the above repair method, is making sure that the bushing holes are drilled on through the hinge parallel to one another. The drill bit we used, did not allow us to drill both the top and bottom part of the top hinge in one pass from top to bottom. We had to drill the top hole to the center of the hinge, then drill from the bottom of the top hinge to the center of that hinge. If the holes aren't parallel to another, then the bolt wont pass through bushing centers.
Save your big buck hinge money and yourself some headaches. But hope whatever you do, is quick and painless. We accomplished both door upper pin repairs in one day. I also took time to treat and paint the rust on the lower part of the doors which is why the fix spanned so much time.
Be cool!
"TEACH"

 

As far as I know. I am the only one to address the UPPER door hinge problem.

Check out my website www.3rdgensolutions.com

I also have some very cool 1LE front brake photos there.

 

Has anyone actually made new hinges bolt on style? I have seriously considered this and am planning on doing it with some large washers. I like the idea if the iterchangeable bushing but I know in my case the whole hinge on both sides are bent. I don't know if its fron people ripping the doors open or what but they have to be replaced. Any thoughts on my bolting idea?

 

Asshown on my web site. Thw replacement GM hinges are "BOLT ON". But it is a pain in the butt. You must drill 8 holes in the door. 4 to remove the old hinge (plus some grinding and chizeling) and 4 different holes to install the new one. I did it twice. The whole process stinks!

Thanx,ANDYZ28

 

i know you can get replacement hinges from the dealer but they are lik $80 a peice and like everyone else says thay are a pain in the *** to do but if you want them contact youre local chevy dealers parts dept. they should have them in stock

 

This is the main reason that I designed a set of replacement UPPER door hinge pins&bushings. Why replace the hinge when you can replace the pins&bushings only?

This way you can also avoid the ghastly experience of cutting the old hinge assy from the door. But if that is what you want to do? Then I have complete "GM" instructions on the hinge assy replacement procedure posted on my website.

Thanx,ANDYZ28