There's nothing wrong with my hinges themselves but there is play so I want to replace the bushings and pins.

I've read up and watched some videos but I'm still not clear. Many remove the fender to get to the hinge bolts and take the door off with the complete hinges on it. I'd like to avoid that if possible. I have read threads on doing the upper bushings with the door on but not sure if it needs to stay off the upper pins while doing the lower pin etc...

Again, just wanting to replace the pins and bushings. Hinges are not broken.

So...

1. Door must be completely removed?
2. Order: Upper pins, lower pin, replace lower pin, replace upper pins?
3. Can I support the door from the bottom or should it be hung?
4. Grinding the tops off of the upper hinge pins: Is this because it is easier to knock them through towards the center of the hinge than it is to knock them back in the direction they were installed?
5. If the doors are not misaligned before will they require realignment after?

Thanks!

 

1. No, I did not completely remove my door. Check item #3 below. However, I did remove the door panels and weatherstripping to give me more clearance in there.

2. Not sure if the order makes a huge difference, but I removed the two upper pins then the lower pin. You will need all the pins out at the same time so you can swing the door out to get the new bushings in the top hinges. Once those bushings are in you can reassemble at your discretion.

3. I used an engine hoist and some ratchet straps to hold my door. That way, I didn't have to disconnect all the wires. Plus, with the engine hoist you can make minor height adjustments up and down as well as swing the door far enough out to do what you need to in the door jam. Trust me, even with the door panel and weatherstripping removed it is still pretty tight in there. Just to be safe, I used a 2x4 on the bottom of the door to distribute the weight so that the straps don't cause any damage to the door.

4. Once you get in there and look at those top hinges you'll understand exactly what you need to do. They are held together by swag bolts that were pressed in at the factory. Just grind off whichever side you feel like and then knock it out. Be patient, it will take a while. IIRC, about a half hour per bolt. It won't hurt to spray some liquid penetrant on them a little before hand just to make sure they punch out when they need to.

5. Varies by door. Since you are close enough, you might want to touch bases with Lon at TopDownSolutions. When you are done, if you think the doors need adjusting, talk to him and I'm sure he'll be willing to help out with that.

I've done both doors on both of my cars. One thing that isn't mentioned much with this process is to take some painters tape and tape up the front of your door. While swinging the door in/out, it might make contact with the fender area and can chip the paint on the door. Takes about 2-3 hours per door from my experience. Just be patient.

 

Fantastic info. Thanks very much!

 

I ended up pulling my door off after I fought and fought to get it done without it.

Was glad I ended up taking it off. You dont have to pull fender to get the door off.

While you are there replace the detent roller and pin as well.

 

Regardless of if you decide to take the door off or not, I recommend having a friend there to help. These doors weigh a metric crap-ton and if it starts to go while you have the pin out. . . .yeah.

When we did my driverside door we left the door on.

 

True, they are heavy.

Also, I recommend putting jack stands under the body (not suspension) of the side you are working on. That way as you are moving around the car and pushing up and down on the body it wont move. Not very good if you have the door supported at the end while it is open and decide to sit on the rocker while you get the bolts out.

 

Don't support it at the end. That will make life much more difficult. What I did was put a small 2x4 under the bottom of the door and put the strap under the door around the middle of the door, about the same area as the middle bolt of the arm rest. Using an engine hoist allows you to move the height in small increments. If your door is already sagging from the worn original hinge bushings, you will notice immediately when the door starts to rise. From there its a matter of judgement on when to stop raising it. Then once the hinge bolts are out of the car, you can swing the door out far enough to do what you need to without losing control of the door. I was able to do both sides of my cars by myself without any issues.

 

This is an ingenious idea! I'm gonna remember that.

 

I agree. I used an engine hoist and a couple ratchet straps on mine. With ratchet straps you can fine tune which side needs to come up or down a bit.

I have seen people support the door on the end, or atleast let it rest on a bucket or block or jack. I recommend the engine hoist, but regardless of how you are supporting it, put the car on jackstands.

 

You're not gonna know if you have problems with the hinges until you remove the old pins and bushings mine still had slack after new kit was installed because the hole where the bushing sits had worn.

I took my door off. Made things easy.

 

I originally did mine with the doors on and it was the WORST job I've had to do on my car. MAJOR PITA.


I would remove the doors. Just my opinion. That job sucked.

 

I think this is the kit I used covers one door.
I removed the doors when I did mine. Made a u shaped cradle and bolted a socket to the bottom so it fit in my floor jack. Dorman makes a kit for the 4th gen f body that works well.

 

OOoohh. I like that cradle and floor jack idea. Will fabricate. Was going to buy a used hoist but that's a real pain.

Thinking now I am going to remove doors.

I have those kits.

 

You can pad the cradle with rags or ever foam like that’s used on house pipes that’s split.

 

Not my car but this is a simple method.

i just had my wife hold the back of the door while I removed the bolts then we laid the door on my bench. Took just a few mins

 

That's looks very doable too.

 

I bought a door cradle from Auto Body Toolmart P/N STECK-21870 to do mine with. Use it with a floor jack. Car is under surgery at the time for an LS install so it will be a while before I do my doors.

 

Hmm I did not remove the doors at all and used a transmission jack and padded it with an old towel to keep it from rocking, I strapped it all to the center of the door. Took me about two hours and a small dremel tool helped me cut the pins which made roemoving the pins easier. I started with the top pin and finished with the bottom pin. The trans jack was a cradle style and it work great and stabilized the door. Patience is the key

fivestar

 

Yes patience is a virtue with these old cars.

 

I bought the Steck padded door jig and a 3 ton low profile jack from Harbor Freight with the removable craddle. Then I took a step bit and enlarged the hole in the Steck tool until the bolt cleared and mounted on the jack. I even bought the RTX tool and the Dremel kit that I think James, one of the mods here, recommended. I used a face shield and heavy gloves. I tried to cut the pin heads off on the car and it was a huge pain in the butt. I managed to get the pin heads cut off but could not drive the pins out even with a stubby hammer.

I ended up towing the car to the mechanic and he removed the door and he replaced the bushings and pins with a Dorman kit I gave him.

I may try to use this setup again to try again on my IROC, but this time I am taking the entire door off. I'm just going to have to mark the hinge location with white out or paint or something.

 

Oh come on guys, they aren't that heavy.

I just placed a jack with some wood under the door's center of gravity while I removed the bolts and then just put the door on a padded table. Put yer back into it!

 

How did you get the last bolt out of the bottom hinge? There are 2 that come off from inside the kick panel, but the third one is bolted from the outside in front of the hinge and I can't get anything on it.

 

Take the wheel off and remove the plastic wheel well liner. Come at it from that way!

 

I'll give that a try tomorrow. Thx.

 

1993-2002..??
Does this kit works for Thirdgens as well?

 

SOME of the parts might work. ....but you need Dorman kit 38401. Why not just get the right parts? They're only $10 bucks.

 

Thanks, I'll order the correct part # ...

 

with a 1/4 drive stubby socket from the door side. Saw a slot in the end that way when you replace it you can wind it in from inside the car with an electricians screwdriver

 

Hi All:

Is the Dorman KIT 38401 the best option for a 3rd GEN doors ?

Just wanted to verify

Thanks

 

Hinges are a pain , cutting the rivets on the top hinge wasn’t fun either. I took my fender off drilled 1/4” drill bit thur the middle of the rivet then used a air chisel took sometime. My problem is how do you replace thr roller on the hinge? Not sure but my bottom hinge is in the freezer to see if the pin will come out that way instead of cutting and drilling it out. Any input would be helpful, Thank you in advance.

 

I have a 1986 Iroc z and the plastic? Wheel did not come with the kit, any idea’s how to replace the pin and wheel?