I replaced the door pins and bushings in my camaro today. It took me about 4 hours from setup to clean up. It went very easy but you really need a cherry picker to do it right and safely. I didn't use a spring tool, me and my buddy used a pair of channel locks and some heavy gauge wire. It work just fine if you don't have the tool. I've used this method five times now.

My door was so bad that the bushings were completely gone. The pins were the only thing left. After I put the new upper and lower pins everything works great. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

micali, given your experience doing this job, would a floor jack work instead of a cheery picker or does the cherry picker also help to stabilize the door?

 

If you try to use a floor jack when you get the upper pins out the door will shift and will probably fall off the jack. That would be very bad. If it doesn't there is no way to get the new bushings in because you have to let the outer part of the door swing down to allow enough room to get the new bushings in. It still won't swing enough so then you must remove the lower pin and then the door will most defintely fall. YOu would need a buddy to help but he would probably not be able to hold the door for very long.

The picker is a must. It will allow you to move the door any way you want but also hold it steady for you. I wouldn't try it without a picker. If you had a two extra people to hold the door then I might but otherwise, no way. You could try and use a tree limb and rope to hold the door just something to keep the door from twisting.

I could do the whole job in about 2 hours if the door panel was off and everything was ready. If I had a sawz-all that would make short work of that oem bushing. I found that when you use a dremel with the cut off disks that you should use two disks at once. The disks will last longer and it will grind off more of the pin. I used 8 disks, only because i broke a couple when I used them one at a time.

 

I`ve done some pretty stupid things in the past. One of my first few cars was a `63 Pontiac Le Mans, 326, 4 speed posi,independent rear end, nice mid-size car for the time. I had it jacked up as far as the bumper jack would take it and one of my big feet kicked the jack out and the car fell on me. That hurt. I have big feet. Thanks for the info on the door pins. I always like the easiest best way of doing things.

 

Shouldn't this be posted in the "Body" section???

 

Good job. I just did this about a month ago. Mine was streched over 2 days...misplaced my new bearing kit. I had help taking the door off, using the floor jack to hold it up and my helper stabalized it. Than I put it back on by myself...not the best idea Ive had. But when I put it back on I worked with the door closed, because my fenders are off.
But good job.

 

maybe so, but since I own a v6 and pretty much only use this section I thought I would post it here for anyone else. If it needs to be moved then I guess the mods will do it.

 

If you don't have a hoist you can use a standard step ladder to hold the door up. Just set the ladder up with the door between the legs and suspend it with some rope or straps. For me it was quicker than breaking out the cherry picker and bolting it all together....

 

yeah whatever works and is safe, that's what matters.