Door Hinges

[tom freiberger]

I know this has been covered before and I've searched and read several threads. However, I have not been able to get the pins out of my door hinges on my 68 Gt Jr. They are badly in need of new bushings. I've soaked, heated, pounded, pressed, you name it, but no luck. So back to basics, which way do they come out, upward or down. What haven't I tried?

[BiancaGT]

Tom,
When I got my car, the hinge bushings were one of the first things I had to replace. The paint in the door jambs is original and the hinges had no paint damage, so I believe I was the first person to ever have them off (just unscrewing them will damage the paint, never mind what you have to do to repair them). I'm telling you this because I believe they were never altered and, as such, the top hinge pin is removed downward, coming out of the bottom, and the bottom pin is removed upward from the top. However, if the ends aren't too beat up on yours, you should be able to see that the pins are externally, and the hinges are internally, splined at one end. You would not drive the splined end of the pin all the way through the hinge so that should tell you which end should come out. I ended up using a 20 ton press to remove mine. But be sure you support the hinge very carefully because it's cast and I'm sure will crack very easily with the application of a press like that. Good luck,
-Dave

[bigbrt]

Hello Tom,
Had the same problem, drilled a 3 mm hole in both ends followed by a 7 mm drill ( about 15 mm deep). You actualy take out the body of the pin. You have to take care to center the holes correctly. Otherwise you damage the hinge. Afterwards with a hammer and pindrivere was able to remove the pins relatively easy.
I have tried before with brute force cracked one of the hinges.
Fortunately it is not do difficult to find replacements over here.

Kind Regards Bert

[BiancaGT]

I like Bert's method better. Brains are always better than brawn.

Thanks Bert,
-Dave

[tom freiberger]

OK, I see that the rebuild kit from Centerline includes new pins. So I will carefully drill out the old one. Thanks for the help.