Door Hinge Pin Removal

Richard, it took me about two days to replace the hinge pins on the drivers door of my QV. (hows that for a pep talk) actually, the top pin was the worst. I finally had to jack the whole car up in order to get enough distance between the lower hinge pin and the floor, that way I could get a small punch in there and get some momentum to strike it with a 2 lb. sledge hammer and finally got it to move. Make sure you use a punch that is long enough to hang down below the door so theres not a chance you damage the door with the hammer. hope this helps!--- I don't think the heat approach is a very good idea, good chance of damaging the paint on the door.

 

How about an air hammer and a steel rod the same dia. as the pin? I have used this on Ferrari's before with success. You can also insert a long rod completely through the hinges (once a pin is out) to drive the other hinge pin out too. (using the air hammer again)
Here's something that may help also; http://www.loctitefreezeandrelease.com/

 

The top pin on my drivers side door fell out.

 

I have been working on my pins off and on for a few weeks now. Soaking with penetrant, etc.. I have the door off the car so I have much better access. Brass drift? Nah, smashed the drift all to heck. Steel punch? Nooo. I ground off the mushroomed ends with a dremel, got the pin flush with the hinge and heated them up with a propane torch til the paint scorched. Using the biggest steel punch I own, I layed into them with a 2 pound hammer having my wife and daughter hang onto the door. Neither one will budge a smidge.

My next attempt I will use the oxy torch and an air hammer. If they still wont move I will try to dremel out the ends of the pin enough to remove the outer hinge so I can get to the middle part, and then drill that out.

Anyone reading this thread. If you have an older car and are not sure how long your pins have been in, I would seriously consider knocking them out, even if the hinge is still snug. If they wont budge with a brass drift you can start soaking them and working on them forever until by some miracle they begin to move. Just dont mushroom the end of the pin or it will never push out. You will have to grind the pin off flush before proceeding further.

 

Because of the curvature of the door, you cant get at the hinges on a 308 from a straight angle, you have to come in about 20 degrees off the centerline axis. And because of this there would be absolutely no way to run a rod through from one to the other. The air hammer might work, but after reading about it, I think I will try that Loctite stuff first and before I do anything else. This would be the very best test for this stuff. I can think back of only one other job in the last 40 years that frustrated me as much as these pins. If the Loctite works on these pins, it will prove to be one awesome product to have in a shop. I believe you would have to give multiple spaced bursts though and give it time to fully chill before trying it.

 

I haven't used this stuff yet. The way I see it working is to freeze the rusty part, creating a series of micro-cracks in the rust due to shrinkage by temperature. After allowing for unthawing, you take advantage of the cracks by using penetrating oil in the micro-cracks. Freeze, thaw, soak, whack, and repeat if necessary. I am very curious as to how this will work for you.

 

I agree with paul, removing the door pins was the worst project to date on my car. Guys, I think your probably wasting your time trying to "pull" the pins out with pressure,. I soaked mine with sea foam for a week and still had to beat the sh*t out of them with a 2 lb. hammer, about the 20th. strike they started to move. BUT on a positive note the new ones slide in really easy. Good luck with the endeavor!

 

I tried the bolt and socket method. All I did was strip threads and snap bolts. They are NOT going to budge that way. Like you say, it might work for someone whose pins arent really froze in tight, but not on mine.

 

Paul,
You're just about down to using a 'hot wrench'. Unbolt hinges from frame, remove door panel, pack wet rags around anything that might burn & heat hinge along the pin to a very dull red, cool with water to thermo shock the rust.

 

The door is off the car and a completely stripped so I'm ready to light it up if I have to.

 

You can get the allen bolts out with the door on, plenty of room. However those were tight too. Took a bit of "persuasion" to get them turning.

 

so are you folks really finding that the pins are worn & worth replacing and that contributes to door sag?
I would have thought the hindge would be the culprit.

 

My drivers door seemed not to completely latch the first time and I would end up reopening it and using more force than I really felt comfortable with in order to get it to latch right. After changing the pins the door shuts so nice and easy, made the whole process worth while!

 

This wasnt loose or sagging, it was too tight. The door would tighten up when you opened it and by half way open was requiring a great deal of effort to swing it further. I tried greasing it but it wouldnt take any, but oil did eventually free it up quite a bit where it would finally swing open with much reduced force. But it never became free swinging. Looking back now I rather wish I had never started on it, but it was going to have to get done sooner or later by somebody.

I have never seen any of those tools, I wasnt even aware anyone had made any. Probably that bottom one, or something like it could work if the mouth has enough clearance to get onto the pin.

 

I only way we found to remove the door pins effectively is to remove the bolts from the hinges to remove the door, that way you are not working around the door or having to worry about it.
After removing the doors you can access the pins much easier. if you have already beat on the bottom of the pins it is posible they are compressed or slightly bent. we take a cut-off wheel and cut them close to the bottom of the hinge. Spot punch and pilot drill about 1/2 way up but try not to drill far enough that you enter the grease hole and try to drill as straight as possible. next increase the size of the drill bit to remove more of the inside of the pin again do not drill into the grease hole or use a drill bit so big that it drills larger than the pin as you will have to have hinge bushings made if you cut into the hinge themselves. once you drill it with the second drill the wall thickness of the pin will be fairly thin. take a long thin punch place it in the newly drilled hole and and hit it untill the pin starts to move. once you remove the bottom one you can do the same for the top one but you will need to order extra long drill bits to drill the top pin.

It may seem like a lot of work but realistically it will take less time and less damage with only having to just touch up paint the hinge bolts, if you put the torch to them you will need to paint the entire hinge assemblys.

We made Stainless Steel replacements with nearly the same hardness as the originals as not the wear the the hinges, but being Stainless they will not corrode.

I made an extra set if anyone is interested.

Regards
Richard

 

Very good advice, as I did end up putting a chip in the paint trying to remove the upper pin. How hard is it to disconnect the wiring harness in the door? Is there connections or is the mirrors, power windows and locks hard wired in. (forgot to look when I had the door panels off)

 

I removed the wiring from under the dash and feed it throught the door hinge area. Make sure you take a few pics as well as make a diagram as you need to disassemble the connector block to get it through the hole.

Regards
Richard