How to tell if door hinges need rebuild and how to?

[Calif240]

Hey guys... since my wreck two years ago, the body has never been aligned correct, so I decided to take the fenders and hood all off of my '69 before summer comes. I'm going to be re-aligning the doors. How do I tell if my hinges need rebuilt and should I buy a kit to do this? If so, any recommendations on best way and best kit? Additionally, does a rebuilt hinge just allow the door to close smoother? Does it align better? I'm completely ignorant on this one, so any guidance is appreciated.

Thank You,

Terry

[mpd659]

Open the door up, lift up and down on the rear of the door. If there is up and down play you will need to repair the door hinges. Does the door shut ok?  And look at the door striker that is on the quarter panel door jam side as the striker is usually nicked up if your door is sagging. Year One previously provided door hinge repair, but Im not sure if they still do. Year One sell the repair kits as far as I know. I think there are Dodge Charger members that are listed under the Services section that rebuild the hinges also.

Russ

[ODZKing]

 

[Calif240]

Thanks! I'll probably buy the rebuild kit from YearOne then. Is there anything I should be aware of before I do this? Aka"whatever you do make sure..." I've never done a hinge rebuild or body panel alignment.
Thanks,

Terry

[mpd659]

From what I remember they are pretty straight forward. Lay your new hinge parts out and take one hinge apart at a time and then reassemble it. You may need a big hammer, a punch and a vise. It has been a few years since I did mine.

Russ

[tsmithae]

http://restorick.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DrHingeRebuildKit

I went with Resto Rick kit and am VERY pleased with how everything went. I had to get the reamer as it was a size I didn't have.

[66FBCharger]

http://restorick.com/proddetail.asp?prod=DrHingeRebuildKit

I went with Resto Rick kit and am VERY pleased with how everything went. I had to get the reamer as it was a size I didn't have.

I went with Resto Rick's kit also. He can also provide the correct size reamer. It turned out great.

[Calif240]

Awesome... thanks guys!

[superbirdtom]

  It depends on how bad your door is sagging. It is usually the brass bushings that wear out first.  if it is really bad and people  start having to lift up on their door to get it to close and at that point the actual usually upper hinge has to have metal welded into it then redrilled to get the brass bushing to fit tight again. If your bushing has been bad  for a while and the door pin is steel to steel then you will need a new pin also. Hopefully just your bushing is bad and you can get them at a NAPA  store.
  some are so bad that come into our shop that they are sagging by two inches or more and the striker is all worn out and area around it is all cracked out. this requires a whole different approach.

to replace bushing open your door and support it with a box or jack or something that will not hurt the door.   good luck

[GreenMachine]

x3 on the RestoRick kit with reamer. The lower hinge doesn't have bushings, so the kit comes with an oversize pin. If your lower hinges are worn too far that the new pin is also loose, weld up the holes and drill it for stock size pins (available at the parts stores), or you can also buy reproduction hinges. The kit also comes with the hold open spring, which your old ones surely have a groove worn in them.

I would align the door with the quarter panel first, then the fender/cowl. There is a sticky thread at the top of the paint/body page with info on this:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,117250.0.html

[Dino]

You can buy a rebuild kit from the "help" section at your local parts store for like $10/side. I did this on mine and the hinges are rock solid now. Simply drill the holes oversize and hammer the bushings in. Real easy. The only thing I did in addition was to take a bit of material off of the top and bottom of the hinge half that slides into the other half That way the bushing lip would sit flush with the hinge itself. I'll post the kit part number if I can find it.

Edit: There you go: Dorman 38382  http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetail.aspx?ProductID=23931&SEName=38382
One kit does one side.

I actually prefer to use the kits with bushings because if it ever wears out again all you need to do is replace the bushings. If you drill for an oversize pin and it wears out then you may be looking at welding the holes and re-drilling. Either way the hinges should last a very long time after the repair so go with what you feel most comfortable with.

I can tell you that my doors were sagging like old titties and now you can hang on those suckers and they don't move. The doors, not the titties.

[Calif240]

Ha... best line I've read in a while