door hinge mounts cracked

[mbouse]

thanks guys, this gives me some talking ammunition for my visit to the weld shop today.

[mbouse]

how do i keep my frustration at a minimum and best prepare for the ultimate chore of re-alignment when the fix is completed?

i have a welder lined up, and I will be taking the doors off the hinges,and the door panels off the doors. I will be delivering the doors to the welder, and using some touch up paint after he is through.

there's never an issue at yanking something off a vehicle. i've salvaged more than one.... but, i've never had to reattach a door, or line it up after being off the car.

your suggestions are direly needed before the end of the day, cuz the doors come off tonight.

BTW - - Curly - - I will take you off the hook and take several pictures along the way. i may even write a procedure, and publish it. Sounds like a good RICAMBI article.

[mbouse]

guess you know what this means, right?




who needs a four wheel drive to go baja sand dune jumping, right?

[mbouse]

it's a bad picture, but hopefully it will give you an idea of where to look for this problem



symptoms include, but are not limited to:
sagging door
rocking door
door traveling open after the hinge has stopped
door staying in the driveway while the rest of the car travels down the road.

I will have a detailed step-by-step report, including tons of poor quality pictures by the first of the week, if not sooner.

[rlux4]

Quote:

guess you know what this means, right?

You're a Lions fan?
You're so organized, you keep your car literature in a filing cabinet?
You'd have a yellow Jeep if Fiats didn't fill the garage?
You're trying to steer your daughters toward a pro basketball career?
THE DOORS ARE GOING TO THE SHOP!

Ron

[So Cal Mark]

put a surrey top on it and it'll look like a Jolly

[mdrburchette]

Dang, I feel for you, Mike. Taking the door off is easy. Just be glad you didn't have to take the vent window out too. That really makes for a frustrating day trying to get that sucker lined up along with aligning the door!

[mbouse]

like a cat, i am nervously pacing the office waiting for the welder to call. He promised to fit me in, saying it was only a one hour job at most.

and, if it works, i will be posting my step by step how to for the rest of you. in the mean time, has anyone inspected their doors lately?

[rlux4]

Heck NO! Look what happened when you inspected yours.
Actually, mine are rock solid. I bought mine on Ebay, but I had contacted the seller and agreed to paying after an inspection. This issue was one of the things I looked for after educating myself through this forum.
Good old FS.com
Ron

[mbouse]

ron, you were correct on each guess.

now i promised two things. first, here is an after the weld shop picture



the guy charged me a whole hour of shop time, a whopping $65.00 !! whew, am i relieved. NO, he did not have to cut part of the door away to get his welding tip inside. he used a TIG welder, which operates at a lower temp than the MIG welder, and has a smaller welding tip. It is an understatement to say that i am pleased with his work, and pleased at the cost.

a little paint, and a lotta time refitting the doors to the car.

the second thing i promised was...if my preparation served its purpose, i will publish a step-by-step. that will come, soon....so you soon to be stress crack repairers will know what to do.

[So Cal Mark]

it looks like your cracks weren't very extensive, lucky you! When the sheet metal cracks on all sides of the insert, the door has to be opened up

[Curly]

Nice job
Like Mark says, you're lucky that you've caught the problem before it got any worse. The cracks weren't that extensive and didn't require surgery. Make sure you treat the area inside the door with a rust preventative.

[mbouse]

ahhh.... thanks Mark. Now i understand the comments about opening up the door.

my issue was detected and corrected early, before extensive damage was done. i did not consider what a complete failure case would look like.

[dwcars0]

like a cat, i am nervously pacing the office waiting for the welder to call. He promised to fit me in, saying it was only a one hour job at most.

and, if it works, i will be posting my step by step how to for the rest of you. in the mean time, has anyone inspected their doors lately?

Hello Mike
My drivers door has the same problem, but I haven't taken it apart yet to see how bad it is. I am looking forward to your pictures to help. Was there much cracking inside that hinge cavity of your door? Good luck on the job.
Also, a tip I had read on this forum was of great help last weekend. I locked my only set of keys in the trunk while shopping! I went home, got my 1/8" drill and drilled the hole behind the license plate exactly 3" down from the trunk lip, and half way between the license plate lights. The trunk poped open first try! Sweet! New keys are on order.
Dan

[mbouse]

reassembly is a PITA. i cannot imagine getting the doors line up with out the prep work i did before i took them off.

honestly, it is gonna be a couple of days, with the other weekend priorites zooming in, before i get these doors back on. i gotta find something to use as shims.

dan, send me an email at mbouse@chartermi.net if you are in a hurry for what i am preparing. I won't publish anything until i am done.