You know its going to be a long day when your car looks like this by 11am

[flyboy01]

This morning I decided to repair my door hinges. Originally, when I bought the car, I opened the door and tried to lift it, no slop. But trying to adjust the door last week led to a lot of frustration, I could not get the door lined up, it turns out the the pin hole had been worn in an oval pattern, which meant the the door had slop near the closed position, but not in the open. I ordered a pin repair kit, I got it yesterday, so I made it my project for the day. I originally planned on trying to repair it without pulling the door off, but realized that it would be easier to pull the door off the hinges. The bad part was, I got a case of "might-as-well." I decided it would be a perfect time to prep the door jamb for paint. I started at 10 am, I sprayed the filler primer at 10pm.





Here is the hinge seperated, I had drilled the holes with a 25/64" drill bit (which I had to make a run to Lowes for.


The other side was just as easy.




In case you are wondering how the bushings go in






The striker plate had the typical mopar problem, which was fixed by the previous owner. The repair was done OK, but there was a crack in the weld at the top, and the inside seam was left unwelded, which caused it to flex.


I fixed it by welding it all the way around. Of course my welds were so bad, I had to grind them down with my die grinder.


Time for filler.




After shaping, I shot the bare metal with etching primer, any areas of rust were sanded down, then I sprayed rust encapsulating primer over those areas (red primer).




The last thing I did for the night was shoot the jamb with some filler primer.


I might add a little putty later to smooth out some of the bumps.

[Jim_Lusk]

Looks like a fun day.

[loiq]

On my wife's Mustang one hinge was so bad it had worn through the bushing and ovaled out the steel. Had to weld the hole half shut and re-drill it. Fun!

It's amazing what new hinges can do for the "feel" of a car.

[Bakaruda]

The joy of old car ownership.

[Capt Jack]

wouldnt trade it for anything

[demon340v]

i have the same floor pan, damn that thing has saved my ass time adn time again on the drive way. If i leave it dirty while working on the car my dad yells at me and there i go outside with the kitty litter haha.


that has made clean up alot easier i liek ti's new use as well !!

[flyboy01]

I also love the headaches you get when you have been spraying chemicals all day.

[1DART440]

Thanks for the pics on the hinges and where did you get those bushings from?

[signet]

you made a booboo regarding the bushing placement,the flanged face is supposed to go between the hinge halves,they are the thrust faces and prevent the two from rubbing.

looks good and thanks for the pictures. 

[sunsetdart]

Looks very nice and "been there, done that" so I know what you went thru. I hope you didn't use a 4.0 tip to spray........Anway glad to see someone caught that boo-boo I wrote and I apologized . Meant to type 1.4 and brain said 4.0.................wife said.....that will teach you to proof read your answers.

[flyboy01]

you made a booboo regarding the bushing placement,the flanged face is supposed to go between the hinge halves,they are the thrust faces and prevent the two from rubbing.

looks good and thanks for the pictures. 

I don't agree, the length of the bushing is perfect to go through both hinges, and that is the way the factory did it. If you put it between, then you cant compensate for the worn out area and it would not clear because of the added height. I played around with all the options, and this one worked best.

[eldubb440]

im a door hinge fanatic........nice job..........nothing worse than hanging doors, they just lead to other problems

[flyboy01]

Thanks for the pics on the hinges and where did you get those bushings from?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/66-76-Dodge-Dart-door-hinge-pin-kit-Mopar-pins-bushings_W0QQitemZ200116395305QQihZ010QQcategoryZ33642QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[motorhead446]

Nice job! been there done that, I feel your pain, and sense of accomplishment at the same time! I still have to weld in a donor striker area in the passenger door.

[Tacfire11]

Nice jog.....

I need to post a picture and see what what advice you guys can give me.  I have a striker pin that we broken off in an impact, and just the pin welded on.  This will be an interesting topic 

[Tacfire11]

here's how I inherited the Dart

[flyboy01]

OK, my welds just got better! 

[Tacfire11]

 ... I hear you...