Ready to give up so any ideas will be appreciated. I need to bondo the very bottom of the doors on my '31 Model A pick up. Problem is I can't get the hinge pins out or unscrew the hinges. 90 years of rust. I tried to saturate it every day with PB Blaster for 2 months, I've tried to drill out the pins and/or screws, using a cobalt bit but after 30 minutes I gained maybe 1/8" (I got six to do so at that rate It'll take 24 hours per hinge (I'll be dead before I finish with THAT). Would a diamond bit work faster? Any helpful ideas? Last resort I'll have to repair the doors laying on my back under the door.
Mine came out pretty easily, so I haven’t used the tool in the link, but…… https://www.summitracing.com/parts/...MI_PLGh92YgQMVmiCtBh2yqQCvEAQYAiABEgJ17_D_BwE or just Google ‘model A hinge pin removal’. John
If all else has failed drag out the fire wrench (torch) and heat the hinge, it should loosen it enough to punch the pin out, naturally you will have paint loss due to the heat. HRP
Try sucking wax into the joint. Heat hinge and apply wax to it. That Bob Drake remover looks promising. heavy duty
Before breaking the torch out, try an air chisel with a pointed punch into your already drilled dimples. Might take a minute or so but it's amazing how the rattling, cumulative, effect works. You'd thing that couldn't compare to a few solid whacks with a lump hammer, but it does, very favourably! You can get the punches with offsets which could improve access. Chris
Not all generic pin removal tools fit the roadster and roadster pick up. Get the Snyders one and save youself a lot of hassle
would heating the hinge screws rather than the hinge pins also work DYT? would save damage to the outside of the paint job.
I had the same problem on a '27 I was re doing. A lot of patience, a torch, good OIL, not WD-40, and they will eventually break free... but again.. a LOT LOT LOT of patience...
Buy the tool, but before you even think of using it watch "Mart's" video on removing hinge pins, for me it made all the difference in the world. Edit: I stand corrected on the video, it wasn't Mart but ActionYobbo. Handy hints: Never use a punch and a hammer to push the hinge pin up from the bottom. It seems that some hinge pins are hardened and some not, if your hinge pins are not hardened hammering on the end of the hinge pin will cause the shank of the hinge pin to swell in the bore of the hinge pin, permanently locking it in place. Instead, start from the top, grab a cold chisel, (I ground mine so it looks like a wood chisel, as in instead of having the cutting edge in the shape of a "V" on the centerline of the chisel, the cutting edge is flat to one side of the chisel), the goal being to force the cutting edge of the chisel between the head of the hinge pin and the hinge surface. Once you are successful in forcing the head of the hinge pin up, you can grab the head of the pin with a pair of vice grips then hammer upwards on the vice grips to get the pin out the rest of the way. It's been my experience that "heating and beating" usually makes the situation worse.
Watch this video https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/getting-hinge-pins-out-video.1268349/#post-14538747 also doing bondo on the bottom are you doing the frame or skin? If its the door frame you can masking tape the outside of the door and spray bed liner on the inside. Masking tape covers the holes so the bedliner will form and harden. Works well for a million pinholes.
Air chisel home made tool. Remember heating the A pillar be careful not to burn the wood if it’s still usable
@Mart spe nt a few days hammering his out. His video is entertaining, I am glad it wasn't me doing it. I don't have the link but Mart probably does.
Some I've gotten out with a drift, some I've gotten out with a goofy removal tool I made out of a C-clamp. But there are always a few that require heat. My method: heat the head of the pin to dull red, let it cool, apply Kroil penetrant ("the oil that creeps"). Heat it again to dull red, let it cool, apply Kroil. Heat it to dull red a third time, and then while still hot go at it with a hammer and drift. (If you make a little heat shield out of sheet metal, you could probably heat to cherry red.)
Last ones I did, the door was off but still had hinges attached. With the door upside down, Heat up hinge pins as Clarke states but then I let wax melt on the pin. Then drove them out with a hammer and drift punch. Support the hinge against something otherwise you’ll bend the door at the hinge mounting points.
I used the pin removal tool on my pickup. They were so rusted that I had to use the heat and wax method plus just putting the pin under pressure with the removal tool for many days. I would come back to it and heat it up again with more wax, tighten the tool some more and let it set for a day or two again. Over and over until they finally gave up the ghost and came out. Took me more than a week to get them to budge this way, but at least it didn't make things worse like the hammer method.
I ordered the pin removal tool so will be trying that The heat and wax sounds like it could speed up the process so I'll be trying that as well. Let everyone know how it works out when I'm done.
Keep the hinges warm at all times. I had window hinges that were frozen open. With zero space for any type of removal tools I placed 100 watt light bulbs on them. Between that and copious amount s of liquid wrench and patience I was able to get them operational
For the hinge screws, LOTS of heat. I mean LOTS, and not with a propane torch. You need HEAT. Also, make yourself a "shake 'n break" like this one (see image below). Use the shank from an air chisel bit, weld a 1/4 inch impact socket on the end, and a handle on the side to turn it. Chuck it up in your air hammer, slip a Phillips bit into it, lean on the air hammer and pull the trigger. While it's banging away put some pressure on the handle to back the screw out. I made one of these in the previous century when I was addicted to metric motorcycles. They work slicker than owl shit on a green hickory limb. For the hinge pins, after your drilling fails, weld a nut on top of the pin (hope you didn't drill the button off the top of the pin). Heat the hinge, a little wax sucked into the hinge joint, and wiggle the nut a little bit at a time. Once the pin starts to rotate, put a vise grip on the nut and wiggle back and forth while lifting up.
A tip. Align the tool well over the pin, apply tension, smack the tool bolt head with a brass hammer, tighten some more, smack, tighten, smack...repeat until the pin will move by simply turning the bolt. Place something against the body to protect it from the struggle. Good luck!
I just took the doors of a '40 Chrysler today! Had a couple stubborn screws. I use this hammer-twist tool. But first I heat the screw to almost melting temp and hold it there for a minute or so, so the threaded shaft gets plenty hot. Then I quench the bolt and give it a few whacks with the tool. Then I use a large Phillips screwdriver with a hex near the handle with a crescent wrench. Heating and quenching stubborn bolts works every time. https://www.harborfreight.com/6-bit...m=social&utm_campaign=shortener&cid=go_social
I made one of these a few years ago. You may be right about the owl shit but I have never used that product. But the tool works like a champ!
The Jalopy Journal
