Hello members; I'[m having real issues removing the hinge pins on my drivers door. The removal tool won't budge them so I have ordered some cobalt bits to drill them out and ordered a set of new oversized pins. My question is; "if I mess things up drilling them out, what is the process to replace the entire hinge?" This is an original car and the hinges are riveted to the door. If I drill out the rivets, how do the new hinges get solidly attached back to the door? I can get to the lower hinge but the upper hinge is buried in the window opening portion and I don't see a way to install a plate or anything on the inside of the door to bolt the hinge to. I appreciate any experienced feedback on this. Thank you - Carl El Dorado Hills, CA
You’d have to re-rivet them. Probably involves removing some of the inner sheet metal that’s in the way. Making the job a whole lot harder. I’d drill the old pin from the top where the head and serrations are. Go about a quarter inch below the head. Sneak up on the size and stop when you can pop the head off. If there’s any of the serrated section left, see if you can tap it inward to reduce its grip. Then support the hinge with a heavy block below, held by a buddy. You use a good drift to pound the pin downward.
Have you tried the tool made to work with an air chisel. My son used it on his sedan and it work great.
Whatever you do, don't pound on the hinge without a good solid support under the hinge as you can easily bend the door or cowl at the attachment point.
Before you make this a worse problem, Please tell us why this needs to be done, and what else you have tried to remove them. Thank You. Not saying No, but hoping some dialogue may loosen up the jeopardy, and bring a better result for hinge separation
^^^^ This. A BFH is NOT your friend in this situation. Penetrant. patience and heat will be good tools for you, along with the pin removal clamp (for lack of a better description). Investing in the right tool will save you time, money and headaches in the long run. Don't start drilling until you've researched other methods that have been posted here.
DO NOT MESS WITH IT ! Without using heat. Heat up the hinge pin area with a oxy/ acetylene torch , red hot then quench it with water. Do this several times , The last time quench with penetrant. You will be amazed how easy the pin comes out. Always remember , heat is your friend before you regret damaging the hinge. Do not attempt even drilling them out , you will regret it. Vic
Can you fabricate a tool shaped like a block made in two halves. Kinda like bolting two main bearing caps together...only thicker steel. A hole in the one side for the pin to push thru as it exits the hinge......and a Grade 8 bolt on the other side to tighten against the pin............That way the hinge is supported as you tighten the bolt. Apply the heat as others have mentioned and let it cool several times, then use the tool to extricate the pin.
Like the others said, have patience. It took me forever to remove the pins on my pickup because they were so rusted. I used the Drake hinge pin tool and just left it attached under pressure and repeatedly used heat and lube for days on end, always trying to tighten it up. They finally started to give. You can do et!
IMHO, What does not work, and the order it should be tried. 1. Hinge pin removal tool. Works great for the annual re-greasing of the pin but not for stuck pins. 2. Grind off any pin sticking out below the hinge and gently tap out with a drift punch. You might get lucky. 3. Vic's advise: heat and quench, then #1, then#2. Sidebar: Too often the hinge pin will develop a spiral shear break, and driving it out only jambs it into the holes. 4. Drill the pin. Works best with the door off the car and up side down. Start with a small bit (3/16" or so). Hopefully you are good enough to stay near center. If you get a small flake of rust in the shavings you likely passed a shear break. Then repeat with each 1/64" increased drill size. When you start seeing significant flakes of rust you have likely broken through the wall of the pin. STOP. Now repeat steps #1, #2, and #3. 5. Hot Wrench. With the hinge COLD and a hole in the pin it will often burn without damaging the hinge. If you can slot it then #1, #2, and #3. 6. Replace the hinge or half hinge. If the half on the door is riveted and can be saved do so! 6a. As an aid to alignment acquire a length of drill rod (9/32 for 1932-40 Ford). I use O-1 steel from McMaster-Carr. Use that to establish a common axis for all hinges on a door. 6b. If you need to set a hinge in place to drill mounting holes consider waxing the mounting locations and the hinge, then gluing in place using "bondo". When everything is in alignment and working smoothly drill and install mount screws, then test again. Remove the hinges, remove the bondo residue, and re-assemble. Commercial note: We make replacement hinges for most (not all) Fords 1926-40. While our 1926-31 roadster/phaeton hinges are sold as sets most others are available as a 1/2 hinge and will interface with an original for the other half.
Thank you to all who have replied with great information. After watching several videos and reading what others have done, I did make an extraction tool that seemed better to me than the one you can buy. I have been putting penetrant on the hinges daily for two weeks, tried driving them out with door held in place and hinge supported so there was no chance of damaging the door. Along with the tool I made I purchased the hardened pins that Bob Drake sells and my last attempt actually bent the pin slightly. I cinched down on the tool so hard with a long handled ratchet that I was afraid I was going to bend the door where the hinge is mounted. I will attempt the heat and cool process (again) although I don't have anything for that other than a small hand-held propane torch. Lastly I will drill them, "or", try to find a small air chisel with the correct bit and try to force them out with that. It's crazy how the passenger side came right out with a punch and hammer but the driver side won't budge. At least the car isn't painted yet so I don't have to deal with scratching anything. It's also nice to know that if I damage a piece, that Wescott sells the individual parts. Thank you so much!!
I do things a little different, I have done a few times , You can , @ least for me know when one will be pain to get pin out with door on , I have used a Small thin Dremel cut off wheel cut in-between gaps , to cut pin. Getting door off then deal with pin in a more suitable place bench /table & easer to deal with A pillar Male of hinge on car or removed,,,
He could also undo the screws that hold the hinge to the cowl to get the door off the car. But I’m not sure that would really be a help in the process. Many of those screws will have the heads strip and need to be drilled out too.
Thanks again to everyone who offered suggestions to removing my hinge pins. I finally got them out! After trying the tool method (and keeping penetrant on them for two weeks), using heat, drilling through the center, and everything I could think of, I borrowed a friends air chisel and welded one of the hardened pins used with the tool onto the end of the chisel point so I could go all the way through if needed, and this was enough to push what was left through the hinge. I was also able to drill through the original hinges with an "R" size cobalt drill bit and my new oversized stainless pins (from Bob Drake), fit really tight. All is good now. Thanks again!
I used penetration oil and kept a 100 w light bulb on it. Tapping on it periodically for about a week. Working on other stuck parts in the process. Then one day…. Pop! The pin moved. I also used that same process on the windshield hinges with success
The Jalopy Journal
