I have a 1937 Olds and I can tell that in order to remove the bolt that holds the door on I have to remove the metal cap that covers it. I have tried a chisel and various other tools but I cannot seem to get the cap off. Please help! Thanks.
Are you sure thats a cap? Most door hinge pins have that type of top. What you need to do is look at the bottom of the hinge. Some hinge pins are mushroomed on the bottom (for lack of a better word) so they dont come out. If it is, you'll need to grind that off and drive out the pin. if its not, no grinding, but they are still stubborn. penetrating oil and a drift punch of the appropriate size, or better, an air chisel to rattle it loose.
You've got the good advice, now do the work. PS, before you get too much further into this thing, you might do a goodly bit of bookwork reading up on cars and how and with what they are put together.
You might also consider using a door hinge pin removal tool - Bob Drake sells 'em for a few $$. www.bobdrake.com
Use a pin removal tool. They're easy to make. Pounding on the hinge pin with hammer and punch is liable to damage the hinge mount on the body. Especially true with Model A's and the like.
The whole purpose here is to maintain alignment, which is done by removing the pin and only the pin. Carefully grind or drill away the bottom of the mushroomed/bolted/swaged pin and drive up through the top.
I have good luck by grinding the head of the pin flush with the door hinge and drilling pin just under the size of the pin, the upper half inch portion of the pin has serrations that need to collapse as you drive them down. Soak with penitrating oil for several days or use heat, be careful and drill straight do not get into the hinge, this worrks for me. just removed some from 35 pickup. Good luck
.!!......more than likely, hammering will damage the hinge mount to the pillar. Ask me how I know................... Get a picture of the $$$$$$pin press and make one,
I bought a pin puller from Bob Drake several years ago and did not have much luck with it, first the pins bent I don't think they were heat treated made some out of drill bits,than the tool its self deformed on top, chinnese tried to save some money by not heat treating? But I did'nt have much luck with it, and thats right if you beat to hard you could damage the door pillar, so use caution and don't loose your cool.
This method works best for me except I skip the using the panther piss and go straight for some heat.
unless the hinge pin needs replacing.. I'd just unbolt the hinge.. I can align the door better than the factory.. because I have time.. (they didnt)
On my 36 chevy pickup I had to grind the pin heads down, then with a punch drive the pins down through the hinges. Tried to drive them up from the bottom of the hinges but it was like pushing a rope! Penatration oil is your best friend here, don't be stingy with it.
Between now and next Saturday apply a generous amount of penetrating oil EVERY DAY. IT will give it a chance to soak and thats what it takes to break the bond the rust has on the two parts. Also every day tap the hinge and pin with a hammer to give the penetrant some help getting between the parts. Patience is the byword here. Frank