Here's one for you 52-54 boys... I've put this question somewhere else on the HAMB forum, but I'll ask it again here... I'm rebuilding a 52 Customline that I pulled out of the bushes a few years back. At the time it had been dissembled by the previous owner and was in a pretty battered state. The doors were roped "sort of" shut. Now I've come to the stage where I'm putting the panels back together and the left front door won't close fully and feels "sprung". Tried adjusting the hinges at the pillar and on the door, but can't get it right. It looks like this thing has been reversed with the left front door open at sometime in the distant past and the door has slammed into a post or wall. And by the looks of the tear damage on the pillar (see the pic) the door has ripped past the stop & torn the pillar. I've put a photo here of the right and left hinges all lined up in the "closed" position. Tell me that those two left side hinges should be the same as the right hand side hinges. This is obviously why the door feels "sprung". But now I'm wondering how they were closing it before it was put out to pasture. Dunno... Maybe they just lived with it ,or did the damage occur after it it was put out to pasture. They must have put a replacement door on I guess, because there's not much evidence of the door having come to much grief. (Problem is I can't remember if that door was the same colour as the rest when I brought it home, and I've since had the whole body & doors sandblasted and etch primed). Before I heat up those left side hinges and get them to the same shape as the other two, I'd really like if someone on this forum could confirm to me that that's what I need to be doing. If somebody had a left and right hinge lying around and did a comparison check for me that would be awesome. You can tell the difference between left and right hinges by the hinge pin. The wide head of the hinge pin will be at the top when you're looking at it. Thanks guys.. I await your suggestions with baited breath. Mick
Looks like you need a set of hinges, They should be square as they sit.. They are on freebay all the time, not too pricey.. Push comes to shove I know where there are some in a one yard
Thanks my friend. I took them into a friendly engineering shop today, along with a good right hand side hinge & got them to heat 'em up & bend them back to square, same a the right side hinge. Hopefully they'll work ok. I'll try 'em over the weekend. Cheers Mick
oH ! Any idea what the difference is, apart from the fact that the pins are upside down to the opposite doors?
It does make you wonder mate ! It's still got me wondering WTF happened to the poor ol' girl. On the same side of the car (left) the floor behind the front seat had a lump and about a 2" hole in it, and the little body to ch***is mount bracket was bent and squashed. I reckon kids used it as a "Bush Basher" and probably drove over a star picket fence or something. After all, I did pick it up from a back paddock in the bush. If only these ol' cars could talk
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