Lets start by saying I am NOT a proffesional, not a welder, and I didn't even stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. This isn't meant to be tech, it is just what I did to get the hinges in the truck, and the doors opening backwards. I couldn't find anything on any of the message boards I checked, so I winged it, and I thought I would post what happened. If nothing else I can always serve as a bad example, here goes; I started by figuring where the hinges would best go in the door jamb, and also where the plates would lay on the door themselves. I tried to get the hinges as far apart as possible for stability. These hinges are too deep to actually hide in the door jamb, so I placed them where they would work best. I will find a way to camoflauge them later (they may be behind the seat back?). I started by taking the hinge pins out of the hinges and running an all thread through them to get the squared up. I set the hinges the proper distance apart and tightened the all thread. I then took a pc. of flat steel and welded it to the back of the hinges to keep the spacing, and keep them square. I have heard some people leave the one pc. hinge pin/all thread in, but the hinge pins were machined smooth, and fit tighter. I then took the ***embly over to the truck and marked where to cut the holes out of the door jamb. I tried to make this as close as possible. On one door it was good, and I actually had to file a little to get the hinges to slide in, on the other I left a huge gap to weld shut! After I got the hinge ***embly to where it would slide into place I lined it up so the hinges would follow the inside of the door, and tacked the hinges in place. The hinge pin is supposed to be as close to the outside sheetmetal as possible, and as close to the door jamb as possible. This threw me as it would mean I need to trim the actual box of the hinge itself, but that is how it worked out. In the picture you can see how "proud" the hinge box sits out past the door jamb, after I tacked the hinges in I cut off all of the hinge that stuck out into the area that the door occupied. I then held the door up and got the gaps all to be as even as possible. Everything I read says to tack weld in the doors, but on the truck I could just clamp them at the top and bump them around to where they looked right. Then I put the hinges against the inner sheetmetal of the door and marked where to drill the holes. On most application where the doors are wider inside to outside you need to weld in a "pocket" to attach the hinges to. On the F1 doors it lined up to fasten the hinge right to the door. The hinges attach to the door with a plate that sandwiches the door skin between the hinge arm and a threaded plate. Drill the holes plenty oversized so there is adjustment to get the door gaps correct. I then hung the door temporarily to see if it fit and functioned alright before finishing the welding. Once everything seemed to work OK I welded it all up solid. I installed bearclaw latches in the door, and the front door jam where the hinges were originally mounted was plenty strong enough to simply fasten the door locking bolt to. I am going to try and firm up the rear door jamb to keep the hinges from flexing, when the door is all the way open you can see the whole jamb wiggle a little. The doors do "pinch" a little at the front when opening or closing due to the door moving forward a little at first. Of course the hinges have to move that way for the back to clear when they open. The sheetmetal of the back of the door just barely clears the back of the cab, but it clears. The doors open maybe just a little over 90 degrees, but still better than stock. CHAZ
Looks good, Ive been thinking about suicide dors on my 56...Where did you get the bear claws at, and do you like them? Thanks Harmon
The Jalopy Journal
