Door hinges: Hidden wires

Working on a 55 Chevy wagon, didn't really want to use the contacts between the A pillar and the door, and have seen too many failures in the spring type loom deals. While working on replacing the hinge pins, began to brainstorm while the hinge was apart.



Found a piece of 1/2" square tubing laying in the shop, same thickness as the hinge. Wheels are starting to turn now. The square tubing doesn't bend to easily without kinking, so it was cut down the middle, each side heated and bent, and rewelded.















Once the general shape was formed, the bottom of the hinge was cut out to fit the tubing in place.



Fitted:



Welded:



Dressed up:





Wires and protective sleeving run in place. Total of 6 14 ga wires fit in there. Should be able to adapt this for other vehicle hinges.



16 ga stripped in the middle to pull back and forth, using as a pull wire.

 

That is a damn good idea, I will have to remember that one!!!!

 

Thats a really cool idea. Very clean.

 

That is tooooooo freakin cool!!!

 

Thanks for the comments guys. When welding the tube back together, I started up on the "uncut" section and not in the gap, and the next welds overlapped the last, less chance of mig wires sticking through.

 

......... I'll take a set. $19.95 right? JK... That's a great idea. I may have to try that on my '54. I've been struggling with a way to run the wires cleanly, and they didn't leave much room around the hinges on those babies! Great idea.

big mac

 

Another great "thinking outside the box" idea....well done!

 

Real Slick Deal! That looks great! Nice work!

 

Fantastic tech post!

 

Great idea! I have done something similar by welding large diameter brake tube to the hinge.

 

loving that, very nicely done. looks like it would would have been a tech week contender!

 

very nicely done, keep us posted on the rest of the build

 

great work.

i did the same thing to my hinges for the same reason the jamb contact pins look like crap along with any of the other stuff sold for door wiring.

 

we did something similar for the dome light wires, so the light could be on when the door is open, we milled out a slot in the hinge, and welded a cap over the slot.

I like the way you did it.

 

Inventave that's what i like about it.

 

this needs to be a "sticky". very well done and will be copied alot for sure

 

So thats how they make those! LOL

http://www.classicchevy.com/product.asp?pf_id=54-134&dept_id=1445

We put these on a friends Nomad about a year ago. Kudos for figuring it out and making your own!

 

Terry, I had posted this on a tri-five forum after I got it built and someone else pointed out the Eckler's version to me, although no one had seen them in person to verify how they were made. Thanks for the PM to clarify. I do think the driver's door may need additional capacity for wires, so I have a slightly tweaked plan for that hinge. I'll post the update when I get to that side.