Door hinge bushing mod-
By Kurt Millard
Jon Hanna asked me about how I rebuilt my door hinges. Just thought I'd
submit the write-up as my next article.
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I used hardened steel pins for the hinge rebuild, but to be honest, this is what I'd do
now; this set-up will allow you to remove the doors, yet leave the hinge alignment intact
for when you want to re-install them.
-Before removing the hinges, identify all hinges (both halves). For example, DU for
driver's side upper hinge, etc,...Also, trace around outside of hinge where it is bolted
to the doorpost. This will make for easier alignment later. Then remove hinge bolts from
each door, pull off door, then unbolt hinge from doorpost. This makes it easier to handle
each door, and places less stress on the doorposts.
- Grind bottom of existing pin, in order to remove, and throw pin away, leaving 2 halves
of the hinge.
- The half that is attached to the door will retain the new bronze impregnated bushing(s).
- The half that is attached to the doorpost should have a clearance hole drilled in the
top half, and be form tapped in the bottom half. A form tap is 17% stronger than a cutting
tap, but a regular cutting tap will do.
- For a pin, use a grade 5 Zinc coated bolt, probably a 1/4-20. Stainless steel reacts
badly with steel, and grade 5 is preferred in a shear situation. The doorpost-half of the
hinge should be drilled & tapped to accommodate this bolt (size). The bolt head will
stick out on top, so you could either select a caphead bolt, or use an acorn to cover the
bolt head.
- Drill and ream the door-half of the hinge to accommodate the bronze impregnated
bushing(s) to be pressed in. The optimum length would be 1/8" too short, leaving the
extra material on the bottom of the hinge. This would insure the bushing(s) wouldn't fall
out. I couldn't find one that was long enough, so I pressed in two, and sawed off the
excess left over on top.
- For sizing the bushing, ID would accommodate the bolt at a slightly looser than a press
fit, the OD should be small enough so there is plenty of mat'l left on the hinge, and the
length is described above. I don't have a part #, obviously, but once you determine what
you need, any bearing company could help you out. That's exactly what I did.
–Kurt M. AKA Joker
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