Tips for Rebuilding Door Hinges

[DeathProofCuda]

I bought a door hinge rebuild kit from Restorick several years ago and am thinking about finally putting it to use.  Have been looking around the web to gather some tips on doing this and have come across several schools of thought:

Some say to leave the doors on the car (removing and replacing only one hinge at a time) to avoid door alignment headaches.

Some say to unbolt the doors from the hinges and rebuild the hinges while they are still bolted to the car to avoid door alignments headaches.

Seems like most just completely remove the doors and rebuild the hinges off the car, although many of these are probably guys doing restorations, which I am not doing at this time.

What are your thoughts?  Should I just bite the bullet, yank the doors, and accept the fact that I'm going to have to learn some door alignment skills, or is there actually some wisdom to these leave the hinges in place approaches?  Thanks.

[FE5CUDA]

Your choice, if you leave the hinges on the car, changing the bushings in the top hinge is no problem, drilling and reaming for the oversize pin in the lower hinge isn't an issue either.  You'll have "witness" marks on the door where the hinge was on the door, however, you will most likely have to adjust the back of the door down because of the tighter door hinges.

[dodj]

If you have a buddy to help remove and install, I'd remove both doors and do all four at the same time. Then you can refurbish them, paint them, hang to dry etc. I'm thinking you will be doing some alignment when you are done anyway.

[B5fourspeed]

Mark with tape where the hinges are on the door and the body or drill 2 small holes on each hinge for  pilot holes when you put them back on.

[MoparLeo]

Send them to me for a "complete" rebuild, not just pins and I will send you the factory instructions to reinstall and adjust the doors. Don't drill holes etc... Check around on my service. Thanks,

[anlauto]

I think the job of rebuilding the hinge while on the car would be more difficult then re-aligning the door if you removed them altogether

[DeathProofCuda]

I think the job of rebuilding the hinge while on the car would be more difficult then re-aligning the door if you removed them altogether

That was one of my concerns as well.  It also seems to me that trying to remove the hinges one at a time while leaving the door still on the car could be more of a PITA than its worth, which is why I asked the original question.

Thanks for all of the replies.

[DeathProofCuda]

Send them to me for a "complete" rebuild, not just pins and I will send you the factory instructions to reinstall and adjust the doors. Don't drill holes etc... Check around on my service. Thanks,

Thanks Leo, I will consider that option if the hinges look so shot that the Restorick kit won't take care of them.

[MoparLeo]

Tell me how you are going to drill and ream to size the holes for the pins while on the car ? And how you will tightent the fit between the 2 hinge halves to compensate for the wear between the hinge parts ? Then press the pins in?
These things can only be properly done on the bench. And one of the most common other problems is frozen/sticky door check rollers ( the 2 things that the spring rubs on to keep the door open. Not included in any "kit"/font]

[cudaragtop]

Very happy with the rebuild service done on my Cuda Hinges by MoparLeo back in 2013 or 2014...   

[MoparLeo]

 

[DeathProofCuda]

So what's the secret to removing the one bolt that comes from inside the car and connects to the upper hinge?  I can't see or even feel the head of this bolt while poking around under the dash.  Is it accessible without removing the dash?

[dodj]

It can be removed without removing the dash. I don't remember having to much problem with it?
Maybe rusted significantly on your car?

[anlauto]

So what's the secret to removing the one bolt that comes from inside the car and connects to the upper hinge?  I can't see or even feel the head of this bolt while poking around under the dash.  Is it accessible without removing the dash?

Not easy, but it can be done. Might be covered with insulation.

[gzig5]

I used a kit from RestoRick last year to rebuild my hinges and they came out very nice.  The reamer and oversized pin just barely cleaned up the worn holes in the hinge.  I was able to free up the rollers and I measured minimal wear on them.  I wasn't crazy about the shape of the heads on the pins which deviated from original, but the tolerances worked well with the bushings and new hole size.  If I wasn't setup to do it myself already, I would have sent them to MoparLeo.  The only real tricky part I remember was centering up the hinge that got reamed.  The rest of it was basic rebuilding procedures.