Hi,

Wife's car is a 94 Olds Cutlass Ciera S, FWD thing. On the drivers door upper hinge there's like a tab sticking out that mounts the detent lever. For some reason the tab part that extends out is cracked and bent, now the detent lever won't stay on the roller.

A) Is this a known issue? The wife is not hard on a car at all.

B) I have a buddy who is a good welder/fabricator/car builder, he will work the part back into position and weld it, but he doesn't want anything to do with the R&R of the door. OK, I can pull the door, done lots in the ancient past. Looking at this one, I don't see how to get the pins out, is there some kind of special tool? there's a spring lock gizmo on the pin, looks similar in a way to the the thing that holds an e-brake cable into a older GM backing plate. (drum brakes). How in the heck do I get this thing apart? I thought about putting a mini-clamp around it but it looks like a real PITA.

Also, there's a wire harness for the PW/PDL, is there a single plug somewhere or do I have to disconnect everything at the motor and solenoids and pull the whole harness out? I looked some, didn't see a plug handy.

Any help gratefully accepted, I'm really an engine guy, shouldn't be allowed near body stuff at all. smile.gif

The REAL trouble: If I have to get her another car or spend a bunch of money on this one, there goes my paint job for the Chevelle. Serious business there.

Tom

just break that push nut off the pin and there is a pin removal tool that you can buy that you use that is shaped like a J to drive the pin out. No help on the harness problem.

An airchisel and straight punch style bit works really good for getting those pins started. Then find an old pair of vise grips, clamp on the pin just below the head and use the air chisel on them to continue the removal. Usually takes about five minutes once you've done a few. Do the lower one first and support the door, get a friend to help stabilize the door while you work the pins out. Bob

Thanks guys. Air chisels I understand. I'll look again for the push nut deal. I thought I saw something in the middle of the pin. I'm not used to seeing pushnuts in the middle, usually on the end. Tomorrow when it's light I'll have another look at it.

Thanks again for taking time to answer.

Tom

Just take it easy with the airchisel, most people don't realize the trigger is variable. With good trigger finger control one can operate an airchisel as though he is a surgeon. The same goes for most all airtools. The clips you see in the middle of the pins will break off when the pins are removed unless care is taken to squeeze in the tabs, buy a new pair of pins for when you install the door back on the car. GM used both kinds of pins, some with a center clip retention and others with a clip on the end.

Tom you will have to unplug the harness in the door from the switches and pull it out. Roll the window down, it protects the glass and gives you a good place to grab the door.
I use a long punch to drive the pin up flush with the bottom of the hinge and then grab it with vise grips at the top and continue to drive it out. The hard part is supporting the door. You can put a floor jack under it and then have Daniel steady it for you while you drive out the pins. Do the bottom hinge first. I also agree with new pins, bushings and retainers. There is a nice tool you can buy to clamp the spring so it doesn't fly out, almost a necessity to get it back in. If you can't find one I can mail mine up to you.

Philip,

that's a nice offer. thanks go to all the guys who replied. I'm going to have another look at it. Looks like the top pin goes in upside down, up from the bottom. The inner door panel curves in right over the top of it, that's what makes it look so hard.

Tom

Hey Phil, BTW, some guy stopped here the other day, tried to buy my cay. I pointed out that there's no for sale sign on it and I don't currently need to sell it. He said "how much" I said 7, he offered five. Sorry, price is firm. In fact, next time somebody asks it's going to be 8 large.

Goofball wanted to give me a $500 deposit to hold it for a month. Fat chance. I think he is some kind of used car hustler, doubt he will be back.

Tom

Tom I am not sure that $8k is enough for your car. It is straight, rust free and has an awesome drivetrain. A little cosmetic work and it would be worth a minumum of $12k imo.
I need to go to Mesa to remove some fence from my sons yard to put around our pool. I'll let you the weekend I am coming, maybe we can get together and fix your door.

Phil,

That sounds pretty wonderful. I need all the help I can get when working on body stuff. I'd rather build two engines than R&R one door.

I don't really know what the car is worth. It has 3 paint jobs on it, 4 on the right side. the clear coat is just rolling off of it. It really needs to be stripped, but that means re-doing all the bodywork the car has ever had. Non-trivial task, even though the car is pretty straight overall, never been in a real wreck. That guy didn't even understand when I gave him the rundown on the fresh drivetrain, roller406, 200r4 Regal GN tranny and new 66 12 bolt 373 posi. I think it all went over his head. I really need to scrape together some money somehow and get the thing stripped and painted. I guess I'm just sort of burned out on it, been working on/driving it since'87. I know too much about it, ifuknowhutimean. I'm really thinking it over.

Tom

Well let me share this, I had a 70 Malibu same color in/out as yours. Number matching car I bought from the original owner. L48, M21, 3.31 12 bolt. I had it for years and one day I looked at the small amount of rust it had in the lower front fenders and said screw it. I knew what other things it needed to be a real eye turner and decided it was more work than I wanted to do, so I sold it and a month later regretted it. To this day I wish I had never made that decision. I don't miss either of the 64's or the 68, but selling the 70 was a bad decision for me. Park it out of the way until you can get back to finishing it the way you want.