How hard is it to change the hinge pins? Do the hinges have to come off the car?

Not hard at all but yes you have to pull the hinges imo it would be a nightmare trying it with them still in.

I don't think it can be done on the car. I had my car apart when I rebuilt them. But I did help a Friend do it with his car together. We supported the door (open) with a home made cradle, removed the hinges one at a time, rebuilt each and reinstalled before removing the next. It worked slick and we had no alignment problems. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Thanks guys, I'll try it out this weekend.

You can do it on the car very easily. Just get a buddy to help take the door off. Take the bolts out of the door NOT the cowl! With the hinge still bolted to the cowl,knock the pin out. One half of the hinge will stay on the car and the other will come off. Pop the bushings out,slide the new ones in. Put the other half of the hinge in place and knock your pin into place.Put your door back on! This way avoids having to realign the hinges on the cowl side which is a major PITA. Oh yes spend $12 and get yourself a door spring tool.WELL worth the money. If your daring and have two buddies handy you can knock the pins out with the door still bolted up.The door will come off with one half of the hinge bolted to the door and the other half still bolted to the car. Chenge the bushings hold the door in place and drop the pins in. I have done it this way on s-10 blazers a lot.Havent tried it on a Chevelle but would probably work.

Well it came out fine. The only thing is that the door will not shut unless you give it a little force. I thought replacing the pins would help because the door had up and down movement and would align the striker a little better. Also it's hard to open from the outside. I had these two problems before I replaced the pins. The guy I bought it from said that with the new seals it would be hard to shut. I don't know if that's true or not. It would be nice if my wife and kids could open the doors without a ton of effort. Any more help would be appreciated. Thanks

The hinge pin was easier than I thought. However, The door is still hard to open and close.

It is true the new seals will make the door close a little tighter. But... The hinge pin holes get elongated after the pin wears through the bushing. Thats where most of your up and down movement come from. In many cases, the hinges are too worn for a pin kit to fix, and you have to replace the whole hinge. Try adjuststing the striker downward, so to door doesnt have to lift up to latch. IMO its not the sure fix, but should help you get the door closed easier.


My resto page(s) www.geocities.com/eosupersport65 (http://www.geocities.com/eosupersport65)

Thanks bad415, I'll try that. Nice job on that 65. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

BAD415, I tried loosening the striker but it wouldn't budge. How much adjustment can you get out of that? I could probably get it loose, you know that feeling you get when somthing is real tight and your not sure if it's gonna break free or just break period? Well, I didn't want to take that chance but I'll try at it again tonight.