70 Mach 1 Door Hinges Replacement Question?????

[Shippy428scj]

On my 70 Mach 1 428 SCJ I need to replace only the drivers side door hinges. The passengers sides are perfect. I purchased new bolts and new hinges from Don at Ohio Mustang and painted them all the same color as the car. What is the safest way to replace the hinges. A local car restoration shop wants over 400.00 to replace them. The other problem is to remove the fenders, bumper etc the car has the old enamel paint from years ago and is still in outstanding shape and I'm afraid of cracking etc. Any great safe and easy way to accomplish this task and still keep the alignments correct????????? When I lift up on the door a little when closing is closes smooth without slamming...HELP!!!!

[Steven Harris]

I am sorry to say that I can not give you any personal experience advice on the 70.

A few generic tips: Triple tape every edge around the work area as protection, set the door about an 1/8" higher than it needs to be once released and be patient and prepared to spend a good deal of time to get perfect results.

[68machowner]

Its a 2 or 3 person job. When I did my car, the door was taken off the hinge first than the hinge was taken off the body. that was when the job went bad,
the hinge needed to be put on then the door--problem was the door needed to be alined with the body 1st than at the gaps ,which are adjusted on the body part that the door now covers. fenders need to come off.
Were the hinges that bad that you couldn't just change the pins? They do come in several diff. dia. and a lot easier to change on the car. I'm sure Don has them also.

[Shippy428scj]

If I remove the wiring to the light in the door then remove the door that will expose the bolts to the hinges on the body of the car. If I install the new hinges using the exact line up marks from the old ones on the body of the car and the same process on the door will that help with the adjustments. Are the adjustments made from the bolts on the door or where they bolt up on the car body?? As for removing the pins I looked at that and how do you remove them safely without banging the crap out of the suronding area??? It still looks like a tight area to work..Kelly

[Steven Harris]

Both bolting locations give you adjustment.

If you can remove the pins then you can use a small drill and drill location points on both parts of the hinge to use for alignment after the fact.

As to removing the pin. Take the weight off of the door, protect the area around the hinge with tape and or cardboard and use the applicable punch and tap them out.

[Shippy428scj]

Thanks Steve.......I spoke with Don and he told me even if you just replace the pins you still have to remove the door to replace the bushings or at least separate the hinges....To me it sounds like a big job and I may have to pay the 400.00 to have it done and if the shop damages anything they will be liable.......I just hope nothing happens to the paint.......I wish I felt more comfortable tackling this myself.....

[Steven Harris]

You may be able to get the pins started with some type of C-clamp tool. That would eliminate some of the risk.

[Mister 4x4]

I would carefully remove the things needed to get the fender off (tape up the edges, have something padded to lay it and other painted parts on, and make sure to not 'flex' anything - get a friend to help). From there, you can swap the hinges out with the door still on the car - in the closed position - one at a time.

Get some wooden shims (as in 'door frame' shims from a home improvement/hardware store) and use them to help line up the door as you close it in the 'held up' manner you spoke of (that's where a friend will be helpful). Lining up the door in this manner won't be perfect, but it'll get you close.

Get a Sharpie (or some other kind of marker) to outline the hinge so you can put the hinges back into the same position on both the door and A-pillar.

Then carefully remove the upper hinge and replace it with the new one.

And carefully remove the lower hinge and replace it with the new one.

Once it's all tightened back down, test open and close the door to see if it needs any more alignment (probably will) and make small adjustments with many cycles of opening/closing the door until you get it right.

Once you're satisfied with the door operation, Drill a small hole through the hinge into the A-pillar and door itself for future alignment purposes, and seal accordingly (probably use sheet metal screws screwed into the holes with some gasket material, for example) and put the fender back on - it might need a little bit of adjustment for the door gap to be good again, because of the adjustments to the door itself.


Unless you're wanting to be concours...then I'd just pay the money.

Hope that helps.

[68machowner]

something else to watch when you are taking the bolts out is the very end of the bolt is not threaded and some times are hard to get out, also make sure the bolting plate is not so loose that it falls down
inside.
if you go to a shop, check out some others they have done,400 might be easier than a whole day of pulling your hair.

[Shippy428scj]

Thanks for everybody's input on this matter. I'm going to have the owner of the shop stop by and take a look at it so he can explain to me on how he would tackle this job..If I don't feel confident in his process then I will get my son to help me and take my time and do it myself and also utilize all your your inputs you provided......I may need to continue with additional questions....Again thanks everybody......Kelly