Door hinge repairs

Hi all on the forum, time for the first post I guess. I'm looking for some tips on replacing a door hinge (top right on the passenger side). An I told you so moment for clee coming up lol! Having unsuccessfully tried to remove the old broken pin which has sheared off leaving a section in the top, bottom and middle of the hinge I'm opting for the whole hinge replacement. Does any one here have any photos to give me an idea of what I'm getting myself into before I start cutting into the door? Also can I get hold of new pins as the others look on the worn side too, thanks but beware this request may be the first of many! It does seem GTA ownership comes with optional extras like the speedo some days the options are there and some days they arn't.

[mettersl]

Simon autos sell replacement hinges at 49 euro each.
The original design is poor so a better alternative might be a friendly machining shop to make a new pin and some sleeves for the originals. Open up the slot, fit the sleeve and then use the new pin. My car was bodged with hex head bolts but I wouldn't recommend that,
If the hinge is well attached, I wouldn't recommend cutting into the door, try and domthe replacement with the door removed but the hinges attached to it.
If the hinge has any movement to the door frame search on here as there was a thread recently with some good pictures as to what is involved in fixing the hinges to the frame. Most cars seem to have hinge problems are the original structure isn't great.

Tom,
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6750
Bottom-ish of page shows new pins and a bush fitted into the worn car side of the hinge, I have no idea where these are from.
Biggest worry is getting the pins out when they are stuck on the door end.
You'll need some force to get them out and clouting with a two pound hammer is a no-no, a lot of cars with have a bit of cracking and hence flexing and any gorilla tactics will surely lead to tears in this area.
On the back burner of my list of useful ideas is to make a tool to press out the pins, then get my old man pin to turn up some new pins and some repair sleeves for the car side of the hinge that wears, or just some sleeves and use roll pins, as these can be knocked out easily and replaced as easy as your pants.
As to replacing the whole hinge, it can be done but getting the bolts out is a feckin nightmare, as Simonsays..........you need the patience of a saint and the dexterity of a brain surgeon.
If you put your hand up the speaker hole you can just about feel the heads of the bolts, but as they are bonded they will only move an 1/8 of a turn at a time then lock up,.................so you have to go back in with them........then start again. Imagine being on the clock doing it............hours can pass.....hours..
I've done a couple, and always have something I can kick and shout at in the garage 'cos it's that mind twistingly torturous, on one I gave up and as the car was having a repaint anyway, did a naughty and cut a square in the skin and whizzed them out with the impact gun in seconds.
And you haven't even begun on getting the bonding off, cos that will take a good piece of GRP with it, more if there is cracking present, then you need to get them bonded and bolted in the correct position, they aren't just bonded straight onto the door, they are spaced away...........sorry if I'm being negative but that's the reality, people will buy hinges at £50 each but when the labour charge is six times that......
I may look at making a dummy post for alignment, but unless your hinges are falling off I'd resist trying to get them off the door........It's actually easier the worse they are,..........in a nothing ventured nothing gained way, but alignment will always be king, that's why I'd always keep it in place and reinforce.



You might luck out with a helper in your case if you only now need to get the pins that remain in the door, by perhaps the door on the bench and with a part of the vice behind the hinge somehow and drift what's left out, but your going to have to find out where Andy the painter got those repair kits from, I know they were doing them for R11/9/5, so perhaps it's those, but I'm sure they have a different set up from the factory using roll pins.
Good luck.

Wow thanks for the detailed reply, sounds like a nightmare. My pin is split completely, two bits in the door side and one in the car side of the hinge which is now pillar drilled out. It's the door side I have the trouble with, rusted solid I will try the pressing out trick with a g clamp but they feel solid and if the car side of the hinge is anything to go by will be almost impossible. Sounds like setting a new hinge in the door will be very hard to do accurately. I'm glad I've not started down that route yet! I may invest in some new drill options. I will let you know....... And find something to kick first!

That's a real dellboy teeth pulling post that Andy

Yes it's some new pins and bushes ...very enlightening

Door hinge is another thing on my to-do list for spring. My driver's door is a bit wobbly.
Worryingly, from what I can see, it isn't the hinge pin, but the whole hinge appears to be moving inside the door.

That's probably the easier repair ...bottom one at least ...top more involved

Top one, unfortunately

I am here for you my son....................................

This geezer always has some Renault stuff.....bits and bats, think he's on one of the forums somewhere..........memory tells me he's got a R9 with a F7P valver in it.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RENAULT-CLIO- ... xyrrpTjxJ9

I haven't measured GTA pins as yet but he has other listings for 5GTs plus just the bushes, so save making them, subject to their size with some pins made up or just roll pins it would be a goer.

Got my door off today, hadn't planned it this way, but since the window stopped working, thought it was as well to have a look.
Can do it all at the same time.

Looks like the bonding has failed on both hinges, Both top and bottom had a big chunk of fibreglass filler holding them in place, looks like the plan was to have it set between the hinge and door skin. Obviously worked for a while, because I hadn't noticed the play before.
Hinge pins have a little play, but I think it's not excessive.

I haven't taken the hinges off completely yet, because I am mindful of the advice above...
So, top tips now ?
Figuring I could loosen them a bit and try to get in with some tiger seal or something to rebond them, or is it best just to take them off and try to use a bore camera to have a look at the mountings to check for cracks ?

Any thoughts ?

Bob, don't Tiger seal them or anything similar, unless you just want them to stay on whilst you shift the car on......quickly.

Can you get the filler off that was bodged on the inside ? And if so, can you feel/see the plates I have mentioned before.
It won't be the bonding that has failed, but the GRP that is sandwiched between the hinge you can see on the door card side of the door and the plate that is on the other side of the inner post. Picture below shows what happens, and where the wobble comes from, this picture is taken from the skin side through a hole I cut in the early development/how the feck to I do this stages.


Think of the door in three basic parts, an outer skin, an inner skin and a post going top to bottom for the hinges.
You seem like a hands on geezer, so if you want I'll try and guide you as best I can with what I have learned.
If you're happy with the current location and its just a case of wobbly tops and bottoms (fffnnnaarrr!) I'd put some masking tape on the inner and make some measurements and mark it in case it goes Tits up.
Get a torch in and have a good look at what your up against on the bottom, see if you can see or even feel the bolt heads, scrape/prise the added poop off and get a flat 13mm ring spanner on the head of one of the bolts, remembering your back to front, and try undoing it.....you're going to have to work it in and out but once you get it past a point where you've cleaned the threads of adhesive you can switch to a ratchet spanner.........you won't get a ratchet/socket in, spanners are the only things that will fit in between the skin.
WD40 won't help, as the hinges are wet bolted with the adhesive and it's that what's making them mega tight.
You can stand the door in a workmate to make it a bit more bearable otherwise you're on the floor Gunga Din style!
Ignore the top one for now.........cos you'll swing if you try that one first, bottom is easiest, get the bolts out and prise the plate off and then I'll talk you through the next stage.
Take your time and plenty of breathers, once the bolts are out it's all downhill, and once you've done, it's done for good.
If you don't feel up to it I've always fancied Norway.......

Thanks, it doesn't look too difficult at the moment, I think i can see how to do it, I actually wonder if the door has already been repaired, there have been perfect circles cut out exactly over the hinge area, which the other door doesn't look to have.
I was hoping to find a way to do it without cutting the door, but that maybe looks difficult at this stage.

I'll try to get the hinges off tonight and use my endoscope camera to have a look at what's left, and we'll take it from there.......

Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark.

Not sure the top one is much better, still trying to chip off the 4" thick bondo....

Still not impossible, but can't see any way I can get access to it without making a cut to the leading edge of the door.
If anybody not too far away from Newcastle has a good driver's door looking for a home, I might be able to offer it one......