The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop door hinge pin removal

I've got a new hinge pin kit to replace a badly worn one, but before I beat on that sucker with my 2 lb. sledge is there a trick to getting the old pin out (and the new one in)?

A 5lb Sledge. Hopefully with the hinge in a vice with the bottom of the hinge resting on something SOLID.

Thanks. I'll commence beating.

It's assumed your using a lube with some penetrating claims on it's label.
One of mine was in 3 pieces... Moving the top one did not mean I was moving the middle one or the bottom one .
Just as a warning.

Don't bend anything! But yeah, a large hammer and really well mounted vise will do the trick.

I employ swift, and blinding violence on stubborn hinge pins. As big a hammer as I can wield. Heat and penetrating oil if I can find where I left it in the "busy" shop.
Carl

I went through the same thing. Beating failed. Heating, soaking, beating failed. I ended up having to press them out. I thought if they moved a little they would be loose but they fought the entire way out. It is a little nerve wracking centering a punch and holding level while pressing out as they "pop" with every pump of the press. Two hinges gave up pretty easy, two did not. The two bad ones, the pin was frozen in the center part of the hinge. When working the hinge, they would rotate in the outer housing. The knurling on the top was worn smooth on one of them. The two bad ones, when you beat on them, the knurled head broke off and came out leaving the rest of the pin. That was odd as I was beating the other end of the pin. I suspect that they cracked or broke inside the hinge years ago.

Greg has the right idea in my way of thinking.
When you strike a blow with a hammer its similar to the way
rivets are set. Each blow of the hammer tends to expand the
shank making it tighter in the bore, therefore requiring
more force each time you strike at it.
The press puts an even steady pressure on the shaft and should
make it much easier to remove the pin. Pressing a long thin
pin like this out would be kind of tricky. If the punch that
you were using were not absolutely straight you take a chance
of it initially flying out like a bullet and taking you out.
Once it's started in the bore then it could bend or again,
snap and hit you. The ideal would be a long dowel pin mounted
in a pusher block.
Deve, as thorough and meticulous as you are, I'm surprised
that you would choose the cave man method to remove the old
hinge pins.

I haven't had a chance to completely go over Mike Bakken's
tech tip here on the forum. But, it looks like a very good
alternative to the original design and one which I might
try when the day comes that I need to rebuild my hinges.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I got an HF 20 ton shop press awhile back, so I will try to do it the delicate way next time. It really does depend on the tools you have at your dispose.

After many pins, some easy and some just plain cantankerous, I've found that HEAT, and plenty of it, is the key. Get it hot and watch it fall apart....well, a little persuasion. If you beat it with a hammer you'll also end up beating your brains out.

Heat is always an underutilized resource. Mostly because very few of us have other than a propane torch which isnt enough usually.

Its overlooked too often. If you have an oxy-acet system, this is the place to use it. I have one, but it sits in the corner and is rarely used. I forget I have it! Yes! Use every resource you can think of. In the past, I have had to have a ladder near my bench vise, so I can get higher, then a huge sledge hammer to come down with THE most force humanly possible and even then you do more damage to your vise or mounting than the hinge. Ive done several of these, and its amazing what NOT oiling the hinge properly can do over the years! I must add though, 100% success rate doing it the hard way with no damage to the hinge, but still.. it IS stupid. I wish I had Achipmunks around the shop!

I have access to a metal shop. No skills, but a group of old men who hang out there after spending their lives working in the trades. Two of them took pity on me and got it done. But it took a large hydraulic press, an oxy-acetylene torch, a cutoff grinder, and a big hammer & vise...back and forth between each. At one point the pin broke in the middle which allowed them to work on one end at a time. An hour later I went home with a new hinge pin in place, but I'd be there still if they hadn't stepped in.

Sounds like the toughest pin ever, right there!