The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 51 3100 trouble with door hinge removal

I have read some good posts about hinge pin removal and plan to do those to the driver side upper hinge but I see the pin has shifted upward and prevents the hinge from being removed. I have tried a chisel and a metal cutting sawzall but no luck. I just have to cut off the top of the pin to remove it. Very small working space to get in there. Any suggestions?

Are you trying to take the hinge apart while it's still mounted to the body? If so, that's going to be really tough. I don't think you can even access the pin that way.
You'll need to remove the three bolts holding it to the pillar and pull it out.

Sounds like your hinge is still in the truck and the pin has risen up, preventing you from removing the hinge from the hinge pocket?
You are in a tight spot, brother. Do you know anyone who has a cutting torch? A careful operator can burn it off quickly without collateral damage.
I select many of my friends based on their tool arsenal. (As I am sure that many treat in kind.)
Carl

Now I understand what's going on. I think it would be tough to get a cutting torch in there, but a long thin sawzall blade should get it. Just take it slow. Another option (albeit pretty drastic), would be to cut an access hole in the cowl panel, cut the pin off and weld the hole back up.

52Carl, That’s exactly what happened. I tried the sawzall metal cutting blade. No luck. Just seemed to leave marks on the pin. Is the pin hardened or did it just spin when trying to saw it( very hard to see as it is being sawed). What a small window to work in! Hate to cut the cowl panel but may have to. Maybe the torch next.

Here's another option before you cut the cowl panel open.

Maybe you can access the hinge pocket from under the dash. The dash support lines up with the hinge pocket and you might be able to get a prybar in there and push the pin down enough to get the hinge out. If the hinge pin is loose enough that it rotates when you try to saw it, it may push back down. You might have to soak it with penetrating oil. Here's a couple of photos. If they look weird, I took them of my cab upside down on the rotisserie and rotated them back right side up (in relation to the cab) That's not a toolbox on the ceiling in the background.

I tried to get in to the hinge pocket through your suggested access under the dash (circled in red in the photo). Unfortunately it only led to inside the hinge pocket. My issue is just behind the hinge pocket where the pin has risen up and prevents the hinge from sliding forward and out. Thanks anyway for the suggestion.

HMM? From what I can tell, you should be able to reach up to the top of the hinge pocket (the part that's attached to the body) and access the pin. It would definitely take an offset tool of some sort. Or maybe remove some of the sheet metal just above the dash attachment bracket to reach the pin. But you still may not be able to push it back down. I was going to stick the hinge back in my body to check the access, but the rotisserie is bolted to the hinge attachment and is in the way.
Maybe cutting a hole for torch access on the interior would be less of an issue, cosmetically.

So an update- I finally got the hinge out! I took both the hold open springs out and had a friend tilt the top of the hinge in while I took a crow bar and worked the bottom out. With quite a bit of force, the pin snapped and the hinge came out. Some small amount of bending of the thin sheet metal surrounding the hinge took place but bent it back with very little effort. A little banging back of the edge metal of the pocket and we’re in business. Now to get rebuild kit. Aah, is there anything better than the solid thunk of an AD truck door closing? I look forward to it.

Glad you got it out.

Even with the hinge pin in the right place, those buggers are a tight fit in the door pillar.

I was a little afraid to just rip mine out, but the guys here reassured me that was the way to go.

Im also glad to hear you got it out. I have been watching this thread and couldn’t wrap my head around how to solve it either without major damage. Good job. Newly rebuilt hinges go a long way to helping these old doors.


I love that sound of the door closing. It makes me smile every time too!

On a side note- what are the hold open spring holes in the hinge( the cast j-shaped piece) suppose to look like? As I look down on the hinge, I see the hole for the hinge pin and the hole for the spring. That hole has a little groove trailing from the spring hole. Is it suppose to be there? I looked at the other side spring hole and it had one too. Is this crucial for the function of the hold open feature or should I weld it flat, leaving the spring hole?

Snowman51 - take a look at this YouTube Video. It was very helpful to me when I "overhauled" the door hinges on my 1954 3600.



Good luck, time and patience are your friend.

I saw it- you’re right. Very helpful. Looks like I need do to some welding, drilling, and filing. Thanks to all for helping me solve this. I’m looking forward to the solid thunk of the door closing!

Back again. Upon looking for correct drill bits for hinge frame and hinge arm ( I assume the cast j-shaped piece). I have found conflicting suggestions (Deve says 11/32 for arm and R for hinge frame in one post, then 11/32 for hinge frame and R for arm in another??). Can anyone straighten me out? What are the correct drill sizes? I also saw the spring holes in the arm are 15/64”.

The correct size is dependent on the size of the replacement pin diameter. The kits that I have bought, provide information as to what size drill bit to use.