The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Restoring Door Hinges - 1952 3100

I am seeking guidance on restoring the door hinges on my 1952 3100. Please see enclosed pictures. The new hinge pins came with brass bushings. The second picture depicts where I think the bushings would go... between the welded-on washers and the hinge bar itself. Please confirm. Secondly, it is clear to me that to use the bushings, we would have to drill the hinge pin hole in the hinge bar, to a bigger diameter than would be needed for just the hinge pin without the bushing. This wider diameter being only to the depth of the bushing itself. Am I seeing htis correctly? Do others use the bushings? Thanks in advance for your guidance on this matter.

That should work; when I've done mine on my 49 (and on other vehicles) I set it up so that the lower bushing was reversed from your picture, installed in the lower part of the "outside" piece. I have some done like that with a couple hundred thousand miles on them so it worked. But at the end of the day, what's important is that the pin is overall snug and the "rims" of the bushings are sandwiched between the two pieces of the hinge. Different ways to reach the same result.

I've never used bushings in these and I've not had trouble.

Have you tried the pins in the hinge? You should be able to assemble it partially to check. Maybe you won’t need them as in Jon G’s case.

Maybe they include the bushings in case the hinges are worn to the point the new pins are too sloppy.

In all the cases I've seen the replacement pins will be a slightly larger diameter and when you drill the hinge bar to that diameter you will be left with a nice new and round hole that will accept your new pin just right. The welded-on washers will probably have worn to the point your hinge bar isn't tight anymore. You can fix this three ways. One (not my choice), put the hinge in a large vise and squeeze it carefully to compress it so that the hinge bar just slides in. Two (my choice by far), get some washers and file them down so that they fit the gap which is there. Or you might find thin washers but only at a hardware store. You won't find anything like this at Home Depot or Lowes. I try to put one on top and one on bottom. Last hinges I rebuilt the welded on washers had come off on two of the four and I just made some new (and thicker ones) and welded them on instead. Three, if you really enjoy welding, then build up the top and bottom of the hinge bar and then file it off to fit your hinge...another that isn't my favorite choice, but there are many ways to skin a unicorn. Yes, to use those bushings, you will have to use a chucking reamer to widen the hole to accept them. But please consider this: when you do that, you'll have to weld and re-drill the hinge if you ever have to work on it again (or find bushings that match those exactly or machine new bushings) and the bushings are a lot softer than the metal of the hinge. Honestly I don't know why they sell them. The 1952 hinges didn't have any bushings when they were made and since the hinge design is such that the entire bar rotates around that pin, they're sort of un-necessary. Good luck!

I am not sure, but I believe that those hinge repair kits are for both A-D and Taskforce trucks. The bushings are needed for the Taskforce hinges, but may be handy to use on an extremely worn A-D hinge.

They're still used on my '98 C3500.

Luckily for me I did not have a lot of slop in my hinges on the 52 panel. I drilled the holes to accommodate the new pins and they worked well for many years.

My memory is getting bad but doesn't those hinge straps have a hole where you could squirt some lubricant in them? I sold my panel and can't go look but seems i remember the holes. I had thought about drilling them out and put a grease zerk in the hole or use a lubricant with a straw on it and squirt some in the hole.......anyone ever try that??

But if done correctly it will last for years. It may be adviseable to put some anti seize on the pin as you install it.

Jon G, I enjoyed your post. Your spot on!

There is a lubrication hole in the hinges, but they probably never got oiled (and the oil can't really get to the upper part of the hinge. The pins tend to seize in the bar and start turning in the outer part, wearing that out. That's the way mine were anyway. I had to get medieval on one or two of them to get the pins out.
A grease zerk is a great idea.
I may have to look into that. I'm not sure there's enough room to clear the hinge body, but I'll definitely check. I still haven't put mine back together yet.

Thanks! Yes, they do have a hole into which a grease zerk could be threaded if you drilled & tapped. But...my experience has been a lubricant like Lubriplate will last nearly forever and the bonus is in hot weather Lubriplate won't spread and make the hinge area look like you just fried hamburgers on it. Here is a link: https://tinyurl.com/4we5z2cx This is good up to about 175 degrees F and then after 180 F you'll be flirting with the drop point. Some of the new high temp wheel bearing greases would be ok to use on these, I think. Or mix Lubriplate with powdered graphite and that should be slippery for a long time. The problem with squirting oil in that hole is it doesn't migrate to the top of the hinge pin but it does drop down into your body.

Sorry Kevin...think we were typing at the same time.

There's a great video on YouTube by Jerry Kassis - " Chevrolet Pickup Door Hinge Restoration". Its detailed and proved very helpful when I "restored" mine. If you follow it, don't skip welding up the spring holes and re-drilling them....don't ask me how I know.

Many thanks, fellow Stovebolters. As usual, I learn a great deal for your guidance and experiences. So... I am going to rehab the hinges without using the brass bushings. Your discussions have convinced me that if the fittings between hinge parts are "tight enough", then I do not need them. You all know that the new pins require a little bigger hole to be drilled through the entire setup. That is OK with me. I am still hung up however, on the welded-in washers or spacers (see the pictures in my original post). I have 2 that have disappeared and I have one that is in my hands (fell off while I was disassembling the hinges), and I am determined to get them all back in place. Now I know I could stack a bunch of thinner washers to fill the space but... I would know they are there (oh, the worries of a perfectionist, especially one who has very little grip on the art of the possible). I have looked around (McMaster, etc) for the right sized washers to start with, but I have found nothing even close to the original thickness (around .16175 inches), OD around .661 and ID around .3115... not to worry, I will conquer this challenge one way or another HOWEVER... if you guys have some hints or tips that would save me a lot of work... let er rip! ... and as always, THANK YOU.

@Jon G - No worries. The Lubriplate is a good idea.
@Gib70 - I understand the perfectionist thing, but I wound up stacking regular washers and tack welding them in place, then drilling for the larger pins. If a guy had a lathe.....

Yes I am with you guys. I drilled and reamed my hinges .003" oversize then greased up with Lubriplate. .My go to lubricant.

During my door test fit ups with no rubber installed, the doors fully latch with a light push from wide open.
Good enough for me.

I believe there is actually a tech tip here on the bolt....so you may want to read it as well. The more info, the better the choices you make......let us know when you conquer the monsters!!

Interesting reading...maybe I need to rethink my approach. I've always used the bushings simply because they are always with the kits. I was "trusting the engineers". It's be easier to just use a pin and weld washers, turn some bushings if needed... and when that's actually a better end result, well... perfect!

For a different point of view, a friend who ran the paint/body shop for a large Chevy dealership told me in the mid 60s he never welded on the washers that had separated when repairing a worn hinge. He said his observation had been the ones that break loose are mostly the bottom ones and he figured it was because once they started running dry from lack of lubrication they'd seize the washer and tear it off when the door was open/closed (resistance caused by rust). As I said, another point of view.