The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Are you unhinged?

Maybe just on the right side? If you're in the 47 to 54 club and you want to get back on track, you can check these out...but just for the right side:

https://www.ecklers.com/chevy-truck-door-hinges-upper-lower-right-1947-1954-61-244169-1.html

Good luck but don't wait. I don't think you'll see this price again soon.

Unfortunately, the driver's side is the one that gets the most wear. usually passenger side is not bad.

Yes, in an ideal world it is that way but there is a flip side. The passenger's side door (since it isn't used as frequently) can have hinges with pins that have rusted to the swing arm in which they were originally designed to rotate. And that causes a bad sequence of events that ends with the pin breaking. The lower one being more problematic than the upper one.

I wish I could use some of the aftermarket hinges, I probably will never run across any hinge for my TF Low Cab Forward, they are a breed of their own. Lucky though they are roughly 1/4 inch thick and I should be able to rebuild the pin/hole.

There are many ways to make old hinges work again. These at $48.75 a pair (new) are pretty hard to pass up...and they only charged me $9 to ship them. I was actually looking for hinge pins to rebuild some hinges I have here when I ran across them.

Are aftermarket hinges worth a crap? I’m sure mine need rebuilt or replaced, but I sort of assumed a guy would be better off rebuilding originals rather than using repops.

In some cases rebuilding is fine. In many cases rebuilding involves a fair amount of work. Spring holes need to be welded and re-drilled as they'll be wallowed out (almost always) which is what allows the spring to fall out in the first place and in cases where the pin has rusted to the swing arm even getting it out can be a task and if the arm was pivoting where the knurled part is, you'll have to go with oversize pins or bolts/nuts or do some more creative welding/machining. And you'll probably have to do oversize anyway. You have to drill those exactly, too. Even 1/32" off translates into a fairly large difference in how your door sits at the latch end. I've seen guys use a hand drill and flat ruin a hinge thinking they were rebuilding it. There is only so far you can go, too...when you get to 3/8 inch, you're about finished. We'll see and I'll let folks know as soon as I can. By the time I get to it, the price on these may have changed...that part I can't say. It is worth $24 each plus shipping & tax for me to find out, though. I have a box of hinges I've collected over the years. Those that can be saved will be rebuilt and offered here...but I can't rebuild hinges correctly for $24 each. Hope that answer helps.

Jon, you're absolutely right about not being able to rebuild hinges for $24 each. I did mine with oversize pins and bushings. And you're right about the pins being seized in the bar and loose in the cage. Rebuilding hinges isn't for the faint of heart. The shop manual talks about bending the bars on hinges to align the doors, but that's likely beyond the capability of most on here. It wasn't something I wanted to attempt, but fortunately, the original hinges didn't need the bars bent. Repop hinges don't necessarily have that luxury, and may need to be tweaked to fit correctly.

I want to share my recent hinge problem, passenger side,(54 3100). Not meaning to steal the thread, but believe this relates directly.The door hinges have really no play at all in the hinge fit.
The door was getting stiff to move , then this late winter, it just got suddenly worse,
to where I was afraid they were about to seize completely. Took the hinges off, got the pins out with difficulty
but luckily no damage. Expecting to order a re-pin kit, I discovered that the pin itself had a sort of small cut in it
like you would maybe raise with a vee chisel.I assume it was rust flakes causing this. This little point was folded and galling the inside of the hinge.
I filed it flat and reassembled. Smooth as butter! Zero play in the hinge now.
Low mileage truck, doors in good shape. I feel grateful !
Charley.

When rebuilding hinges it is imperative to use a brand new drill bit of higher quality than what the big box hardware stores sell, and use a drill press to drill it to prevent the bit from walking, leaving you with too big of a hole.

Thanks for the input, guys. The best way I've found to drill out a hinge is with a lathe (so you can be certain of the center point of the pin on both ends and fasten the work very securely) but most folks don't have one of those. Go very slowly, too. As for bending the bars, that isn't easy. The best way is to have a hinge that is correct and use it as a guide. Even then it is a challenge.

The hinges arrived yesterday and at this point I'm impressed and optimistic. They may be very good. I won't know until I remove and paint a door I need to finish but I'm waiting on a non-windy day for that. The bottom one (where usually the worst results will happen with replacement hinges) seems to match the original and the fit of swing arm/cage is excellent. One thing: the maker left plenty of room for mounting bolts. This in my experience is one place where the repop hinges seem to have trouble. They stop short of leaving enough room and just a wee bit can make a door/hinge not work together as they should.