Removing Door Hinges
I?m trying to change the driver?s door on a J92 Ford Fiesta Mk3. I?ve stripped the door down and removed everything so that the door is only connected to the car by the two hinges. I?ve bought the correct hinge pin removal tool from Sykes Pickavant, it fits but I can?t shift the pin. I guess been stuck in the hinge for 13 years its become clogged up with all types of gunge.
I?ve tried spaying WD40 around the pin and heating it up with a blowtorch but to no avail I just cant hammer the bleeding hinge pin out.
What would a professional do in these circumstances? Any advise greatly received.
P
|
Its not they become gunged up.they wear into hinge..would assume the door drops as it is opened.Try using a jack to hold door upright so it is level/lifting lock end of door then try removing..they can be a pain but usually shift in the end!
--
Steve
|
Sorry Steve but I got to disagree with you on this one. Mk3 Fiesta's are notorious for having seized hinge pins, I have dealt with quite a few over the years and they rarely come out in one piece now that the cars have reached this age.
The first thing to try is whacking them as hard as you can using your removal tool. Obviously this isn't that easy because of the very limited access. If you are hitting them hard enough either one of two things will happen: 1, the pin will come out, 2, the head of the pin will snap off.
If it still doesn't shift then the professionals would use a pair of oxy-acetelyne bottles to warm the hinges up and then drift the pins out. This will usually necessitate painting the inside edge of the door and will also require some new pins for the hinges. The pins are around £6 (trade) from Ford if I remember correctly.
|
Cheers Guys
.*********
Ill have another go this weekend.
|
|
Well I?ve managed to remove the old door by hack sawing through the side of the hinge that was connected to the car door. This is the part that I don?t want to was willing to damage. This is allowed easier access to the pins, I?ve hit them that hard that I?ve broken the removal tool, I?ve tried to saw through the pins but the steel they are made of is very tough, these suckers are well and truly determined not to come out. I think my only option is to cut them out with a oxy/act torch. Is it easy enough to hire these things out?
|
I have never heard of the equipment being hired out, and I think the only place that may hire out oxy-acetylene equipment would be one of the trade places. Likely to be expensive though.
Never done the job, but you probably need acetylene rather than propane to get the heat input with a small flame.
If you have a trailer, or can secure the door temporarily, you would probably be better taking the car to a small independent for this part of the job.
|
|
You can hire O A sets from most hire shops,including HSS.Problem is it is not cheap and you pay for full bottles of gas even if you only use a small amount.Even with the small sets that is loads more than you will need.As CD says,best bet is get the car to a garage,or possibly find a mobile welder who would come round and heat them up.
|
Ford bodyshops deal with this problem all the time, many of our used Fiestas had dodgy door hinges that needed to be re-welded in, our service guys couldn't actually fix the hinge without welding a new one on.
If you can find a good one they may be able to advise you. Whatever happens I don't think this will be dirt cheap!
Blue
|
|
Used a small angle grinder to cut the door off, and then cut through the side of the hinge connected to the door, cutting the pins in half. Once Id done this, I managed to knock the pieces of pin out for the top hinge, but had no such look with the bottom one, so I?m going to drill the hinge pin out, which is not easy and will take some serious drilling. If this doesn?t work, I?m going to pay some mobile mechanic to cut the hinge off the car body and weld a new one on. Not got any quotes for prices yet though.
|
|
|
