Several questions about doors...

[johnbendik]

I have some issues with the driver's door that I have not been able to figure out from reading previous posts about doors and hinges.  I would welcome the collective wisdom of the Den.

Note: I suspect that a previous owner has worked on the door, because some things just don't seem right.

(1) Bushings: Do I have 'em? Do I need 'em?  Where the heck are they?
I have read posts that mention that they might be completely absent, and I wonder if that is the case with mine.  I assume that they should be visible as a kind of 'collar' around the hinge pin, but I see nothing like that on any of my doors.  All of my pins seem to go directly through the hinge brackets.  Am I completely off base about this?  Below are a couple of pictures of the upper and lower hinges, respectively:



(2) Fitment: How do I adjust the left-right positioning of the door within the door opening?  MIne is way too close to the front edge, and way too far from the back edge, as shown here:


I'm guessing that I need to move the hinge relative to the body to fix this.  Is that right?  It looks like I would need to take the door off to get to the attaching bolts of the hinge to the body, right?

(3) 'Stay open' feature: Mine doesn't!  From looking at the passenger door (which DOES stay open), I can see that that there is a tab on the top of the lower hinge with a couple of rollers on it, and that the rollers 'catch' on a vertical shaft that's part of the hinge.  On my driver's door, however, the tab is on the bottom of the lower hinge, and it just doesn't engage the shaft in the hinge.  Is the driver's side lower hinge on upside down?  Or is the roller just too worn, or out of position?

I also notice that both doors also have a tab on the upper hinge, but the upper tabs don't have any rollers mounted on them.  Could I fix the driver's door by adding rollers to the top hinge?

Lot's of questions, I know.  I hope I've explained things sufficiently.

Thanks to all who respond,
John Bendiksen

[Amc1320]

Hi john

Yes, I can see the bushings, they are brass looking and are on the hinge pins, the ones nearest the door, you can just see the coller part.

If you open your door can you lift it up and down? If you can a lot then those bushings are bad. Tennesee farmer on here sells them, I have replaced  many of them, not too hard

As far as fitment goes there is some adjustment you can make. The bolts that hold the hinge to the door can be loosened and you can move the door in relation to the hinge. Just do it a little as a little can be a lot! Actually it's best to have a friend hold the door, just don't get them too loose or it will get way out of wack. The nut part inside your door can move around when they are loose

For the door rollers lube them up real good, they look rusty and may be stuck and not moving out as far as they should.

Hope this helps, it's hard to describe in writing!

[Amc1320]

You can also take off the front tire, and then the plastic splash sheild and access the other side of the hinge. You can again loosen them a little and make some adjustments


Adjusting doors is a real pain to get them just right, we took all of them off when I painted mine several years ago and it was a real PITA to get them back right

[johnbendik]

Thanks, AMC1320.

My big mistake was not understanding exactly where the pivot point for the door movement was; I had stupidly assumed that it was the larger 'pin' in the background, which I now realize is just there to strengthen the hinge bracket.  Now that you've pointed them out, I can see the bushings, and I'm glad to report that mine seem just fine: no up and down movement to the door at all.  So I can scratch that off of the worry list.

The rollers that control the 'stay open' feature are free to turn; they just don't reach the vertical pin that they're supposed to catch on, probably just worn down from use.  I don't see any way to replace them other than replacing the whole hinge.  There is what looks like a screwdriver slot in the top of each roller axle, but when I look closer it doesn't seem to be removable.  Unless someone here knows otherwise?  I'm guess I'm just going to have to learn to live with it.

That leaves to remaining problem: the positioning of the door within the frame.  I can't quite visualize what you suggested about loosening the bolts holding the door to the hinge and moving the door back that way.  When the door is closed, those bolts are oriented to allow 'up and down' adjustment, and 'in and out' adjustment, but not 'front to back'.  I could make a 'spacer plate' to bolt between the door and the hinge, and move it back that way, but if I'm going to go to that much trouble I should probably do it the right way (remove the door and re-position the door hinge on the body).

Thanks again for your help,
John Bendiksen

[AMC of Houston]

Its not the hinge-to-door bolts you need to get to; its the hinge-to-body bolts you need to loosen to move the door the you need to go.   Three on each hinge if I remember correctly; and a PITA to get a tool on.

[johnbendik]

I'm reviving this old topic because I'm finally ready to tackle this (the fitment of my driver's side front door)..

How DO I get to the hinge-to-door bolts?  Will I see them if I remove the fender liner? Or do I have to go through the interior?

Thanks,
JB

[amcfool1]

hi john, in 2015, i did 3, yes three, AMC doors, so my memory is still fresh. 2 on an Eagle, one on a Hornet. Ok, here's what you do:
 Tools; 1 regular 1/2" wrench,  One 1/4" drive ratchet with a 1/2'  socket., a 5/16" and a 3/8" nut driver/or socket. One T47 torx socket. AND, VERY important, one helper, next to impossible to do by yourself. Also, a good punch set .
First, take off the door, this is the easy part, all you need to do, is, using a regular 1/2'  wrench, is take out the six bolts, 3 upper, three lower on the door. Of course you know to disconnect any speaker wires, etc. remove door, set aside.
Now you have access to the hinge bolts on the body, a bit of a pain, but accessible with a 1/4" ratchet.. Now you also want to remove the fender liner. Don't really have to take the wheel off, ( I didn't), but may be easier for you. You can reach in from the wheel well, (a droplight helps!) and remove bolts Again, three upper, three lower.
OK, door is off, you have both hinges in your hand, right?  Wash, degrease, repaint now.Now, to rebuild the hinges, hey, this is still the easy part! There are a couple of ways to do this, you can order AMC repop hinge pins/bushings these days, and go stock. I started doing this before these were available, so this is how I do mine.
Get NAPA #675-5142 pin bushing kit. need two, about $5. each.,$10./door, this is a GM/universal pin/bushing.. OK, put your hinge in a vise, and knock out the pin, should be easy, since they are worn out. There will probably be bits of brass bushing left, and will fall out. Your hinge is now in two pieces, right? OK, Inspect the holes where the bushings were. Are they mostly ok?  If so, GENTLY tap the new bushing in. The NAPA bushing is the EXACT size of the AMC hole. Remember to orient the lip correctly. Ok, now for the pin. The pin is NOT the same size, a couple of thousands larger. Don't panic, it's ALL good. put the pin half of the hinge in a vise, and drill out with a "R" drill. You are only going a couple thousands over, so being PERFECTLY straight is not that big a deal, but try to drill as straight as you can, both holes, top and bottom. OK, now you have two more or less brand new hinge pieces. Put  them together in the appropriate orientation, and GENTLY tap the new pin through. It can point up or down, doesn't really matter. If you get confused about orientation, check your passenger door, the hinges are EXACTLY the same, just  upside down. In other words ALL Hinges are the same, just mounted differently. Do the same for the other hinge. You will notice one has the midstop and one doesn't, all good. Remember which went on top, and which on bottom Midstop goes on bottom.
OK, now you have two brand new/rebuilt/cleaned/painted door hinges in your hand. Whew, believe me, that was the easy part.
OK, now to rehang the door, you WILL need a helper, those doors are real steel and HEAVY! Ok, bolt hinge loosely to frame, meaning from inside the fenderwell, have helper hold door, and bolt door to hinge. do not tighten. DOOR will be WAY out of alignment. OK, now this is the hard part, getting the sucker back in line. Basically this is where my instruction ends. from now on it's trial and error, unless you're an experienced body man. you tighten a couple of bolts see how the door closes, too low, you loosen and lift, tighten again, etc, etc. You may do this 20/30 times, it's a skill, but don't give up, the answer is out there! Last but not least, you can adjust the striker bolt, T47. good luck, gz

[amcfool1]

so, how is it going with the door? gz

[Murdoc1905]

hi john, in 2015, i did 3, yes three, AMC doors, so my memory is still fresh. 2 on an Eagle, one on a Hornet. Ok, here's what you do:
 Tools; 1 regular 1/2" wrench,  One 1/4" drive ratchet with a 1/2'  socket., a 5/16" and a 3/8" nut driver/or socket. One T47 torx socket. AND, VERY important, one helper, next to impossible to do by yourself. Also, a good punch set .
First, take off the door, this is the easy part, all you need to do, is, using a regular 1/2'  wrench, is take out the six bolts, 3 upper, three lower on the door. Of course you know to disconnect any speaker wires, etc. remove door, set aside.
Now you have access to the hinge bolts on the body, a bit of a pain, but accessible with a 1/4" ratchet.. Now you also want to remove the fender liner. Don't really have to take the wheel off, ( I didn't), but may be easier for you. You can reach in from the wheel well, (a droplight helps!) and remove bolts Again, three upper, three lower.
OK, door is off, you have both hinges in your hand, right?  Wash, degrease, repaint now.Now, to rebuild the hinges, hey, this is still the easy part! There are a couple of ways to do this, you can order AMC repop hinge pins/bushings these days, and go stock. I started doing this before these were available, so this is how I do mine.
Get NAPA #675-5142 pin bushing kit. need two, about $5. each.,$10./door, this is a GM/universal pin/bushing.. OK, put your hinge in a vise, and knock out the pin, should be easy, since they are worn out. There will probably be bits of brass bushing left, and will fall out. Your hinge is now in two pieces, right? OK, Inspect the holes where the bushings were. Are they mostly ok?  If so, GENTLY tap the new bushing in. The NAPA bushing is the EXACT size of the AMC hole. Remember to orient the lip correctly. Ok, now for the pin. The pin is NOT the same size, a couple of thousands larger. Don't panic, it's ALL good. put the pin half of the hinge in a vise, and drill out with a "R" drill. You are only going a couple thousands over, so being PERFECTLY straight is not that big a deal, but try to drill as straight as you can, both holes, top and bottom. OK, now you have two more or less brand new hinge pieces. Put  them together in the appropriate orientation, and GENTLY tap the new pin through. It can point up or down, doesn't really matter. If you get confused about orientation, check your passenger door, the hinges are EXACTLY the same, just  upside down. In other words ALL Hinges are the same, just mounted differently. Do the same for the other hinge. You will notice one has the midstop and one doesn't, all good. Remember which went on top, and which on bottom Midstop goes on bottom.
OK, now you have two brand new/rebuilt/cleaned/painted door hinges in your hand. Whew, believe me, that was the easy part.
OK, now to rehang the door, you WILL need a helper, those doors are real steel and HEAVY! Ok, bolt hinge loosely to frame, meaning from inside the fenderwell, have helper hold door, and bolt door to hinge. do not tighten. DOOR will be WAY out of alignment. OK, now this is the hard part, getting the sucker back in line. Basically this is where my instruction ends. from now on it's trial and error, unless you're an experienced body man. you tighten a couple of bolts see how the door closes, too low, you loosen and lift, tighten again, etc, etc. You may do this 20/30 times, it's a skill, but don't give up, the answer is out there! Last but not least, you can adjust the striker bolt, T47. good luck, gz

This needs to be Sticky'd somewhere!