Door hinges

[Jeffrey G.]

The steel hinge plate that is riveted to the door on my 64 roadster is loose. How is this repaired?

[Russ S.]

Re: Door hinges

You aren't referring to the plate the the hinge bolts screw into are you? If so, they are suppose to be loose.

[John H.]

Re: Door hinges

The steel hinge plate that is riveted to the door on my 64 roadster is loose. How is this repaired?

Jeffrey -

If you're referring to the door hinge pillar reinforcement (green zinc chromated stamped steel part in photo below), it was attached to the door shell with conventional soft aluminum body rivets before the door outer skin was bonded. When the rivets loosen up 50 years later, there's no access to get back in there in the cramped quarters of a fully-assembled door to replace and re-buck those rivets. One fix is to use 1/4"-20 x 1-1/4" steel projection weld studs with the heads smoothed in a lathe; once installed with nuts and washers and painted, they look just like the original rivets. The projection weld studs are available from industrial supply houses like McMaster-Carr, Grainger's, Fastenal, etc.


DoorHingeReinf.jpgHingeReinfStuds800.JPG

[Jeffrey G.]

Re: Door hinges

Thanks for the great info. Do you know a good way to remove the original rivets?