56 door hinge

[Ralph V.]

New member and not sure I am searching for the right thing. Tried door, hinges and some other combinations and nothing was coming up. I am starting to do the restoration on a 56 that has been in my wife's family for many decades. Both doors have hinges that are loose, yet the bolts are tight. I am thinking that whatever the door hinge bolts into needs be welded back in place or replaced. Haven't opened up anything to look yet, wanted to check here first. Thought I would see if anyone would have a suggestion as to what I should search for on the forum, or thoughts on what I should do to fix this part. Thanks!

[Richard M.]

Re: 56 door hinge

Hi Ralph, Welcome to the TDB....

When you say loose, can you see if the heavy brackets are moving where attached to the hinge pillar, or are you seeing movement at the hinge pins? It's common for the bushings and hinge pins to wear out over time. It's also possible that something loosened inside the door or the nut-plates in the pillar, but not common.

If the problem is the hinge pins, there are rebuild kits available. You'd have to remove the door from the hinges, then the hinges from the pillars.

Here's what the pin/bushing kit looks like....

zdr-429_47.jpg

In this Link you see a diagram of the hinges....Here.

Rich
p.s. To get more info from the archives in the Advanced Search, type this string into the box.....

( 195* OR 1960 OR 1961 OR 1962 OR "C1 " ) AND door AND hinge

and Click "Titles Only", then "Search Now" button.

It'll give more results and there are a few threads in there with more info.

[Mike M.]

Re: 56 door hinge

ralph: all 56 and early to mid-57 vets didn't have much support in the door pilar for the hinge assemblies. by mid 57, GM added steel bracing to the kick panel area that reinforces the hinge pilar area. what u are experiencing is a common problem for 56-mid 57 doors. you aren't gonna like the fix------to do it correctly, the top surround and front quarters will need to be removed . this allows one to get to where the fiberglass pieces that weaken and allow the door to sag. its a major deal fixing the door sag problem on a 56- mid 57. few shops are experienced to handle the repair. sorry to the be the bearer of bad news. good luck with the 56.when i restored 57 vin 1093, the drivers door sagged almost 2" off the striker. since i needed to replace the top surround and front quarters, i updated the early 57 with late 57 steel reinforcements.you can view 1093 in the restorer magazine that came out right after the national convention in Charolette nc.(its the restorer with 1093 on the cover of that issue of the restorer. mike

[Ralph V.]

Re: 56 door hinge

Thanks Mike and Richard. Went back and looked at the hinge last night. It looks like my issue is what Mike is describing. When I open the door, the part that connects to the frame moves rocks about an inch. Makes it so that I have to lift the doors on both sides to open or close. Planning a frame off, and this was the one part that I was thinking would be a major issue. Look forward to looking at 1093!

[Gary C.]

Re: 56 door hinge

Ralph,

Take before photos & during to show the car's not been rebodied.

Gary
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