1968 gas door hinge

[Sal C.]

Are the hinges on 1968s (the ones riveted to the gas door) chromed or dull cad. All of the un-restored ones I see seem to be a dull finish to me.

[Jack C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Here you go Sal, #9643, dull.

[Sal C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Thanks Jack. Are those screws black?

[Jack C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

The screws are more brownish than black now however, not chrome.

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Sal,

The 4 black (now brownish) screws that Jack has attaching the bezel could also be chrome screws. Both types were used.

[Brandon T.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

THe lid on mine doesn't stay up by itself I was told a spring to keep it up came in 69 is that true?

or is my 68's lid supposed to stay up?

thanks

[Jack C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Brandon, no detent spring to hold it in the open position on the 68's.

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

I would think that the gas lid is suppose to stay up. The spring, from what I remember seeing, is rivited to the underside portion of the hinge area and is not reproduced. What I did with mine that had been broken long ago is to cut a small black rubber hose (smaller hose the better) about an inch long and then make a slice on the side of the hose. Place the sliced area over the hinge portion that slides next to the bezel and the friction with the hose and hinge holds the lid in place just fine. It's also hard to tell it's there unless you are looking for it.

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Jack,

I see that the JM says there was no spring in 68 or 69 to hold the gas door open. Could this be wrong? I'm sure I've seen a spring. Please advise.

[Jack C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Terry, I'll have to wait for a warmer day to go out in the garage and take mine off to take a look for any evidence that there was a spring there at one time. Nice idea with the hose.

[John C.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

There should be a spring to hold both 68 (late cars at least) and 69 fuel doors open. It is a U shaped spring that is riveted to the bottom of the door bezel. In 69 it also included a rubber bumper.

In the attached picture a 68 door is on the left and a 69 on the right.

John

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Thanks John for the pictures,

I knew I remembered seeing it. The spring wedges the door hinge and keeps it open.

[Jim T.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

There should be a spring to hold both 68 (late cars at least) and 69 fuel doors open. It is a U shaped spring that is riveted to the bottom of the door bezel. In 69 it also included a rubber bumper.

In the attached picture a 68 door is on the left and a 69 on the right.

John

Thanks for posting the pictures John. My original owner FEB built 68 did come with the u-shaped spring to hold the gas door open. I gave up on getting a replacement spring. I personally searched through the GM Corvette parts book back in the early 80's. All I could find was the spring for a later year after 1970. Don't remember the exact year the spring design was changed. I ordered the later model one just to see what I would get. Totally different design spring.
My 70 uses the same spring setup as my 68. I still have the original spring for it, but it is not attached. I am considering using JB Weld to attach it.
Wonder how many 68-70 Corvettes do not have this spring anymore? I was lucky on my 70, it was still clipped to the raising portion of the hinge

[Terry B.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Jim,

Thanks for your confirmation of the spring. I hope earlier build original owners of '68 will help confirm the earlier existance of the spring too. Looks as if a change needs to be made in the '68-'69 Judging Manual when it says no springs held the door open in either 68 or 69.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1968 gas door hinge

Thanks for posting the pictures John. My original owner FEB built 68 did come with the u-shaped spring to hold the gas door open. I gave up on getting a replacement spring. I personally searched through the GM Corvette parts book back in the early 80's. All I could find was the spring for a later year after 1970. Don't remember the exact year the spring design was changed. I ordered the later model one just to see what I would get. Totally different design spring.
My 70 uses the same spring setup as my 68. I still have the original spring for it, but it is not attached. I am considering using JB Weld to attach it.
Wonder how many 68-70 Corvettes do not have this spring anymore? I was lucky on my 70, it was still clipped to the raising portion of the hinge

Jim------


The 68-70 fuel door bezel assembly was an exceedingly poor design. The "hold open" spring FREQUENTLY breaks off of the "spun" rivets which retain it to the bezel. The spring was never available as a separate part from GM.

Many years ago, after replacing 2 of the bezels on my 1969 due to the spring breaking off, I converted my car to the 1971-74 design. From a functional perspective, this is a MUCH better design. By "notching" the bezel in the front, one can use the 69-70 style door WITHOUT removing the "hold down" bracket from the door. Then, if one wanted to return the system to the original style bezel for judging, it would only be an easy 10 minute job. Believe me, judging is the ONLY reason I could see to go back to the original design bezel.

Although I think that JB Weld would work to retain the spring, I think if I were going to repair one of these bezels, I'd simply drill and tap the bezel for small machine screws to retain the spring.

My BIG concern with the original design bezel: when trying to disengage the lid from the "hold open" spring, a significant amount of force can be required. I consider this deleterious to the rear deck and the paint on the rear deck. I can easily see where cracking of either could be "induced". Also, when disengaging the door from the "hold closed" device, the same sort of force needs to be applied in the opposite direction. I realize that the "hold closed" tension is adjustable but, under just about any circumstance, some significant force will be required to disengage the door.

The 71-74 design COMPLETELY eliminates the need for any force to be applied to open or close the door. In my mind, the ONLY way to go.