Most Boring Door Hanging/Hinge pin Adventure in the World

[politeperson]

The doors on my fhc have always been a bit difficult to open.

Pushing the button and pulling from the outside risked pulling fingernails.

From the inside you had to use your shoulder to get out.

Also it was obvious the drivers door had dropped 5mm or so. The doors waggled ¼ inch or so up and down when lifted at the ends.

So my weekend project was to fix this.

The first thing I did was to read the articles in the Knowledge Base.

This involved the excellent hinge repinning article and door hanging articles.

Armed with this knowledge, this is what happened on Saturday and Sunday.

First, I removed the handles, winders door cards etc.

Then, using a trolley jack with wood I supported the weight of each door. I unbolted the hinge from the post first. Removed each door with the hinges on, then removed the hinges completely.



I removed the check straps and took pictures of the hinges.

Then I ground off the pin welds and drifted out the pins, removing 2 spaced brass washers carefully when the pins were free.



Then, I reamed out the alloy part of the hinge from 7/16 to 1/2 inch, to get a tight fit on some ½ inch bright bar. Getting that right was a matter of finishing off by hand, so that the bar would tap in lightly but not bind.

I reassembled the hinges.

It was now lunchtime on Saturday.

I cleaned down the hinges, rubbed them with 800, primed them and painted them body colour. This took an hour.

I then fitted a hinge to the driver's door, mounted the trolley jack to take the weight of the door and then carefully bolted the hinge to the a post with the 4 bolts.

Using the 3 bolts undone, one pinched up method, I rotated the hinge in 2 stages so I could check the front of the door was flush top and bottom, without the leading edge of the door catching on the scuttle when closing.

I tightened the 4 door bolts in alignment with the 2 screw holes, used in the factory and shut the door.

To my surprise, with the latch removed, the door shut just over center, with perfect gaps all round. First time lucky on that side. I did notice that the window frame was a bit proud at the top. This was caused by a bottom bracket being loose (easily adjusted) and a small spilt in the door frame at the top allowing the frame to flex outwards.

Out with the welder and all was fixed in a couple of minutes.

I then noticed that the rear quarterlight was loose. The chrome pillar behind the door was waggling around, interfering with the chrome door window rails. It is held in place with 2 screws at the base. So I readjusted it away from the door to get clearance.


However, The B- post latch interfered with the door striker pin on closing- however it was positioned.

Close inspection of the B post on the drivers side revealed the latch part of the B-post was dented, so the latch was too far recessed into the B post panel and this was causing the interference with the door striker.

I screwed in a couple of unf bolts into the captive plate in the B post and carefully using a supported jemmy lever, pulled the whole B--post section including the captive plates, ¼ of an inch or so towards the front of the car.

Now the door would close all the way without the pin hitting the latch. You could just hear the wheel spinning nicely.

However, once latched, the door was sitting 3mm proud at the B-post. And grabbing the handle I could wobble the door in and out a few annoying millimeters.

So I moved the latch outward which allowed the door latching mechanism wheel to rotate onto the second cog position, bringing the door perfectly in line again and stopping the wobble.

My rubbers were not causing me any issues.

The second door was easier.



So now my doors open and close like a Rolls Royce.

What a lot of work. At least it only cost me £1.50 for some bar.

[Series1 Stu]

Nice work!

I always say that its the repairs that cost you nothing (or very little) that are the most satisfying.

I would say that was a weekend well spent.

Regards

[politeperson]

Thanks Stu,

Getting e-type doors ( or any old car doors) to close correctly is time consuming, that is for sure.

However, it transforms the feel of the car and is well worth it.

My conclusion is that if you know what you are doing, it is 2 days well spent.

It certainly wasnt as boring as I pretend. I enjoyed putting the theory into practice.

Without this forum, I would probably not have had the confidence to attempt it.

I could look for the problems and understand what was going on.

Thanks Dave I say.

So thanks Dave and company (again) for maintaining such an excellent forum.

[Hugo]

You're right - it's boring - I was waiting for the punch line where it all went horribly wrong! Want to come & do mine sometime?

[politeperson]

Thanks Hugo,

Sorry about the punchline.

I Don't think I shall try and make a career out of door hanging. Once a year is enough.

James

[nefematic]

Nice job, congratulations on getting it done right! I'll be taking this on shortly thanks for the report. May I ask - what colour is your car and do you have a paint code you would share?

Martin

[politeperson]

Hello Martin,

Thanks.

The secret to Opalescent Silver Grey is that there is that Jaguar used more than one shade. Mine is the light shade.

The paint is from Vehicle Refinishing Service in Boston, 01205 311914. The same guys there have been supplying me with high quality paint products for over 20 years.

They will make the colour and post it anywhere in the world. Originally we scanned the 1969 paint on the fuel filler and luckily the computer matched it to an existing Jaguar formula.

If you want some just give them the number and say you want the same colour as James' E type. They will know exactly what you want.

It is a base coat/lacquer system, I only use the base coat. When I get old, I might lacquer it!

However I like it how it is.

The code for the paint is 44938, Jaguar Opalescent Silver Grey.

A darker shade of Jaguar OSG exists (much darker) 8116M. That is incorrect for my car but is a lovely colour also.

Over the last two years I have purchased small pots for stone chip touching in, large pots and ready mixed aerosol cans. It always matches perfectly which has been a great help.

[rfs1957]

I think that's absolutely the most interesting and captivating door-hinge-pin article I've ever read.

Boring, James ? Keep them coming ...........

For the life of me I can't find the hinge-pin replacement article referred to in your article, located in the Knowledge Base ?

I've got the CMC door articles x 2 printed out, from the KB, but the only details of the pin replacement I can find are found in this pretty comprehensive exposé

https://newhillgarage.com/2011/09/28/ar ... oor-hinge/

plus are a few references in Jag Lovers exchanges.

Working from the principle that I ought to read as much as possible before I give this a go (Ed - and then ignore all you've been told ?), could some kind soul point me in the right direction, please ?

Many thanks.

[Philippe-J.]

Rory,

my experience is limited but it includes that mod though. Our problem here in France is it is complicated to get a rod diameter slightly bigger than 12 mm (1/2"), so it is a one shot process. However 12 mm should have been ok in my case to fill the play that my hinge got after 60 years on the driver side. BUT...
As a matter of fact I missed the right setting for the reamer, by few /100 mm. As a result, there was as much play with the new rod as previously . Back to box one...
The solution was to subcontract a new reaming to a friend of a friend who I heard about as a retired "fraiseur / tourneur". He made the adjustment, to 12.1 mm diameter, perfect. But he has all the tool required to machine this extra french standard size. And he had the know-how too I must say :

Pay attention that you need to grind the ID of the washers on top and bottom of the hinge, too, and that is not straightforward to machine as those are very thin.

[Geoff Allam]

Fwiw hardened steel rod is available in 11.5 mm which is just slightly larger than the original pins. I bought mine on Amazon. This gives you a second kick at the cat if you mess up as it is also available in 12 mm.from the same source.

[rfs1957]

Thanks Geoff,

I found a 30cm length of 12mm silver-steel ground bar on Le Bon Coin (our Gum Tree, but on steroids) for 15€, we call it STUB over here, pronounced à la française.

I never knew why until just know, turns out it was originally made by STUBBS in Warrington !

https://www.doga.fr/usinage/partenaires/ps-stubs

Beat that for an irrelevant contribution.

Anyway, I'll have a rare E-Type with ground silver-steel door pivots, all I have to do now is ream the holes to have a trueness that does justice to the pin quality and surface finish ..............

[UK Muppet]

Hi Rory, I don't want to put a dampener on your efforts but how do you intend retaining the silver steel pin? It will harden if you try to weld it, though I doubt it would weld.
Good luck.

[rfs1957]

Yes, Tony, you may have a point.

I was aware that "it can't be welded" but I thought this meant it "shouldn't be welded" because of it's propensity to harden, and crack.

I had imagined that putting a blob to secure it to the hinge webs would be of no consequence, but will definitely do a test piece or two before I commit.

I'm actually more concerned about reaming the alloy hinge block, as using those multi bladed hand dreamers, in my experience, produces a waisted bore with entry and exit zones that are anything but true.

Yeah yeah it's only an effing door.......

[Series1 Stu]

If my memory serves me correctly, when I was in the workshop we used silver solder in silver steel joints.

Or maybe you could braze it?

Regards

[Geoff Allam]

“ I'm actually more concerned about reaming the alloy hinge block, as using those multi bladed hand dreamers, in my experience, produces a waisted bore with entry and exit zones that are anything but true”

I was also worried about the reaming so instead of using a set size reamer I purchased an adjustable one which allowed me to sneak up on the desired size. In regards to the concern about welding the pin you have you might want to just buy the ones I mentioned from amazon. They weld perfectly well and it was also no problem reproducing the flat oiling channel with a hand file.

[rfs1957]

I'll be reverting to less exotic stuff, the STUB was just because it was an easy picking, best saved for something else.

I'll indeed be using an adjustable 11 - 12mm reamer, but those are precisely the type where the entries and the exitings tend to bell-end the bore.

[angelw]

Rory Wrote:

I'll be reverting to less exotic stuff

Hello Rory,
You will see no advantage using anything more exotic than Bright Mild Steel shaft; its the bore of the hinge that gets flogged out, not extreme wear of the shaft component.

Regards,

Bill

[rfs1957]

Yes Bill, of course, it was a bit of a joke the silver-steel, it was just very convenient ; I was more concerned at getting the nice regular diameter - that came with it - than its composition.

[angelw]

Rory Wrote:

I was more concerned at getting the nice regular diameter

Hello Rory,
The following assumes that you have at least an el-cheapo drill press available.

You will find that the flat surface of the hinge that interfaces with the door, is in the same plane as the axis of the pivot hole in one direction. Accordingly, if that face is clamped against the vertical face of Angle Plate, mounted on the drill press, the pivot hole in one plane will be vertical. By inserting a reasonably neat fitting rod in the bore that is long enough for a couple of inches to protrude above the upper mouth of the bore, the hinge can be tapped around until the shaft is vertical in the second plane. If a suitable piece of shaft is not available, you can use your adjustable hand reamer, adjusted so that it just fits into the bore with mild resistance. The shaft of the Reamer can then be used to get the bore set vertical in the second plane.

The adjustable Hand Reamer will have a 60 degree conical centre hole at both ends and it's the one at the square drive handle end that is of interest. Chuck a short piece of circa 5/16" material having a 60 degree point (if you don't have a lathe to make the 60 degree point, or a piece of material with such a point, one can be created by chucking the piece of shaft and use a file and the rotation of the Drill Press Spindle to form a point that will be close enough to 60 degrees for the application) in the Drill Press and locate the fixtured hinge under the spindle of the drill press. With the hand reamer a snug fit in the existing bore of the hinge, move the fixture until the 60 degree point of the pin in the chuck of the drill press enters the centre hole of the hand reamer without any visible deflection.

When satisfied that the Spindle of the Drill Press and the reamer are in close alignment, lock the table of the Drill Press in position and clamp the Angle Plate to the table of of the Drill Press. Some Drill Presses have a configuration that will allow the surface of the table to be rotated to be in the vertical plane. This feature can be used if you don't have a suitable Angle Plate.

Once the above has been completed. the handle end of the reamer can be supported and guided by the spindle of the Drill Press via the 60 degree pointed pin. As the reamer is rotated, follow it in with the spindle of the Drill Press maintaining mild to moderate pressure on the end of the reamer. If attention to the setup has been good, the quality of the fresh cut bore will be likewise.

You can buy, for not much money, a purpose built device that serves the same purpose as the 60 degree pointed pin. It has spring loaded, 60 degree pointed shaft, where the whole assembly is chucked in the Drill Press. In use, the Spindle of the Drill Press is brought down to locate in the centre hole of the reamer untill the spring loaded device is partly compressed. This device helps maintain a constant amount of end thrust on the cutting tool. This device and method is excellent when hand tapping in a part that can be placed on the table of a milling machine, or drill press.

Regards,

Bill

[hovrlovr]

Hint.... If you are removing a door, scribe around the hinges, making installing much easier... worked great for me