I needed to replace a broken door hinge. Its a simple procedure, but I figured I would quash the rumour that the fender needs to come off.

Step 1:

Support the door with something. I used some cardboard box and a pillow. It is important to have two people for this job. One to hold, one to wrench.

Step 2:

Remove two bolts on the upper hinge, and three bolts on the lower hinge that hold the door to the hinges. I used a 12mm box end wrench. You will find that one of the lower bolts is behind the other. Remove the front bolt first, and this will give you access to the behind bolt.

Step 3:

Swing the now free door towards the front of the car. Have a friend hold it here. Reach into the fender with a 12mm wrench, just above the wire harness. Reach back and take off the three bolts holding each hinge on. Its easier to access the bolts from the front side of the hinge. You may want to mark the position of the old hinges so you can line them up properly.

Step 4:

Install new hinges and replace the door. Installation is pretty much reverse of removal. You will want to make sure the door is aligned correctly and be very slow closing it for the first time. Watch the front panel gap.

Step 5:

Apply some white lithum grease to the swivel points. Go easy, it doesnt need much.

Step 6:

Time for a beer.

And some images:

Old:


New (After spraying with correct paint):




Door free:


New installed:

 

Excellent write up as usual

 

Here's how you adjust the do hicky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAqxCbNQdrY

__________________

 

last time i did this i had the door supported on a floor jack, and when you go to put the door back on it makes it really easy to align, cause you can raise it up and down...

FB > FC, the FC door is like 4 dimensional

 

The top bolt on the upper hinge is a pain to get to.

While pulling off my doors of my car and my parts car, i was only able to get that bolt off of 1 of them, the rest it was stuck and its hard to get a good grip on it.

Found it much easier to pull the fender off, and hit the inside bolts, than to try to get those bolts off, and then trying to line it all up again with limited space. It only took me 10 minutes to get the fender off.

 

getting the fender off is never the problem

 

putting it back on wasnt too bad either. Was pretty easy to get it lined up.

and +1 to using a jack vs boxes and pillows.

 

Last time I pulled a door, I did it single handed, nothing under it, and I used a 90* air ratchet to remove the bolts. Being an apeish MF helped holding onto the door with one arm and running the air ratchet with the other. I needed a hand to get it back on tho.


Great write up. I need to replace the lower hinge on my drivers door.