both doors on my 69 fhc are sticking a bit so I removed the interior door panels to adjust them. there are 4 tapered shoulder bolts and two #3 Phillips head screws that attach the hinge to the door. the 4 bolts go through the hinge and thread into the door, that's straight forward. but he two Phillips head screws are threaded into the hinge. can someone tell me what the purpose of these two screws is? they are completely missing on the passenger side.


thanks in advance.


bill

 

Hello Bill,
The two Phillip Head screws are to quickly obtain correct alignment of the door when reassembling it with the hinge after being separated for some purpose. The holes for these screws are drilled and tapped after initial, correct alignment of the door is made.

Its likely that the passenger side hinge has been replaced at some time, and the person carrying out the work didn't finish the job by drilling and tapping holes for these two screws.

Regards,

Brent

 

brent. thank you. I have managed to get both doors working pretty well by trial and error adjusting the strike plate and hinge bolts. I would like to move both doors forward by about 2-3 mm if possible. do you know how this can be done?


bill

 

Hi Bill,
To move the door forward,
1. Remove the two Phillip Head screw in the centre area of the component of the hinge that attaches to the door.
2. Loosen the four bolts that secures the door to the hinge and move the door forward
3. Tighten the four bolts
4. You won't be able to refit the two Phillip Head screws in the centre area of the hinge, as the holes tapped in the door plate will no longer be aligned with the corresponding holes in the hinge. If you wanted to use these two screws to allow quick alignment of the doors in the future, either two new holes have to be drilled and tapped, or the tapped holes in the door plate welded up and new holes drilled and tapped to correspond with the existing holes in the hinge.

Before loosening the four bolts that secure the door to the hinge, its a good idea to mark around the outside of the hinge to transfer its profile to the door frame. In this way you can easily determine how far you have moved the door forward (horizontally), and if you have allowed the door to move vertically at all.

Regards,

Brent

 

brent, thanks again. exactly what I did before I got your last reply. since I work alone I created a sling to hang the door from a come-a-long attached to the ceiling. this supported the door when the bolts were loose and allowed me to make incremental height adjustments. it was a trial and error process on the driver door then I realized I could adjust the strike plate then close the door with bolts loose and lay across the seats and tighten the bolts, then final tighten them with the door open.


this forum is great help for folks new to these fine old machines. bill

 

Hello Bill,
What also works to stop the door from dropping during the process of moving it fore or aft is to loosen all but one of the four clamping bolts; leave the top front bolt tight for example, then, if you wanted to move the door forward:

1. allow the back of the door drop slightly, resulting in it rotating about the tight top front bolt (in this example).

2. tighten the bottom front bolt and loosen the Top front bolt and lift the back of the door so that the bottom edge of the door is again parallel with the sill.

3. tighten the three loose bolts and check your progress - repeat if required.

The above will in effect, walk the door forward while offering resistance to the door moving lower in the door aperture during the process.

Regards,

Brent

 

The 4 tapered head bolts go through the thick aluminum hinge and thread into the door the two #12 screws are machine screws and are also threaded into the door so all 6 of these fasteners have to be removed to remove the door from the hinge. The door strap that goes at the bottom of the hinge is held to the hinge with two philips head machine screws it comes off with the door so you can remove it or leave it attached to the hinge.
If the hinges are tight or seized and oiling them won't loosen them-up then grind off the welded lump at the top and bottom of the pin then press or bash
the pin out (I had to press mine out). Find a piece of 7/16" cold finished bar and cut a piece off 1/4" longer than the steel frame of the hinge put the new pin in place reversing the brass washers that fell out, oil it and if it turns freely weld it in place. Be sure to weld it top & bottom like original welds. Oil it again after welding and reinstall..............or by a new one for $250. each!