Sagging Door on 52 Hornet

Unknown

Hi everyone, Don from Canada here. Working on my newly acquired 52 Hornet. passenger door is rubbing on the kickplate. Not sur what to do, I'm thinking maybe a bushing is wornout in the hinge. Although it looks like the previous owner just has a couple of threaded bolts in there on their own.any ideas, thx Don

RL Chilton

Hi Don! This is a common stepdown problem. You didn't say whether you had a 2dr or a 4dr. Regardless, symptoms and solutions are the same, but 2drs. are more prone to "sagging", due to the extra length, and weight. Particularly, the HLWYDS and CONVS. are most susceptible.



Things to look for:



1) Worn out upper hinge pin.

2) Elevated door sill.

3) Loose upper (and/or lower) hinge.

4) An uneven gap between front of door and fender, in particular, a bigger gap at the top of the door compared to the gap at the bottom of the door.

5) An uneven gap between rear of door and (whatever is behind troublesome door, either another door or the quarter panel), or a bigger gap at the bottom of the door compared to that at the top of the door.



Easiest fix is loose hinges. Somewhat harder is a worn hinge pin. Hinge can be removed, and a new pin can be made from a discarded valve stem. Needs to be a press fit with .005-.008 between the diameter of the pin and the diameter of the sleeve on the hinge. Equally harder, if pin is good and hinges are tight, then problem top hinge must be removed from car and door, heated and bent forward (towards front of car) in order to close the too-large of a gap. In other words, close the gap at the top of the door and this will raise the back of the door up off of the sill.



Assuming this is indeed your problem, which is usually the situation. Please fill us in a little more on where the erroneous gaps are in the door, and my advice can be verified.

[Deleted User]

Anyone have front door hinges for sale? Need a right and left, top and bottom. For stepdown. Thanks, Bob pbebop@gmail.com

rambos_ride

lockport123 wrote:

Hi everyone, Don from Canada here. Working on my newly acquired 52 Hornet. passenger door is rubbing on the kickplate. Not sur what to do, I'm thinking maybe a bushing is wornout in the hinge. Although it looks like the previous owner just has a couple of threaded bolts in there on their own.any ideas, thx Don

If all checks out that Russell mentioned more than likely you've got some cracks and or broken spot welds at the door side where the hinge mounts.

Check out this thread on my door repair on what to look for.

http://www.classiccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13575