Hi everyone,

I'm looking to hide the door hinges on my '61 bug however noticed that there is a problem that stops me working in standard hinges from another car.

The standard bug items allow the door to come out/away from the body whilst it actually pivots, whereas other cars have a cavity in the a pillar that allows the door to open into.

I was wondering if you could reccomend another car that has the door open away from the body as well, or another alternative? I think from memory the Kombi does this but am not 100% sure.

Cheers,
Cam

Cam

Ive also been looking into this, and was going to do it very shortly. there used to be a place in England that sold the kits, but they have stopped making them now.

Ive looked at other car and its going to be a lot of stuffing around

ok for some reason i can't reply to cam's topic. The company in the uk selling the hidden hinges is Machine 7 and as far as i know they still do. Another company that was selling the same thing was SPP on the southcoast of the uk. I'll have a look through my stuff for contact details ....



steff..........................

sorry, no reply button!?! Cam, as you probably know the splitties had hinges just as ugly as the beetles, but the bay kombis doors swing in a very interesting way. the front lip moves inward, so these hinges would be no good for you. what i think you will have to look for is a hinge that can sit just behind the outer lip of the skin of the door, as anything sitting further back will cause the hitting problems that you mentioned.

Ive banged all this together hopefully we can now reply

sorry vw54, still dont have a reply button over here

2 Bloody what ???

Well ive just tried it both and it appears OK 2 me

:puke:puke




:beer

:repuke:kiss

Machine 7 stopped making the hinge kit I rang the owner and he said it was too much trouble and complicated to continue the kits

So can everyone see this ??

No reply button either...

Ahh well, thanks anyway boys. Shame about Machine 7 as well, anyone got some pics of the kit or know if it needed severe a pillar surgery?

no idea whats going on but it has been like this for a few days now...



steff.................

ARe u logged on properly ???


or just crusing in the background

i am log'd in as normal, just try'd loging out and back in , no different



steff,,,,,,,,

Well BUGGARED If i know i keep merging the posts and there sticking ...

But lets get nback to the issue hidden door hinges yes there great

My reply thing works, must've been fixed
:beer

yeah sever pillar surgery is needed as well as work to the doors

its rather complicated but it looks great one day when i have nuthing else to do.

maybe strange and a crude idea, but it just might work.....

what about a hinge contained in the door, with a solenoid or push button, the solenoid pumps the door out of the sil then swings open.....

ie moves horisontally out then swings.....


similar to drawer hinges and then a normal hinge..... i dunno .... do you understans or am i confusing you.... i know what i meen

i hear u adam but the closing mechanism would be insane crazy

there is sooooo much to take into account, tried going to the wrekers and looking at old cars there to get ideas?

cheers

I think the Beetle is the only car with external hinges these days...
The only other one is the old MINI..

Its just two chromed pieces that bolt on the OUTSIDE of the door and body...
.... I know they aren't hidden but thats about as close as I could get...
Mini hinges were used on many kit cars for doors and opening rear hatches, and bonnets.....
I don't really like them.... plus they don't look too strong... flimsy..
I haven't seen the UK ones... You are talking about...

What door hinges do they use for suicide doors on a Beetle?

i think they are a hot rod pack that u buy............

castlemaine rod shop might be able to help......

J