How do you repair pre 67 door hinges to get rid of the slack. Drill bigger, replace,weld up then redrill etc. Any ideas?
i made new hinge pins for mine, but you can buy oversize pins but you will need an adjustable reamer to fit them,being a fitter machinist i had the stuff at my disposal to do the job,or as dave would say try vintage vee-dub they can do the job:}
Have new oversize hinge pins fitted, which isnt an easy job as you need the correct size reamers to fit and installl the pins.
I suggest you send the doors to sydney, as i am not aware of anyone close to your area that could / would do the job.
The hinges on VWs are rather cheap -- a common weak point on old VWs -- and the doors tend to sag a bit over time. And being welded to the door they
are not easy to replace (I don't even know if its possible). But you can alleviate the sag to some extent by loosening the bottom hinge screws in the
body (don't remove them altogether, just loosen them, and you MUST use an impact screw driver to get these loose -- they are REAL tight), and slip in
a flat shim (made from a tin can) in between the hinge and the body. This pushes the door up/out from the bottom, so it sits much better when shut.
You can't see the shim when it's in place, unless you get down and peer at the hinge itself.
Some have recommended repair of the sag by opening the door and jacking up the corner of it with a trolley jack so that the weight of the car will
bend it back up again. This technique actually bends the hinges a bit.
As indicated about, you can get oversize door hinge pins and reamers. The pins are driven out upwards, the reamer inserted to enlarge the hole a few
thou, and then the new pins installed. Usually cures a sagging door. Keep them lubricated too -- that helps reduce the wear. Use WD40 about once a
week (at least regularly) -- you are supposed to use grease in the top with a special rubber nozzle, but I never had that, and so out with the WD40.
Had to be frequent with that stuff though -- it's very thin and evaporates rapidly (it's essentially just kerosene.
forgot to say the above info courtesy of:
http://www.vw-resource.com
[Edited on 3-3-2005 by Dasdubber]
You can also plane the top hinge a little.. At least that worked for me.. Also reinforced the hinge plate on the body..
http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=35404#pid307110