Door hinge pin replacement: job's finally done.

[Louis-Alain Richard]

Patient was a 83 urQ with a sagging driver's door.

Conclusions are:

1. An air chisel is NOT the correct tool to push the pins out of the hinges.
Not strong enough. Just noisy. Impress neighbors though. Brrrappppp!

2. An 8 inch long punch, a 5 lbs BFH and brute force (with some accuracy,
see point 6) is all you need. A punch-holder (human friend w/ confidence) is
a welcome help.

3. Heating the hinge will help a lot. Don’t forget to protect the fender
with an appropriate heat shield (see point 6).

4. Both pins were inserted from the bottom at the factory; removal by
hitting them from above is the way to go. Gravity is your friend. And brute
force.

5. Door adjustment is difficult. Need a floor jack to support the door and
move it out of the way. See point 6.

6. All work will be paint-scratching. Guaranteed.

7. Freaky moment: after all was done, door was lower than before! After
fiddling during more than 1 hour (see point 5 and 6) an appropriate use of a
floor jack (to “bend” the door upward) made things perfect. Freaky.

8. The pins themselves (433 831 421A) were not so bad; the bushings (433 831
441) were definitely shot.

9. The pins’ metal hardness is amazing: same quality as the tools used. No
deformation at all. Really hard stuff. Don’t even think of drilling them.
You’ll die of old age doing so...


Louis-Alain

PS: Have you checked your spark plugs lately? One of mine was not properly
torque. The head was rebuilt last summer (plugs seating surfaces were
perfect) and new plugs were used. Damn it.