Thread: Reaming sloppy hinges for oversize pins

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Does anyone have knowledge of reaming door hinges for oversize pins to correct door sag. A stock model A hinge pin is 0.25" diameter. 1932 and later hinge pins are 0.275" diameter. The doors on my roadster pickup have enough play that I can actually grab the rear of the door and lift it freely about 5/16" The wear appears to be on both the part of the hinge that attaches to the door and the part which attaches to the door frame. I have a set of 1932 stainless hinge pins that would probably work, the only sticker being that the hinges are welded to the doors and to the doorframes. It seems to me that I should be able to shim the doors into the correct position at the rear, put a reamer in my electric variable speed drill and ream the hinges in place to take the 1932 pins, thus correcting the "slop". Has anyone done this. ---It would probably be wise to ream the hinges half a thou undersized to keep the pins from working their way out of the hinge.---any insight is much appreciated.

I gotta quit answering my own posts. After doing some more research and internet crawling, I have found that a standard model A closed car hinge pin is 0.233 to 0.236" diameter. The nice stainless steel ones which I have (they came in a bag with the project) are 0.244" diameter. Snyders Antique Auto Parts www.snydersantiqueautoparts.com sell oversize pins which are 0.247" to 0.250" diameter. They also sell a nifty looking tool to assist with removing or replacing hinge pins. I still haven't found information on the reamer, but I know more now than I did 3 hours ago.

Can't replace the hinges---they are welded to the doors and to the jambs, and all bodywork is finished. I spoke to a toolshop supplier this morning, and he said that a reamer in a hand drill would not be a good idea. The reamers are quite brittle, and would probably break if used this way because of misalignment issues. However----we ain't licked yet. The next amazing stunt will be to take the oversize stainless pins that I have, and turn the outer diameter down .002" at a time untill I get a snug fit in the existing hinge hole. There is a spline just under the head of the pin, that locks into the portion of the hinge that is attached to the door, so really I only need to be concerned with a nice sliding fit on the center portion of the hinge that is attached to the cowl post.---------------Brant---there is no room for a set screw in the portion of hinge which attaches to the door, and the portion attached to the cowl post is where the pin has to rotate.

O.K.---Dilema solved---Got brave tonite and ran a slightly undersize 1/4" drill thru the offending door hinge (bottom hinge, passenger side). The drill miked at 0.246, and the stainless pins I have were 0.245" dia. When I inspected things a little closer, the problem was not with the hole in the cowl mounted hinge where the rotation takes place being oversize. The hole in the hinge which attaches to the door was worn oversize, and the peices of plain rod that I had stuck in as temporary hinge pins way back when I was building the body didn't have a knurled top on them to press fit into the door mounted hinge at the top. The new stainless pins have a knurled area at the top 3/16" just under the head that is signifigantly larger in diameter than the main body of the pin. It is a "hammer fit" into the top of the door mounted hinge when assembled. I found out tonite that there is room to run a drill thru the bottom hinges because of the body curvature, but not the top hinges, as there isn't enough clearance for the drill body. Slop is gone, latches are adjusted, door panels are all finished and urethaned, and tomorrow I will trial fit them for the last time and drill them for the "christmas tree upholstery panel fasteners".---then off to the upholsterers they go. I ain't going to install them suckers untill after the car is painted. Hope like heck I never have reason to try and take them off once they're installed.

Once I get enough hinges, I gotta do that. DId you take your doors off?

Yes, I took them off, but knowing what I know now, I really didn't have to. Try this link for hinges http://www.snydersantiqueauto.com/

Thanks, I am looking at a set of pedels on Ebay for my car right now. I think they are going to work.