Thread: Hidden hinges on Wescott bodies

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Anybody got experience with the hidden suicide door hinges on a Wescott '34 roadster body? These hinges do not allow the doors to open more than about 45 degrees and have caused some stress cracks in the hinge area at the edge of the door opening from the door being opened too far. There are leather straps installed to prevent overstressing, but they are not really effective. This is really a design issue and one that Wescott has not really provided a satisfactory answer for. I would really like the door to open at least 90 degrees without stressing the body. Is there a design out there somewhere that will work? I would even be willing to live with the 45 degree opening if there was a positive stop that would prevent the stress cracking.
Thanks in advance for any ideas or comments.

It would take an entirely different set of hinges to let the door open to 90 degrees.... Haven't seen a set of Wescott hinges in a long time.... If the door opens any farther then the strap allows, will the back edge of the door hit the body???

You might try Suicide Doors. I know they make hinges for when you want to suicide your conventional doors, so maybe they have something that you could modify to work.


Don

Part of the problem is folks want the interior trim panels to be flat, so the hinge is mostly flat. Take a look at typical trunk hinges and you'll see they have a relatively bid "J" shape, or maybe even better described looking like a ?, in order to clear for closer to 90* opening swing.

As for a stop, depending on access room and hinge design you can put a bump stop in the hinge base so the "strap" portion hits that before "bottoming out". If you can't get in there a roll pin strategically placed top and bottom of each hinge bracket would accomplish the same thing.

Thanks for the comments guys. Yeah, the back edge of the door would hit the body if opened beyond what the strap allows. I could live with the 45 degree opening if the door had a positive stop. Wescott suggested using those SS weaved straps instead of leather for the door stops but I think the problem lies in the design of the hinge and the lack of sufficient structure in the area around the hinge to prevent body flexing at the door open limit. Bob, the Wescott hinges are L shaped and it's when the hinge is at it's most extreme limit of travel that it begins to flex the square tube structure transferring the flexing movement into the fiberglass body panel. I guess what I was hoping to hear was that some ingenious individual had experienced the same problem and had developed a retrofit hinge just for Wescott bodies. I suppose I'll give the SS straps a try and see if that gives a more positive stop.