38 DOOR HINGES

[Guest OLBUICKS]

I'm putting in new bushing and pins on the 38 door hinges I'm restoring. The bushings went in fine, and the new pins go thru the new bushins great, but the new pins are very very tight going in the part before the bushings. I'm afraid of breaking a hinge tapping these in... Will these require heat to install? I had to heat the old one to get them out, I refinished them with body filler to cover the pits. Hate to mess up a good job, but will if I have to. What do you think?

[trp3141592]

Hi. These pins are meant to be tight to be sure they stay in place. But GM didn't hammer them in and have to touch up the paint on every car that went down the assembly line.

Hammers are used as last resorts. How about using a C-clamp to push them into place?

If they are just simply too damn tight to be pushed, you can open up the receiving holes. Mike up the pins that are being stubborn to get their exact diameter. You can then buy a 1-mill-under hand reamer (or an adjustable hand reamer) to open up the holes that the pins are to be snug in. You can get reamers at your local machinery supply house, or online at, among many places, jtsmachine.com, mcmaster.com, use-enco.com, and mscdirect.com.

Use the reamer to open up the receiving holes for your pins. Then press the pins in with a C-clamp.

--Tom

[38Buick 80C]

Yes I concur with Tom; the bushings need to be reamed before putting the pins in.

Brian

[Larry Schramm]

One thing that I have used to put bushings into door hinges is a big pair of channel locks and a small socket over the bushing where it is going through.

[Guest OLBUICKS]

I had it reamed,,, I got them in ok, but one was tight....

[Seldenguy]

Weren't the pins knurled near the head? Most GM's are and are a push fit into the female half of the hinge. This prevents the pin from turning except in the bushings. I have also seen some with a spiral oil groove cut into the length of the pin to facilitate lubing the bushings.

[Guest OLBUICKS]

Yes the pins did have knurls at the top... The pis I bought did not have spiral oil groves.. I marked the new ones where the groves were on the old one with a fine point marker and took my cut off grinder and put the grooves on the new pins.. Also took the cut off grinder and I grind just a little of the knurls off at the top.. I was very careful not to take off very much...(like doing heart surgery) those pins were not going in unless iI did this, and did not want to bust my hinges.. Here is some advice for any one rebuiling door hinges.. I put two old pins back in. I grinded one down,, one old one, to use for a driver to install the new bushing.. Lost one, which I found this morning.. If I ever rebuild hinges again I will use the old pins, because they do not move, so they do not wear out.. they bushing wear out,, I have to heat the hinges to get the old pins out,, not a problem.. The old pin I used are as tight as the new one... This was a learning experence...