1956 Buick Super (56C) - Front Door Hinge Installation Problem

[larryo]

I'm reinstalling the top front door hinges on my 56 Super Convertible.  The top hinges appears to be made up of two pieces.....the actual rotating hinge arm that bolts to the door and a spring assembly that engages with two pins inside the hinge arm assembly and is then bolted to the arm. I'm guessing the spring assembly is the door stop ( I didn't disassemble the car).  With the spring assembly in place and attached to the rotating hinge arm, the arm is in the "open" position and I have very little hinge arm motion.  I cannot close the hinge by pushing on it. I'm not sure if the problem is the fact that it takes a great deal of force to move the hinge once the spring assembly is in place or if I've assembled it incorrectly.  I've tried to close the hinge using a lever arm without success.   I have not installed a door onto the hinge to see if it's added weight and leverage will cause the hinge to close.  I'm concerned it may cause damage if I've assembled it incorrectly.

See attached photos of the hinge assembly.

Would appreciate any input.

Thank you,

Larry

[JohnD1956]

That 2nd piece is a door stop and that is a powerful spring in there. I doubt it can be folded by simple human power.  You could leave that off while you install the door. It can be put in later.  In fact it has to be off to install the base of the hinge. There should be spring washers put on the pins before the door stop is put in place. For the top side, the spring washer has to be coated with grease to hold it in place. Same for the bottom. I got my spring washers at my local ACE hardware store. 

[larryo]

Thank you for your helpful reply.  I was hoping that with the door installed there would be enough leverage to rotate the hinge....just didn't want to force it.

Question on the spring washers........Are they installed on the pins.....under the door stop slotted arms...... to maintain outward pressure/tension on the arms or is the purpose to minimize wear.

 

[JohnD1956]

I am not sure why the spring washers. To be certain I was told that and when mine broke I found a piece of one.  You are actually ahead of me on this item as i just removed my door stop and am living without it.  As far as I can tell the spring washers go on the pins in the hinge and the slots in the door stop go over the washers.  

But I have a question for you.  When I was assessing my situation, if I recall correctly there is at least one phillips head screw in the back of the hinge. I was thinking that was a mounting fixture such that the door stop had to be out to access that screw.  But now I wonder if that is true?  Since your hinge is off can you tell me?  

[larryo]

There are two bolts that secure the back of the top hinge housing and one bolt that secures the back of the lower hinge. They are 5/16-24 fasteners....they do not necessarily need to be  Philips head.  The fasteners do need to be installed before the door hinge stop is installed. See attached photos.  The fasteners shown are temporary for fit-up and are not the final head type and lengths.

[JohnD1956]

@larryo  obviously the door stop was intended to be installed after the hinge is attached so those spring washers do need to be coated with something to hold them in place.