91 Colt 200...door problem this time

I've been having problems with my drivers side door (car is a 2-door)
for the last couple months. The door kept lowering and lowering on the
frame and it got harder and harder to close. Just lately, after a
friend drove my car, the door dropped a lot because I had forgotten to
tell him about the problem so he must have tried slamming it shut or
something. So, I really had to lift the door a lot to shut it. When I
got home today, I opened my door and the damn thing came right off the
top hinge.

So it's sitting outside with the door hanging down, probably bending
the bottom hinge now too. So it must be done, huh? The door changed,
that is. I can't shut it because it obviously won't fit without the
hinge in the door.

So how hard are those hinges to get off? I was looking at it and
wondering if I'd have to take off the fender on the drivers side of the
car because it looks like one bolt on each hinge is partially obscured
by the fender.

Anybody have any other suggestions as to how I might fix this? I
wonder if I could have the bolts welded into the door? I might have to
get new hinges altogether because they're probably both pretty bent,
right? This is a new problem for me, so I really don't have any idea
yet as to how I'm gonna fix it.
Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks.

On 6 Jan 2005 15:05:10 -0800, "Son of Sam"
> wrote:

>I've been having problems with my drivers side door (car is a 2-door)
>for the last couple months. The door kept lowering and lowering on the
>frame and it got harder and harder to close. Just lately, after a
>friend drove my car, the door dropped a lot because I had forgotten to
>tell him about the problem so he must have tried slamming it shut or
>something. So, I really had to lift the door a lot to shut it. When I
>got home today, I opened my door and the damn thing came right off the
>top hinge.
>
>So it's sitting outside with the door hanging down, probably bending
>the bottom hinge now too. So it must be done, huh? The door changed,
>that is. I can't shut it because it obviously won't fit without the
>hinge in the door.
>
>So how hard are those hinges to get off? I was looking at it and
>wondering if I'd have to take off the fender on the drivers side of the
>car because it looks like one bolt on each hinge is partially obscured
>by the fender.
>
>Anybody have any other suggestions as to how I might fix this? I
>wonder if I could have the bolts welded into the door? I might have to
>get new hinges altogether because they're probably both pretty bent,
>right? This is a new problem for me, so I really don't have any idea
>yet as to how I'm gonna fix it.
>Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks.

I've seen this problem before, mostly on 2 door cars which have much
larger doors than 4 door sedans so as to allow entry to the back
seats.

The upper hinge pin wore through and that is when it snapped and the
entire weight of the door bent the lower hinge.

At this point, I would put a steel BOLT of the same diameter as the
hinge pin into the upper hinge to restore the geometry of the thing
until you can find a properly hardened part somewhere.

Lg

Aren't they actually bolts that are already in the hinges? They have
nuts on them, that look like they were welded or soldered onto the two
bolts.

If the holes on the door frame were stretched out because the nuts on
the pins/bolts came through the door, could I use new bolts of the same
diameter and use maybe larger nuts or something to hold the hinge onto
the door?

On 6 Jan 2005 15:53:44 -0800, "Son of Sam"
> wrote:

>Aren't they actually bolts that are already in the hinges? They have
>nuts on them, that look like they were welded or soldered onto the two
>bolts.
>
>If the holes on the door frame were stretched out because the nuts on
>the pins/bolts came through the door, could I use new bolts of the same
>diameter and use maybe larger nuts or something to hold the hinge onto
>the door?

Of course, depending on how/where the hinge came apart. Only you can
see that, unless you can post a photo of it somewhere and give us a
way to view it.

Lg

The only thing I can really do is describe it. You know where the
bolts on the hinge go into the door? It looks like the nuts are put
onto the bolts inside the door frame. Well, when I opened the door the
bolts/nuts came right out of the door. The whole hinge is completely
together still and bolted into the car, it's just not connected to the
door now. So the door is hanging down holding on by just the bottom
hinge.

Actually, there is some kind of chord (looks like a bungee type chord)
going from the inside of the door frame right into the car. Can
anybody explain what this is and if it's easy to take apart? I'm sure
once I take off the panel, it'll be easy enough though...
Does that make sense?

On 6 Jan 2005 16:12:10 -0800, "Son of Sam"
> wrote:

>The only thing I can really do is describe it. You know where the
>bolts on the hinge go into the door? It looks like the nuts are put
>onto the bolts inside the door frame. Well, when I opened the door the
>bolts/nuts came right out of the door. The whole hinge is completely
>together still and bolted into the car, it's just not connected to the
>door now. So the door is hanging down holding on by just the bottom
>hinge.
>
>Actually, there is some kind of chord (looks like a bungee type chord)
>going from the inside of the door frame right into the car. Can
>anybody explain what this is and if it's easy to take apart? I'm sure
>once I take off the panel, it'll be easy enough though...
>Does that make sense?

Dearie ME! You do seem to be having problems.
The door came apart leaving hinge inact, but the metal around the
hinge failed, if I read this correctly.

That is something I can't help with. That is a structural failure of
the sheet metal. The only thing I would do is take it to a *shop*
where they could weld something over the failure hole ( like a piece
of steel ) but it is anybody's guess how long that *fix* would last.

Or, you can buy another door at a junkyard, presuming the failure is
on the door part of the hinge and not on the car side of the hinge.

Either way, sounds like you've got a serious problem here. Well, I
would call it a serious problem if it were _my_ car, and the door was
literally falling off. You might want to try to find a way to
temporarily close the door and duct tape it up until you can get a
*proper* fix, which might cost you more than the car is worth.

Lg

Well, I think I can get a door with hinges for around $100, but I was
just hoping to find an easier fix. I guess I'll have to do that.
Yeah, it's a tough problem. I can find a door of a different color,
but I'd have to get it painted. Looks like I'll have to get a new
door. Thanks anyhow.

Actually guys...I got it fixed today. What happened was the nuts came
undone from the door frame (they were welded on). So all I had to do
was pull the door off and get the two nuts on the top hinge welded back
into the door frame and then tighten the bolts back into those nuts.
It's perfect now. All it cost me was a 26-er of rum and $2 for the
weld (got a deal, from a friend of a cousin). The weld only took about
two minutes anyhow.

Wow!

I 'am' impressed!

That can be a major job if you don't know someone or find an honest
mechanic.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Son of Sam wrote:
>
> Actually guys...I got it fixed today. What happened was the nuts came
> undone from the door frame (they were welded on). So all I had to do
> was pull the door off and get the two nuts on the top hinge welded back
> into the door frame and then tighten the bolts back into those nuts.
> It's perfect now. All it cost me was a 26-er of rum and $2 for the
> weld (got a deal, from a friend of a cousin). The weld only took about
> two minutes anyhow.

On 7 Jan 2005 15:28:13 -0800, "Son of Sam"
> wrote:

>Actually guys...I got it fixed today. What happened was the nuts came
>undone from the door frame (they were welded on). So all I had to do
>was pull the door off and get the two nuts on the top hinge welded back
>into the door frame and then tighten the bolts back into those nuts.
>It's perfect now. All it cost me was a 26-er of rum and $2 for the
>weld (got a deal, from a friend of a cousin). The weld only took about
>two minutes anyhow.

Amazing Grace