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The upper hinge on the driver side door was beginning to separate from the body. The lower spot welds were still holding it in place, but the upper spot welds had failed.
The hinge top edge was about 3/16" away from being tight against the body. It started to worry me when I discovered it - - I didn't want the hinge to completely fail.
I removed the door to allow access to the hinge. I drilled 4 holes through the hinge, and on further, through the body behind the hinge, using a 1/4" drill bit.
Then I drilled holes, using a 5/16" drill bit. I drilled only through the hinge, being careful to avoid the drill bit going deeper, and starting to bore into the body.
I tapped threads into the body holes with tap size 5/16-18. A 1/4" diameter hole is good size for those threads.
Then I put in 4 hex head bolts. I gradually tightened them, in sequence, as opposed to tightening each bolt fully and then moving on the tighten the next bolt. The gap between the hinge and the body slowly closed up, and when I stopped tightening, the hinge was flat against the body, with no separation gap.
The reason I put in 4 bolts instead of, say, 2, is that I didn't see any easy way to get a nut and washer, onto the bolts, behind the body. ( Strength in numbers)
The hinge top edge was about 3/16" away from being tight against the body. It started to worry me when I discovered it - - I didn't want the hinge to completely fail.
I removed the door to allow access to the hinge. I drilled 4 holes through the hinge, and on further, through the body behind the hinge, using a 1/4" drill bit.
Then I drilled holes, using a 5/16" drill bit. I drilled only through the hinge, being careful to avoid the drill bit going deeper, and starting to bore into the body.
I tapped threads into the body holes with tap size 5/16-18. A 1/4" diameter hole is good size for those threads.
Then I put in 4 hex head bolts. I gradually tightened them, in sequence, as opposed to tightening each bolt fully and then moving on the tighten the next bolt. The gap between the hinge and the body slowly closed up, and when I stopped tightening, the hinge was flat against the body, with no separation gap.
The reason I put in 4 bolts instead of, say, 2, is that I didn't see any easy way to get a nut and washer, onto the bolts, behind the body. ( Strength in numbers)
