BJ70 Hatch Door Hinge Nightmare

[Cody O Riellerson]

Hi Everyone,

This summer I was using my 70 for a work project that had me running around like a chicken with my head cut off and opening and closing the rear hatch doors a lot. On the last day of the project (thank goodness) I flung open the passenger-side hatch door in a hurry and felt my heart sink as it practically jumped out of the hinges. I removed the plastic caps to reveal the pins completely rusted through. I heaved the door back into place, finished the project, went on vacation, came home, discovered the water pump gasket blown, replaced the water pump, garaged her for the winter and finally now have a chance to deal with these hinges, but I don't know how to. I've removed the doors and the hinges are off. Do I have to just buy new ones? Can I repair these in any way? Does anybody have any decent ones for sale, or advice on where in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area I could buy some?

Thanks

 

[LDowney]

Cody,
I had a similar problem with a rear door hinge on one of my '86 BJ70s. I removed the complete hinge assembly (from the body and the door). Then I drilled a smaller diameter hole through what was left of the hinge pin in each half of the hinge (along the axis of symmetry). Next I used a rotation of heat and penetrating oil (heat it up and spray it down after pulling the flame away) to break down the rust. [note: The hole down the center of the pin seemed to allow the heat to pentrate better.] After a number of cycles (probably a couple dozen), I was able to drive the hinge pin remains out of the hinge body.

Next I cleaned all the rust off (exterior and interior surface for the pin) that I could. At this point while test fitting, I discovered that the front door hinge pins from a FJ40 were the same diameter, but longer. I had a couple used pins that could be cut to length, so I was set for pins.

At this point, I may have gone over board. I drilled and tapped the hinge body for a grease zerk (small size, don't recall the diameter and thread pitch) so the re-assembled hinge could be lubed after re-installation. Also, I sanded some brass washers down to act effectively as shims between the hinge sections. The sanding was trial and error because this was effectively a sand to fit approach. This yielded a tighter assembled hinge assembly so the grease would actually move down the length of the hinge rather leak out at the first joint.

Sorry that my description is lacking ... I did this several years ago and it is not as fresh in my memory as it should be.
Good luck.

 

[70sguy]

We're parting a couple of 7 series in the Fraser Valley. BJ74 and BJ71, both have rear doors with hinges still on em.

 

[Whistler74]

Hi Cody.
I had a similar solution to Larry: after removing the hinge, I cut the hinge apart then drilled out the pin right through. The top of the fixed hinge and the door side were drilled to 3/8" and the bottom was drilled and tapped for 3/8 thread. A stainless bolt was greased and inserted with one washer taking up the gap created by cutting the hinge apart. Technically, a one banana job but painfully tedious to get the pins out before drilling. Holding up well after 3 years of constant use.

 

[Cody O Riellerson]

Thanks for the advice. My first attempt (before posting this thread) was using a torch, a cut-down bolt, nut and table vise. I heated up the hinge, with the bolt against the pin and the nut against the hinge on the bottom. I managed to budge the pin about 2 cm before bending the vise handle. I eventually did get it out with more heat, penetrating lube, and pounding on the bolt, but the results are not pretty. I may have bent the top part of the hinge out of alignment a bit.

Last night I tried drilling out one of the pins on a different hinge. It's very difficult to get the hinge to stand straight on the press. I used a vise grip to hold it to a right angle bracket, and another to hold the bracket to the table. I started trying to drill a small pilot hole, but the bit drifted and I ended up with a very uncentred hole. I flipped it over and this time I used a 1/4" drill to start. This went fairly well, except the bit is too short to go all the way through. I'm going to try again tonight.

Larry, when you say the 40 pins fit, do you mean they fit in as snug as the original pins? If so, how on earth did you get them back in?

I'm inclined to try the greased bolt idea. My original idea was a bolt that was clear past the bottom of the hinge, and then threads for a nut on the bottom. Any advantage to tapping to bottom of the hinge instead?

If none of this works I may just end up buying some new ones. I hate giving up though...

 

[Whistler74]

Hi Cody.
I gave up trying to pound the full length pin out, just way too much friction. Cutting the hinge pin creates a kerf that will allow for a washer which I think is a good idea and makes it into 3 easier pin removals.
I don't think there is any advantage to tapping the bottom section other than appearance. If one was inclined, the top could be shortened an amount equal to the bolt head depth so you could put the plastic covers back on and retain the factory look.

I think if you price out new hinges you will decide to keep trying...

Good luck!

 

[LDowney]

Larry, when you say the 40 pins fit, do you mean they fit in as snug as the original pins? If so, how on earth did you get them back in?

Yes. I effectively pressed them in. I used a large C-clamp to press the pin in. An actual press would have been a better solution, but I don't have one in my shop. So I tried the C-clamp first before driving to a friend's shop to use his press and luckily had success.

If you have beat the hinge out of alignment, used hinges from G&S would probably be your best solution because I am envisioning that it would be a very tough task to fix the hinge again.

Good luck

 

[gatier]

I got mine from Customization and Restoration Professionals - Services For Restoring 4x4s - RADD Cruisers, Duncan BC
Little bit pricey but I could choose new/used
cheers

 

[Cody O Riellerson]

I drilled out one of the pins...it was a nightmare. The bit kept drifting, and by the time I had the two pieces separated I could see I'd removed a fair amount of material from the hinge itself. I've decided that for this particular repair, the time and effort will not pay off, and I'm going to go the Radd Cruisers route. Thanks for the advice though. When this happens again in another 26 years I'll try to remember what I learned.