Alfa GTV6 Door Hinges

Started by Fylnn, May 30, 2016, 09:11:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Fylnn

Has anyone refurbished the door hinges on the GTV6.  Drivers door is sagging and hard to close without huge slam.  Looking at the door hinges I can see how you can unscrew from the A pillar, but can't see how to get hinge half out of the door.

Anyone done before, got photos or anything?

Vanalfaalfetta

Very hard to unscrew the hinges cause you can easily strip the alan key screws, make sure you take the door trim off and disconnect the wiring, but the door will pop off as soon as you unscrew them

Sent from my SM-N920I using Tapatalk

ALFA GTV6

Al Campbell

Yes the Allan Key heads are easy to strip  >:(.  If any are difficlut an Impact driver may be the way to go. Wish I'd had one. >:( >:( >:(.

Fylnn

The doors were off not so long ago when the car was repainted.  Just now got to rebush the hinges and put new roll pins in since the holes have become a bit oval shaped.

GTVeloce

Let us know how you go. Maybe some pics would be good too. The doors are so heavy and long (lots of leverage on the hinges) that I suspect most don't line up perfectly. Would be good to have a 'know-how' page for door hinge repair.

poohbah

I regularly have to shut my drivers door twice to close it properly, and there seems to be no correlation with how hard I slam it and whether it shuts first time.
Now:    2002 156 GTA
            1981 GTV
Before: 1999 156 V6 Q-auto
            2001 156 V6 (sadly cremated)

colcol

Take off the rubber seals around the doors, so if you can see if its not shutting properly, because of the seals.
Then, put some paint or paper correction , on the post on the door pillar and some on the catch on the door and see if it is sitting in  too low or high on the post on the door.
On some cars you can adjust the post up and down or in and out to centre it in the door catch, it it has an internal or external hex for loosening or tightening the pillar post.
If the post can't be adjusted or its at the end of its travel, you will have to lift or lower the door within the opening, most of the time, the door sags and sits too low in the opening.
Some doors you can loosen off the hinges where they are bolted onto the door or frame of car.
If you cannot adjust the hinges, you may have to install or remove shims behind the hinges, this usually involves removing shims from the top hinges and putting them in the bottom hinge to bring the door catch higher in the door opening.
If you can't shim the door enough, then you may have to make up some shims out of sheet metal.
At a pinch, you can cut the side out of a flat steel washer and slip it behind the hinge in place of a shim.
Sometimes the hinge pins in the hinges are worn out and are letting the door drop too much.
You can buy replacement door pins from restoration suppliers, but most of them are from the USA and they are in inches.
On an old car i used to have, i removed the 6,0 mm pin and drilled the hinge out to 1/4 inch, which was 6,35 mm, and that got rid of the problem of loose hinges, and the door didn't rattle over bumps.
Had a Sud that the doors had sagged badly and everytime you slammed the door, the mirrors moved out of focus.....Really annoying.
Spent hours adjusting it, but eventually got it shutting nice.
Don't forget to put the rubber seals back around the door, and use some packing tape around the door openings to see that the seals are against the door to prevent any water coming in.
Old Alfa Romeo's and water don't mix well, Colin.
1974 VW Passat [ist car] 1984 Alfa 33TI [daily driver] 2002 Alfa 156 JTS [daily driver]

poohbah

Thanks Colin, you are a walking Alfa encyclopaedia!
Now:    2002 156 GTA
            1981 GTV
Before: 1999 156 V6 Q-auto
            2001 156 V6 (sadly cremated)

tpalfa

When my driver's door wouldn't shut properly it was due to the latch mechanism requiring lubrication. It is a little bit hard to get to the mechanism but after lubrication the door shuts with a gentle swing close rather than multiple slams.

four90s

Works better if you take the lock mechanism right out of the door, clean out all of the junk that is mixed in with the 25-30 year old grease then re-grease with nice new stuff.

Makes an amazing difference. Actually, if you don't have time for that, even a spray of WD-40 on the mechanism, (or whichever spray you like), will help.

Getting back to the original question, when you are trying to get the hinge bolts out, heat helps. If you have a butane torch that will do the job. Once you've heated the head of the bolt put your allen key socket in and give it a tap with a hammer before trying to turn it.

Steve
Adelaide
Four90s
Too many others to list
(33 Alfas and some other things since 1979)

colcol

My drivers door lock mechanism was so worn out due to constant slamming, because the door being sagged, i decided to get another lock, but the second hand locks i got were worse than the one i had.
So i got a passenger door lock, that was hardly worn, [because i have no friends], and rebuilt it into the opposite hand, required drilling out of rivets and replacing with bolts and worked a treat.
You can lubricate it with Zinc grease or dry lube [ouch] that is like a hard grease that doesn't attract dirt, use grease sparingly on the outside of the catch and catch post of your car, as it will end up on your clothes, Colin.
1974 VW Passat [ist car] 1984 Alfa 33TI [daily driver] 2002 Alfa 156 JTS [daily driver]