Suicide hinge problems... Major!!!

[Panelrodder]

New name but same person. I don't have access to my old account to get a message w/ my password that I forgot!

I bought some hinges, not really a kit, from Autoloc for my 53 GMC panel truck. I love the look and have seen only one panel with them and it was a Ford. I setup the frame for level front to back and side to side. Began marking the hinges for location. Got them level final marked and cut holes. Began slowly grinding and fileing the holes until there was a nice tight fit for the hinges. Put the pockets in the holes until the hinge stop portion, the part of the pocket that become full square tubing and not u-channel, marked and cut off the excess. Tacked the pockets in place, installed the hinges, clamped a piece of steel to both and checked for binding. Both swung perfectly!!! Just b-e-a-utiful! With the door on the original hinges and fitting just a nicely as the hinges swung, I shut it as far as it would go. Marked and began the tedious process of slowly cutting just enough metal out for the door pockets to fit snuggly. Tacked them in. Removed the door from the factory hinges and promptly installed them on the new ones. Excitedly I prepared for the amazing feet of opeing my doors backward..... and they don't. They won't even open a couple inches. The door skin almost imediatly smacks the body. Went ove the ONE PAGE of weak ***** instructions and then three tutorials that I found online and could find nothing wrong with the installation. I have since recreated the situation, to scale, in Adobe Illustrator. The first photo is the as is setup. In the second image you can see the original setup, red, and three alternate and almost equally sucessful alternatives in the green, yellow, and blue hinge points. Yellow involves cutting out the pockets and more door jam and welding them back in closer to the outter body skin. Green and Blue are two version of the second option, which is to cut out the pockets. Weld on 3/4 to 1 inch extensions, or fab up new ones all together, to mount them deeper in the jam. Looking at my images, reading my text, and pondering as deep as I know all of you are, , which of my two options seem to be the best? Are both crap? Have any other suggestions? Am I totally screwed?

Just a side note, there have been some bad reviews of this "kit" but other than I seem to have installed them wrong, I would like to defend Autoloc in that the quality seems to be great. I bought the deluxe versions that have a little tube welded to the top that is a "built in" wire loom! Pretty neat and simple way to hide wires, a limited number of them but hide them none the less.

[Oldtruckfanatic]

I haven't put in an autoloc kit but I have used hagan and the like kits in the past and even cut one set of doors and jambs up and switched them so the hinge side was on the opposite side of the truck in the back of the jamb and the vise versa on the latch side. The trouble I had with the kits I put in and what looks to be the problem with your setup is the ratio of the L bend in the arm. I always have to mount those setups with the pivot as close to the door jamb as I can (not the outside of the body but the actual door jam) so the door starts to move away from the jamb immediatly upon opening. With the pivot further back in the pocket it seems they can't get to the ideal angle before the door hits. Take out one of your factory hinges and take a look at the pivot...it's further back in the jamb but it doesn't make an "L" it actually goes past center a few degrees like a hook shape. If you have the room to extend the short side of the "L" (moving the pivot closer to the outside of the body in the process) you may be able to get the correct ratio I have just always moved my pivot closer to the jamb. Either way don't get disgusted I have done probably 6 cars and trucks this way and every one of them was a trial and error type deal. You might have to mess with the pivot point a few times to get the right amount of outward movement but if you keep at it you'll get it to work. There are probably a few guys with different approaches this is just what has worked for me...I hope it helps.

[Rokcrln]

This is what I was thinking before I read this!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[Panelrodder]

Originally Posted by Oldtruckfanatic

I always have to mount those setups with the pivot as close to the door jamb as I can (not the outside of the body but the actual door jam) so the door starts to move away from the jamb immediatly upon opening. With the pivot further back in the pocket it seems they can't get to the ideal angle before the door hits......I have just always moved my pivot closer to the jamb.

Either way don't get disgusted I have done probably 6 cars and trucks this way and every one of them was a trial and error type deal. You might have to mess with the pivot point a few times to get the right amount of outward movement but if you keep at it you'll get it to work. There are probably a few guys with different approaches this is just what has worked for me...I hope it helps.

Here is a mockup using your theory. It doesn't seem to work here for some reason. In the image the red still marks were the hinge is now and the green is with it as close to as possible... acutally it would get worse because I would actually have to move the pocket furthing inward, toward the passenger compartment, since you can see it overlaps the body lines of the door jam.

Thanks for the upbeat comments too. At this point I need all of them!!!

It seems to me that the option in blue from my first post is the best since I won't have to cut up the jam anymore to move the pocket toward the outside. You can see that I get the result that I am looking for. Would any of you have any comments on this option specifically as in whether I should fab a new pocket or make a some sort of collar to sink it deeper? I think to test this, I will get a piece of tubing and fab a simple mockup pocket to install the hinge into and tack it into place and find some way to simulate the door edge to see if it clears. But if I go to that trouble it might be worth just building real pocket that will hold the weight. This is were I break into a chant of "happy place. happy place. happy place!!"