Door removal

[Peter KerrParticipant]

I’m sure someone must have asked this already, but I did a search and can’t find it.

I have a 1951 French assembled 11BL. I need to remove the doors as part of the preparation for striping and floor rust repair. Is it as simple as driving the hinge pins up with a mallet? I looked at the pins and they don’t seem to be threaded – but tapping them from below didn’t have an effect.

 

Thank you.

[BernieParticipant]

Peter,

Yes, the pins should drive out.

There is a short knurled length (immediately under the head) of the pin which is an interference fit in the top section of the hinge.  This is designed to prevent the pin from working loose and the pin/hinge combination is likely to have become seized at that point.  A penetrating fluid could help.

Alternatively, it is posible to remove the two doors on one side together with hinges all as one assembly by undoing the two hinge retaining nuts inside the B post.  This will give better access to the pins but, once the doors are off, you may no longer want/need to remove the pins.

B…..

[Peter KerrParticipant]

Ahh. I understand..

I thought about removing the doors as a pair but it seems a bit unwieldy. I’ll revisit driving the pins out – now that I’m confident thats how its supposed to work.

 

Thank you.

 

[Larry LewisParticipant]

If you are going to take both doors off at once, have a helper. It’s a pain of a job to do alone.

[David FaulknerParticipant]

If you are going to take both doors off at once, have a helper. It’s a pain of a job to do alone

It’s just as bad trying to refit the doors onto the car when the hinge pins are out, holding the doors and lining them up took several pairs of hands 🙂

[Philippe AllisonParticipant]

You may also find the pins will not drive out as they foul the “B” post on the way out. Taking the doors off as a pair is the easiest way, just make sure you have some help.

 

All the best Philippe

[Norman AndersonParticipant]

Agree with Larry and Philippe, they are very heavy. 17mm socket inside the pillar. Be careful not to drop the nuts and washers.

if you have a good trolley jack or two, you can use them to support the bottom of the door(s), especially when it comes to refitting.

Shaving part of the pin head helps as well, saves you removing paint from the pillar when you refit the pins.

[Peter KerrParticipant]

Thanks guys. I’m going to take another look this weekend. Hopefully I can get the pins out with the doors in situ. If not then I’ll enlist help.

[BernieParticipant]

Peter,

As you now know, the pins are likely to foul the pillar so you might consider slackening the 17mm hinge retaining nuts inside the pikar to allow the assembly to be drawn away from the pillar enough to create the necessary clearance.

I assume you have already undone the restraining straps at the bottom of the doors. (I recommend dropping something like a long split pin throught the hole in the stay to discourage it from falling inside the door with all the hassle that means).    If you fold one door flat against the other you will have access to the pins but reduce the possibility of hitting the surface of the doors.

B….

 

 

 

[Peter KerrParticipant]

Thanks all. It took a few weeks to get back to it, but I’ve successfully removed the doors. I did end up backing off the 17mm hinge nuts as suggested.

 

I’m having trouble removing the exterior door handle (right rear door so far). I’ve removed the screws but its (of course) seized on there. removing the door card on the inside I see the back of the door lock and the end of the square shaft that the door handle slides over.

Can anyone tell me if the shaft should come out with the exterior handle? Meaning, can I just use a hammer and drift and punch the shaft and exterior handle free – or do I need to separate the exterior handle from the square shaft. I tried tapping it and it went in about 1/4″ and stopped. I’m afraid to hit harder without confirmation.

I’m surprised this isn’t in any of the manuals. I’ve gone through all of them (I think) and I don’t see anything about the internals of the doors.

 

Thanks in advance

Peter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BernieParticipant]

Peter,

The outer handle needs to be depressed by about 45° to remove it, with the spindle, from the door. If the inner handle is depressed it takes the strain off the outer and makes its removal less difficult.  It may still require a little “jiggling” to free the shaft which can stick in the lock mechanism if it has not been dusturbed for some time.

B…..

[Peter KerrParticipant]

….. and just like that it came out.

 

Thank you!

[BernieParticipant]

…. and when you replace it, you must depress the inner handle to align the square hole in the lock mechanism with that in the fixed plate in the door through which the outer spindle will only pass when held down.

B……

[Author]

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