924Board.org

blackhat · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 2:00 pm Post subject: ARG!! The door hinge broke!

Hey all!

After I've spent all that time working on the engine and figuring out what the previous owner did wrong (which looked and felt like everything) the door hinge broke this evening.

I was out messing around with the cold idle and electric choke, went to open the driver side door to start the car and noticed that it suddenly was sagging. And I honestly do mean suddenly.

When I bought the car I made sure to look for the doors being straight and the door jams being rust free. It sure looked it. I noticed that they had welded the top door hinge on the driver's side but, it looked solid and the door didn't sag. Apparently it only took quite a few door opens and closes to get it to break.

It's not that the door hinge actually broke, the door hinge pulled away from the body and took the body with it. It appears that it was probably weakened from the inside out from rust.

Has anyone else ever ran into this problem? Is this something I could repair myself (never done a weld job before but I want to learn)? I figured since it's not a visible body part that an ugly weld job wouldn't hurt. I understand that the weld will need to be strong and probably reenforced since it holds weight from the door.

Is this something that for sure should go to a body shop? Any idea what kind of price I should expect for this kind of job?

The hinge is in great condition, it's just where the hinge attaches to the body.

Ahh... one last question. I was over at dc Automotive looking at their parts break down to see if there is a repair panel for it. I saw to part #s that could be it if one even exsists but I can't tell. The link for my car is here.

I'm looking at part #s:
Item | Part # | Description
16 | 477809393A | Hinge pillar
and
23 | 477809415 (and 477809416) | Panel Reinforcement

Do I need either of these to replace that rusted area or just use some sheet metal?

If you guys need pics to verify where the damage is, let me know. I can post them tomorrow.
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My First Porsche
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1978 Porsche 924 N/A

924aussie · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 3:23 pm Post subject:

My passenger side is just about to go .....

This would make it the same as your Driver Side.

Is the hinge / door on the LEFT Hand Side of the car a know problem ???

Alan
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green 924 .. 1980 rego 924PSH
1998 Mopar Neon ... sick
2003 Challenger / Montery 4WD
1995 Hyundai Scoupe ... sold
1998 Nissan Silvia ... sons back from OS he has taken it
BIG BLOODY MOTORHOME 300zx Sold
1980 Fire truck Sold

Scorpio · Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 4:55 pm Post subject:

mines probably the strongest part of the car...shame really as its gonna have to be cut off for my lambo doors
_________________
1979 NA
MS1..EFI..
GARRETT T25 TURBO
BILSTEIN SHOCKS
GT BASED CUSTOM BODYKIT

Brisbane , Australia
Think mean think fast
all youll see is
my Porsches Arse!!!

blackhat · Posted: Sun May 04, 2008 1:19 am Post subject:

Well, I just got off the phone with dc Auto and they didn't really take a look at the part diagram for me but they did say they could do a custom cut on that section from one of the their part cars. They gave it a price tag of $175 for a custom cut and for the part.

Has anyone looked at that part diagram and know if either of those two parts are what I'm looking for? Should I do the custom cut or let a body shop try and repair it? Does anyone here have a 924 they're completely parting out and would maybe want to do a cut on the body for me that I could buy?
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My First Porsche
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1978 Porsche 924 N/A

blackhat · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:19 am Post subject:

:: bump ::

I could really use some help on this. Since the body shop is open tomorrow, I was hoping to go in a little educated in case the guy tries to rob me.
_________________
My First Porsche
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1978 Porsche 924 N/A

randy_eich · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 1:10 am Post subject: broke

I could cut the panel out of my 924S, that side is still good. You could have it for $100.00 plus ship. If it was already out it wouldn't cost so much, but I need paid for my time.

968rz · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 537 Location: S. E. Wisconsin

That happened to my car when I first got it (same side upper hinge) As the sheet medal looked OK (no rust just cracked) I had my bro-in-law lay some weld on it and it's been OK for 8+ years. You may need to have new medal put in if the rust is too bad.
_________________
Rick
79 924 coupe Petrol Blue 3spd auto (wife's DD)
93 968 coupe Amazon Green 4spd Tip (my DD)

blackhat · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:54 pm Post subject: Re: broke

968rz · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 537 Location: S. E. Wisconsin

They (bodyshop) should be able to patch medal in rather than replace the whole A-panel.
_________________
Rick
79 924 coupe Petrol Blue 3spd auto (wife's DD)
93 968 coupe Amazon Green 4spd Tip (my DD)

!tom · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:07 am Post subject:

The hinge mounts are welded to the body pillar in my car too. A couple months ago, a crack developed along one of the welds like yours, and the door started to sag.

It can be trickey welding this area since the metal is quite thin (which is what caused the failur in the first place) next to the old weld/hinge mount.

I took a welding course at my local community college a number of years ago and was one of the best students there, and I had to get a friend of mine (who's an expert welder) to bail me out on this one. This is not a good project to learn how to weld on, but anyone experienced at welding should be able to help you out no problem. I don't expect you should need any new parts, if your failure is anything like mine.

Just because it's welded doesn't mean it's been repaired in the past -- it was welded from the factory.
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78 924 NA
5-lug

mhart · Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 170 Location: New York, NY

sounds like its something that can be fixed, although as someone who has a little experience with TIG welding, I can tell you that welding sheetmetal is not where you want to start learning. The aesthetics of the weld won't be crucial there, but remember that ugly welds tend to be weak welds.

This may be something that you might want professional help with, but at the same time, you could start practicing on scrap metal so the next time you need welding, you won't have to pay (its also a lot of fun, in my opinion)
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'87 924 S - No sunroof and a few modifications

blackhat · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 7:10 am Post subject:

Thanks for the input guys!

I took the car to a few body shops in the area. My shop of choice is booked for the next week or so but he said he could do it for ~$100 if I took the fender off for him. Another shop flat out refused to even touch it. And finally, the last shop said they would do it for ~$150 if I took the fender off first, ~$300 if they pulled the fender.

So, I'm slowly working on getting the fender off now to take it to either of the two places.
_________________
My First Porsche
-----------------
1978 Porsche 924 N/A

!tom · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 9:17 am Post subject:

No need to remove the fender on mine -- just the door.

Perhaps you could post a picture of your woes so you could get more opinions here?
_________________
78 924 NA
5-lug

blackhat · Posted: Tue May 20, 2008 10:41 am Post subject:

Joes924Racer · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 1:53 pm Post subject:

Happend to me on the drivers side I just removed the paint and had a friend weld er up..
these shops asking for 100 bucks is crazy I talked to a weld shop around my area and and can get it done for 20.00 was just told to have the paint removed with a wire brush around the weld area. I use a wire wheel chucked in a electric drill.
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1979 porsche 924 Na
1980 porsche Turbo 931GT Replica
Have u ever driven a turbo.