YES! you can adjust the door hinges to fix it they will adjust up, down as well as in and out you will need to take the out side door skin off the door to get to the bolts inside the door for the in and out D.
YES! you can adjust the door hinges to fix it they will adjust up, down as well as in and out you will need to take the out side door skin off the door to get to the bolts inside the door for the in and out D.
It isn't easy, but you *can* get to all of the bolts inside the door by removing only the inside door panel and using a universal and long enough extensions on a ratchet. The hinge bolts on the body are accessed easily by simply removing the front wheel and tire along with the wheel well liner. That eliminates having to reach through the narrow space between the door and the hinges from inside the car.
But first you need to check the hinge pins bushings are not worn out. Very common on the Fiero. Open the door a few inches and grab it at the bottom rear of the door and lift it up and down while watching the hinges. Would guess you will see the pin and bushings moving around. There are several videos and post on rebuilding door hinges. Parts are available at the part stores.
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04:23 PM
Eclipse Member
Posts: 2040 From: Woodstock, Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 2004
I just replaced the bushings and pins on my driver's door hinges and also added a couple of thin shims on both the top and bottom hinges to take some strain off the shoulders of the new bushings. QUITE a difference!
Prior to doing this, the top back corner of the driver's door window was clipping the leading edge of the sail panel when closing the door. That's how much the door was sagging!
Something relevant and even somewhat humorous Here.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 06-04-2009).]
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06:06 PM
ltlfrari Member
Posts: 5356 From: Wake Forest,NC,USA Registered: Jan 2002
I just rebuilt my drivers side door hinge. The top hole in the body bracket had elongated and allowed the door to sag. There was a good 1/2 to 3/4 inch drop at the handle end. Getting the door off was a sod, I removed the body bolts, the lower hinge one by slipping a wrench between the bump stop post and the body part of the hinge. Slooooooow and tedious! I placed my dolly and some planking under the door to hold it up while I removed the bolts. Be aware that the door is VERY heavy. I'm no weakling and it was pretty much at the limit of what I'd like to lift given the size of it which makes it awkward.
To fix the elongated hole I drilled it out and installed a bushing in there 'upside down' so it rested against the proper bushing. did the bottom part of the hinge the same way.
After trying (for a few hours) to put the pins back in with the door side of the hinge still on the door, I gave up. Removed the hinges from the door (fun in itself if you've got big hands) and assembled the hinges off the car.
Then I bolted them to the body and offered the door up to the hinges with the door set to the correct height on my dolly again. Took all of maybe 10 minutes to bolt it up!
Result is no droop and a nicely closing door.
Well worth the effort.
If you take the hinges off the door or body, scribe around them before you remove them so that you can get them back in the same place.
Rebuilt upper hinge. You can just make out the back to back bushings.
Of course, if your frame or something else is bent then all of this is immaterial.
When reworking my driver side hinges the hole for one of the bushings was just slightly oversized. Enough to change the bushing from a press fit to slip fit. I took care of it based on some help here at PFF, but I really wished someone had posted the part number and where to find the "oversized" bushings referenced in a couple writeups.
For the sake of everyone, could someone post them here if you know?
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03:19 AM
buddycraigg Member
Posts: 13620 From: kansas city, mo Registered: Jul 2002
Originally posted by sjmaye: When reworking my driver side hinges the hole for one of the bushings was just slightly oversized. Enough to change the bushing from a press fit to slip fit. I took care of it based on some help here at PFF, but I really wished someone had posted the part number and where to find the "oversized" bushings referenced in a couple writeups.
the bushings come in at least 5 different sizes.
depending on how bad your hole was messed up, would decide on how big you needed to make the new hole. for the (one of many) over sized bushing.
To clarify, its not the up / down alignment that would occur with a sagging hinge. The upper corner is "in" and the outer corner is "out." Hence it looks more twisted than sagging. I'll try to get pictures up either Sunday or next week when I get the time to play with it more.
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08:22 AM
ltlfrari Member
Posts: 5356 From: Wake Forest,NC,USA Registered: Jan 2002
RE the bushings being loose in the hole, I just tapped around the edge of the hole with a center punch to burr the end over so that it would catch the bushing. They cannot fall out once assembled and it's not like they are a real heavy use item (compared to say an bushing in an engine).
To clarify, its not the up / down alignment that would occur with a sagging hinge. The upper corner is "in" and the outer corner is "out." Hence it looks more twisted than sagging. I'll try to get pictures up either Sunday or next week when I get the time to play with it more.
You can move the door in & out at the hinges where they bolt up to the door. How much movement the Fiero has I don't recall. But adjust one at a time in or out untill the door lines up at the 1/4, then if needed you can adjust the fender a little to match the door (eaiser at the top). HTH, ~ Paul aka "Tha Driver"
There is no problem that cannot be solved with the *right application* of high explosives.
