Do your doors wave around like one of those wacky waving arm guys at the used car lot because your door hinge detent pins are missing? Or, are your doors tough to open because your detent rollers are locked up tighter than the Tin Man after a salt water bath? If so your detent roller pins could be replaced!
These pins help your door close a lot easier (less slamming required) and they won't go flying as easy when it's windy.
I have this in my build thread but I thought I would share it outside to make it easier to find.
If you forget to lubricate your door hinge detent rollers on a regular basis they lock up and grind metal on metal pretty quickly. My car had both detent rollers locked solid since the 90's and the previous owner ground them down to a D shape by ignoring the problem to the point where there was no salvaging them.
Ordering replacement hinges is possible but it's an additional cost and removing the door isn't exactly easy plus you need to paint them and all sorta other fun things.
I ordered a set of Classic Industries/AMD 68-72 A body detent rollers (Part number W539). I had seen people mention they fit with modifications but didn't know what was required.
The old pins knock out easily by just grinding the top mushroom off and knocking the pin out with a punch. Replacing the pins Isn't terrible but takes some time. I knocked the springs out by just taking a prybar and prying them out. Putting the new pins in required like 3 seconds with a carbide burr on a die grinder to clean the inside diameter of the hole out and open up the diameter JUST a slight amount to allow the new pin to slide in at a slight angle. The portion of the body where the hinges bolt to comes out a little bit due to the power window and lock wiring running through there and doesn't allow the pin to go in 100% perpendicular. Cleaning the ID of the hole up and knocking the corners off allows the new pin to start at maybe 85° and allows you to not remove the hinge from the body.
The hardest part is replacing the springs. It's easy with the doors off but it will save you time to keep the doors on if they don't have to come off for other reasons. I used my bench vice and compressed the spring to full compression and used 3 good zip ties to hold the spring at near full compression. I then was able to wiggle the spring into place and cut the zip ties.
The larger diameter portion of the replacement pin is the same diameter as the old one so no mods are needed there.
The difference between the A and G body pin lies in the length. The A body pin is about 1/4" longer than what a G body can accept. There are 3 solutions
1. (what I did since I have a lathe), turn the OD of the small 'step' part from around 0.45" to 0.31". This 0.31" male feature slides into the existing top hole where the old detent pin used to sit. I went this way because it gave the best locating and strength in my opinion.
2. Cut about 0.25" off the length of the pin. Basically where the diameter necks down. Grinder, hacksaw, anything really. The M4 hole where the SHCS threads into the top may need to be drilled and tapped deeper. It's a short bolt supplied and the hole is pretty deep so it might work without drilling deeper but it's close. The only negative here is you loose the upper pilot so the detent pin could slide around if the bolt isn't tight. However, clamp load is fully sufficient to prevent this from happening.
3. Drill the top roughly 0.307" diameter hole in the body side of the hinge to a diameter to accept the as-is diameter on the A body detent roller. This would work great if the hinge is off the car but drilling a hole perpendicular is not possible when the hinge is bolted to the car.
So the answer is yes, 68-72 A body detent rollers fit a G body with very slight modifications. I am not aware of G body specific ones being made.
My modified pin on the left, factory on the right
And installed.
These pins help your door close a lot easier (less slamming required) and they won't go flying as easy when it's windy.
I have this in my build thread but I thought I would share it outside to make it easier to find.
If you forget to lubricate your door hinge detent rollers on a regular basis they lock up and grind metal on metal pretty quickly. My car had both detent rollers locked solid since the 90's and the previous owner ground them down to a D shape by ignoring the problem to the point where there was no salvaging them.
Ordering replacement hinges is possible but it's an additional cost and removing the door isn't exactly easy plus you need to paint them and all sorta other fun things.
I ordered a set of Classic Industries/AMD 68-72 A body detent rollers (Part number W539). I had seen people mention they fit with modifications but didn't know what was required.
The old pins knock out easily by just grinding the top mushroom off and knocking the pin out with a punch. Replacing the pins Isn't terrible but takes some time. I knocked the springs out by just taking a prybar and prying them out. Putting the new pins in required like 3 seconds with a carbide burr on a die grinder to clean the inside diameter of the hole out and open up the diameter JUST a slight amount to allow the new pin to slide in at a slight angle. The portion of the body where the hinges bolt to comes out a little bit due to the power window and lock wiring running through there and doesn't allow the pin to go in 100% perpendicular. Cleaning the ID of the hole up and knocking the corners off allows the new pin to start at maybe 85° and allows you to not remove the hinge from the body.
The hardest part is replacing the springs. It's easy with the doors off but it will save you time to keep the doors on if they don't have to come off for other reasons. I used my bench vice and compressed the spring to full compression and used 3 good zip ties to hold the spring at near full compression. I then was able to wiggle the spring into place and cut the zip ties.
The larger diameter portion of the replacement pin is the same diameter as the old one so no mods are needed there.
The difference between the A and G body pin lies in the length. The A body pin is about 1/4" longer than what a G body can accept. There are 3 solutions
1. (what I did since I have a lathe), turn the OD of the small 'step' part from around 0.45" to 0.31". This 0.31" male feature slides into the existing top hole where the old detent pin used to sit. I went this way because it gave the best locating and strength in my opinion.
2. Cut about 0.25" off the length of the pin. Basically where the diameter necks down. Grinder, hacksaw, anything really. The M4 hole where the SHCS threads into the top may need to be drilled and tapped deeper. It's a short bolt supplied and the hole is pretty deep so it might work without drilling deeper but it's close. The only negative here is you loose the upper pilot so the detent pin could slide around if the bolt isn't tight. However, clamp load is fully sufficient to prevent this from happening.
3. Drill the top roughly 0.307" diameter hole in the body side of the hinge to a diameter to accept the as-is diameter on the A body detent roller. This would work great if the hinge is off the car but drilling a hole perpendicular is not possible when the hinge is bolted to the car.
So the answer is yes, 68-72 A body detent rollers fit a G body with very slight modifications. I am not aware of G body specific ones being made.
My modified pin on the left, factory on the right
And installed.
