So i noticed a crack in my door hinge support, oh no! I took the door off and opened up the door jamb. worse than i thought.

Any advice - i will see if the tears / cracks can be welded up, but i was wondering if i put in a backer plate ( not welded in just as a big washer basically) if that would help going forward to distribute the stresses.

Any welders out there that can give me advice on if welding the corner up will yield good results ? Or should i look for a new door?

Any advice / coaching is appreciated.

Looks like you have opened up the area so weld it all up and it will be good for a long time. Its a common sight and I think these hinge supports cracked more from people leaning on open doors than anything else.

thanks SoFlaFiat, i checked out your blog, it really helped me to see that you had a similar issue.

do you think i need to add the plate that your added, or will it be enough to weld up the cracks, i cant think of an easy way to reinforce the edge that tore open top to bottom.

the weld should be fine as long as nobody is hanging on the doors any more

1234Joe Thanks that helps me, i have found a welder and hopefully take it in next week

you may also want to ask steve how his went

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?t=26947

thanks i sent him an email just now

jagonza wrote:thanks SoFlaFiat, i checked out your blog, it really helped me to see that you had a similar issue.

do you think i need to add the plate that your added, or will it be enough to weld up the cracks, i cant think of an easy way to reinforce the edge that tore open top to bottom.

The plate was only necessary because mine looked more like Steve's. Yours on the other hand doesn't look so bad. If you weld up all the cracked areas, it should be fine.
Best of luck!

make sure the matching hinge on the fender wall side is not cracked also. they both usually go at the same time

so i go the door back from the welder and spent three hours last night trying to get it aligned. I gave up for the night and will try again tomorrow. one millimeter either way is huge with this thing. i will take any advice.

I had an issue closing the door before i fixed the support, i was hoping it would be better after the repair but worse now.

I had sweat it out installing the door by myself while being careful not to ding the paintwork. Aligning it was the same story. If you don't do this procedure often it really helps to have a second person or third hand to help you out.
Basically you need to keep the retaining bolts just tight enough to hold your door in place & operational for testing and loose enough that when you unscrew one bolt per hinge you can budge the door by fist bumping it.
Finding that fine line can be frustrating.

AriK wrote:I had sweat it out installing the door by myself while being careful not to ding the paintwork. Aligning it was the same story. If you don't do this procedure often it really helps to have a second person or third hand to help you out.
Basically you need to keep the retaining bolts just tight enough to hold your door in place & operational for testing and loose enough that when you unscrew one bolt per hinge you can budge the door by fist bumping it.
Finding that fine line can be frustrating.

+1
A true test of patience this is!!!

Thanks guys , finally got it done !

I wont admit how many hours it took, i had to call a few timeouts to keep me from reaching for the sledge hammer.

Now onto the next project - the exhaust system !

here are some more pictures to hopefully help the next guy
the welded hinge


the hinge with the backer plate inserted and weld coated with rust preventer


how i transported the door to the welder - he welded it while inside


back on the car - the blue tape save many many potential scratches