The top hinge on the driver's side door on my car is loose:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xz6Wz3LB2Sd1PGX37
(this link needs to be opened in another tab to view)

It looks like the bolts are tight. As I understand, it is a pretty common problem with these cars that the top hinge will crack. It looks like someone attempted to weld it, but it didn't hold. I'm curious if anyone here has attempted a repair or can describe the best way to address this (I do have a welder).

Thanks!

Here are a few more pictures of the issue.

Hinge mount with the hinge removed:



Here is where it broke, looking in from where the hinge inserts on the side of the door.



Looking at the break directly through the hole where the bolt goes in:



I don't see an easy way to get access to that without cutting, as it appears this area is welded together. It's also a surprisingly small piece of metal given the amount of load it bears (the door is pretty heavy).

One approach would be to cut a larger hole in the door, then weld another piece of sheet metal over the top to reinforce it. I'm not sure how hard it would be to get the door aligned after that though.

There used to be an ad in the 80s where the tag line was "phone first!" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_3mUwLvmCM) That line still pops into my head when I forget a basic step, like searching the forums before posting. I managed to find a few other threads about this issue:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?t=33283
http://www.fiatspider.com/f15/viewtopic.php?t=26947

But those were from a while ago, so if anyone has other comments or ideas before I start cutting, lemme know.

Jeff, this is a common problem and you're right: The original design wasn't very robust. The ideal solution is to cut the door apart and have it welded up, but that's not easy and then you have to put the door back together and repaint it.

The door on my '71 spider had a similar crack although not as extensive as yours. While not fixing the crack, I was able to improve the situation by inserting large fender washers between the arm of the hinge and the door frame. As I recall, I did this for all three holes.

Two problems with this approach: 1) the door is moved slightly outward relative to the body, so you have to readjust the door alignment, and 2) the only way I could get these washers in there was to remove the door, lay it flat on my workbench, attach the hinge (upper in my case) with the washers/bolts and then reattach the door to the body. While not perfect, the door strength was better.

-Bryan

Hi Jeff1

You have to cut the inside door to repair it properly Then put it back together, It will be better in the long run.
I had to do this on both of my doors.

So, here's my dilemma. In the image below, I've put a white dashed line to show where there is a metal wall inside the door. The green line shows where I'd most likely need to cut to get access to the hinge mount. The rounded corner (and the sharp corner with a piece of metal welded on to reinforce it) seems like an issue. When welding this back on, I'd either need to use the existing piece that was cut out--which is going to have a big gap due to the width of the cutting tool and the complex cutting path--or try to fabricate a new piece--which, frankly, is going to have similar build quality to something I made for my mom in elementary school . Normally I'd want to have some kind of welding spoon behind this to help avoid burn through and allow filling the gap, but I don't see an easy way to get it in there with the fairly complex geometry. But perhaps I'm overcomplicating this.

I know this isn't a pretty option, but what about cutting through the outer skin of the door and welding it from that direction? You'd have to weld the hole back up and then bondo it smooth and repaint, but you might avoid the issues with going through the inner side.

-Bryan

18Fiatsandcounting wrote:I know this isn't a pretty option, but what about cutting through the outer skin of the door and welding it from that direction? You'd have to weld the hole back up and then bondo it smooth and repaint, but you might avoid the issues with going through the inner side.

Ha! I didn't even think of that, but that's a clever idea. I'm planning on repainting the car anyway, and doing a bondo repair on the outside actually seems easier. Thanks!