Yesterday I opened my door and the door hinge stop check popped off. Instead of just trying to reassemble what I had, I found a kit is made to replace the pieces that I am currently holding in my hand. I went to John's Mustangs to buy the kit. He told me I'd have trouble putting the hinge back together. He told me the hinge was redesigned during the '67 model run and I should buy the new style hinge (I have a '67 convertible). Does anyone have any experience with old vs new style hinges?

Also, am I going to have problems replacing the hinge on the car? Will I suddenly have door alignment issues? Should I prop up the door while replacing the hinge? What else do I need to look out for?

 

No experience with the different hinges, but I can be pretty sure that you will experience "all of the above" mentioned issues.

Lining up the hinges is a bitch (the way I did it anyway!). I have since read it is best to line the door up to the rear quarter and then install the front fender to match the door...

If you change the hinge, try marking the old hinge, and putting the new hinge in exactly the same place for starters.

On the drivers door we only had to R & R 3 times. Passenger side took AT LEAST a dozen attempts...

All that said, just replacing one hinge should not be too dificult to get straight, but I am not sure you can get to all of the bolts to change the hinge with the door in place....

 

Now I'm worried about removing the lower hinge. So last night I tried to reassemble the stop check pieces. I got it back together, but it immediately popped off when I tried to close the door. There's a splined shaft that holds one end of the stop check in place, creating a pivot point for the stop check. I would think that splined piece would have to be hammered in really tight. I do have to tap it in, but when I try to close the car door, the stop check moves up and pulls the holder out with it. That piece comes in the repair kit, but I don't know which piece is wore out - the splined shaft or the hole it goes into. If its the hole, then I need to replace the entire hinge.

If I have to replace the hinge, I'd think I would be better off going with the newer design.

But that means potentially fouling up the alignment of the door. I may even need to completely remove the door in order to bolt the hinge to the body, then reattach the door. Since I'd have a nice paint outline for the top hinge, what are the odds I can line up the door without a lot of cussing and throwing wrenches?

Removing the fender just to replace the hinge is more than I'm interested in doing. That's not going to happen.

How many of you would just live without a stop check on the door? The door works fine, just the potential of opening it too far exists.

 

If you can get a drill in there and don't care too much about the finish, you can use an 1/8" drill bit and carefully drill through the hinge and body. You can use those holes and reverse the drill bit (or use drill rod) to realign everything. Trying to use masking tape or a grease pencil or whatever doesn't really work that great. Little changes at the hinge are the difference between a perfect fit and the door hitting the quarter.

Removing the fender is really easy. About a dozen 1/2" bolts, the bumper, and disconnect the headlight. It will make your life so much easier to remove it. Regardless of whether or not you remove it, at least put a couple layers of masking tape on the fender, quarter panel, and door to avoid chipping your paint.

From what I can tell, the cast hinges are the older style. The stamped hinges are newer. Mine are cast and I'm in the same boat. The driver's side roller stopped rolling and over the years wore off all of the bumps on the catch. My car is in bare metal and the fenders are only held on with a couple of bolts though

 

You can repair or replace the hinges one at a time if you support the door with a padded floor jack. Mark the outline of each plate with a pencil, and you can get pretty close on the first try when you put them back on.

The early 67 had a cast steel hinge similar to the 65-66, and the rebuild kit for those is close enough. Later 67 had stamped steel hinges.

With a little patience and a spare evening you can rebuild these hinges. Ford didn't mix them, and although they are interchangeable, it'll look pretty weird if you have one stamped and three cast. The limit stop and spring of the later ones is not replaceable, although the hinge pins and bushings can be replaced.

 

My issue is with the stop check. The rest of the hinge is working fine. I'm able to get the spring and stop check back on, then push the splined pin back into the hole into its hole. I guess the splines are wore out - either on the pin or the in the hole in the hinge. The first time I try to shut the door, the pin pops out and the stop check falls off.

Since I didn't want to replace the hinge and risk alignment issues, I bought a 5/16-18 bolt that's 1-1/4" long, along with flat washers and a lock nut. I ran a 5/16 drill bit into the hole (one quick hit was all I needed), then replaced the splined pin with the bolt, washers & nut. The stop check now works perfectly.

 

Sounds like a great resolution of the issue.

I wonder if someone will say that this solution won't actually work....