S3 Door hinge lower bobbin fix (successful bodge!)
Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 6:34 pmMaybe this has been done / posted before, so apologies if it is a repeat.
2 years ago I had the driver?s door off and dismantled to fix the widow cables (thank you Alex Black for the counter sunk bolt / grub screw arrangement for cable to window fixing!).
Anyhow, I found the lower door hinge pin female bobbin in the sill nicely worn oval shaped. Looking through the archives on here I could see how a proper glass fibre / new bobbin repair should be done. Maybe one day, when the refurbishment gets done, I?ll fix it properly. But my car is every day transport in the summer, so it was not practical to do that.
I carefully cleaned any grease out and lightly abraided the ?oval? cup in the bobbin. I then used Blue Magic Quick Steel epoxy to fill the worn sector of the oval cup, and used a new nylon hinge pin to mold a perfect spherical cup, making sure to remove any excess, especially in the unworn part of the cup.
This was left to set with the hinge pin in situ and then re-fitted the door to the car. I thought it probably wouldn?t last long.
2 years and 5k miles of driver?s door opening and am pleased to report there is no evidence of wear.
Whilst not a long term fix, I thought I?d share this as a successful bodge, hopefully it?ll be some use to others.
Malcolm
2 years ago I had the driver?s door off and dismantled to fix the widow cables (thank you Alex Black for the counter sunk bolt / grub screw arrangement for cable to window fixing!).
Anyhow, I found the lower door hinge pin female bobbin in the sill nicely worn oval shaped. Looking through the archives on here I could see how a proper glass fibre / new bobbin repair should be done. Maybe one day, when the refurbishment gets done, I?ll fix it properly. But my car is every day transport in the summer, so it was not practical to do that.
I carefully cleaned any grease out and lightly abraided the ?oval? cup in the bobbin. I then used Blue Magic Quick Steel epoxy to fill the worn sector of the oval cup, and used a new nylon hinge pin to mold a perfect spherical cup, making sure to remove any excess, especially in the unworn part of the cup.
This was left to set with the hinge pin in situ and then re-fitted the door to the car. I thought it probably wouldn?t last long.
2 years and 5k miles of driver?s door opening and am pleased to report there is no evidence of wear.
Whilst not a long term fix, I thought I?d share this as a successful bodge, hopefully it?ll be some use to others.
Malcolm