S2 door hinge problem

[phil1800]

A friend with a recently restored S2 has excessive ‚play‘ on the rh door hinges. When the door is open, the lock side of the door can be moved up and down. The panel fit with the doors closed is excellent, but sooner or later the (fresh) paint will suffer. Great care is needed when opening or closing the door. I wasn‘t able to inspect the hinges yet, but my best guess for now is, that the screws/ bolts on the door hinges are loose.
Any ideas what could cause that ‚play‘?

Thanks
Philipp

[JonB]

Yes, check the hinge bolts first. Then check the screw-in domes for wear. They are only made of nylon and the door hinges on them, in a pair of special cup bobbins in the door surround. Really it should be obvious which if you open the door, watch the hinges (bottom one especially) and lever the door up & down in the direction of play.

[smo17003]

Check that the special lock nuts above the nylon hinge pins are doing their job. If they haven't been tightened sufficiently the action of opening and closing the door can cause the nylon pin to screw out of correct adjustment.

Mike

[reb53]

And if you do tighten up the nylon hinge pins you may find that the bottom edge of the door either rubs on the body, or has an excessive gap.
However, the alloy castings that the nylon "cups" fit into, have adjustment available courtesy of their attachment holes being elongated so you should be able to fiddle it right.
The cups have internal square holes that you can, ( sometimes.....), fit a screwdriver down into in order to screw them up or down. They'll be full of rust and crud though.
I bent up, and ground, a piece of steel to fit.

Ralph.

[JonB]

That square inside the cups is 1/4 inch IIRC, so a 1/4” socket end fits nicely. Stick a short extension in there and fit a ratchet to the other end. Job done.

[elanner]

A 1/4" socket end will fit but, being short, risks damaging the nylon bobbin, especially if it is very tight. It's better to find a section of 1/4" bar if you can. It will engage the full depth of the hole in the bobbin. See:

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=48538

Nick

[JonB]

Good point Nick.

[lotusfan]

A 1/4 inch socket end is a bit too short for this task. A length of 1/4 inch steel bar gives a much more secure fit.

[englishmaninwales]

If the cup bobbin is worn this is a ‘fix’ that’ll buy some time. I did this to the lower RHS door hinge bobbin in 2017 and is still showing no sign of wear.
viewtopic.php?f=36&t=44818&p=319306&hilit=+Hinge#p319306

[alan.barker]

Use a 1/4" extension and grind the flats further up the Extension maybe 1" for full engagement no problem.
Alan