Has anyone had experience with Hawk door hinges (63 GT)? I want to rebuild mine because they are loose and sloppy...but I'm a little leery of taking the old ones off because I don't know what is behind the screws (cage nut? welded nut?) and how to repair/replace or access these if something goes south. I got the doors off pretty easily with a #4 phillips bit and an impact wrench set on the lowest setting....only two screws broke off but that was an easy fix as the nut plate is in plain view and that was easy enough to drill out and re-tap for 5/16-24 threads....but if something breaks off or the nut breaks loose inside the pillar I'm not sure how to go about repairing. I thought about heating the screws up one at a time with an acetylene torch prior to removing (?) Any suggestions or advice would be most appreciated..thanks..Lance
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I have used Dave Thibeault for that type of question as we restored my 63 GT Hawk and currently do a full paint on a 64 Super Hawk; with some other work too.
give Dave a call before 1pm EST and he will gladly talk you through
Mark -
You will have to heat them and even then will most likely break one or two. The ones I broke on mine I drilled out and used 5/16 nutserts from Fastnal.Comment
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I just took the hinges (and doors) off a '64 GT that I'm parting out. I used "Deep Creep" penetrating oil (several applications over the course of the day) and tried to break them loose the next day. successful on most (then applied more Deep Creep) as I slowly hit them with my 3/8 drive impact to back them out. The ones that I couldn't crack loose manually, I heated up with the torch and then hit them with the impact and got them all out. Cautious work and patience are a must. Hope this helps, Bill.Comment
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Thanks Bill! That's exactly what I was planning to do....heat, gradual loosening, spray penetrating oil, wind them back in, wait a while, back them out again, more heat and oil, etc till they're all out. Someone else suggested 5/16 nutserts from Fastnal which I hope will be the last resort. I appreciate that you took the time and trouble to respond....good luck with your projects. Speaking of parting out, would you have a decent cigar lighter from your 64? I'm ok with one that needs cosmetic work or paint, it doesn't need to work, just don't want to leave the hole in the dash unfilled. Also looking for the horizontal molding, left side, that is directly under the windshield. It has a half moon end that goes around the windshield wiper pivot and the other end has a small tab that screws to the body....if you have one with the tab intact I'm interested...just need a decent core for replating..thanks again, LanceComment
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The nuts inside the door post are cage nuts.
The middle ones you can't see easily is the only one you can get at the nut as it is on the "outside" of the A post and visible in the wheel well next to the fender mounting flange.
The top and bottom ones cannot be accessed w/o removing the fender first and cutting a window in the A post to get inside. I had to do that on my car, but it was already coming totally apart anyway.
When you go to put this back together, slather anti-sieze lube on those screws and don't be stingy with it! Those screws seem to rust/sieze solid for any reason at all. I lubed all of mine and a couple years later went to adjust the door and had to break out the impact driver again and it wasn't like I was driving in the winter salt, etc !
Jeff in NDComment
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Thanks Jeff! Yes, yes, yes, I can't say enough about anti seize....I even used it on my 1968 Quincy air compressor that I found in a junkyard...when rebuilding i used anti seize on most everything including the gaskets and when I had to go back in to repair one of the valves the gaskets came off easily and could be reused. thanks for your reply...LanceOriginally posted by Jeff_H View PostComment
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