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[WrenchMonkey]

Broken welds on door hinge: cheap n easy fix!

Like many XJs (especially the two-doors) my driver's door has sagged badly for years. Last week, the damn thing finally fell off in the driveway. That's how I know it's time to fix something.

For those that don't know, the problem stems from AMC's lame-brained idea of welding the hinge to the sheet metal unibody (bad enough) and then neglecting to weld the rear edge (even worse.)

As those welds start to crack, the hinge separates from the body, and the door sags. Eventually, the hinge can break all the way off, and you're done.

I'm a pretty mediocre welder. I can stick plate to plate pretty well, and sheet to sheet pretty badly. But sticking the ~3/8" hinge back onto the cracked, rusty sheet metal just wasn't going to happen for me.

I considered paying a friend to do it, but he was busy and I was broke. So I came up with this...

 

[WrenchMonkey]

First, I cut out the ruined sheet metal where the hinge broke off. That left about a 2-1/2x3" opening.

Then I could see that there's enough space behind that panel for a new, stronger mounting plate.

So if I needed to mount the hinge like so (the yellow), I figured I'd need a plate shaped something like the blue outline. So I drilled (4) 3/8" mounting holes (red).

Then I cut my new mounting plate. I used about 8" of 2x1/4" flat stock. If you were careful and spaced your holes closer, you could get away with less, maybe 6", but I tend towards overkill.

I had to notch the bottom corner to clear a bulge in the unibody, then I drilled and tapped four holes to match the ones I drilled in the jeep.

I ground off the old welds from the hinge, drilled a couple more 3/8" holes to bolt it to the plate, then (after test fitting everything) I drilled and tapped the plate to match.

Then I shot it all black.

It took a little wiggling to get it into position, but it bolted in nice and solid.

Then bolted the hinge to it:

And finally rehung the door:

 

[WrenchMonkey]

Overall, I'm thrilled with the results. I was hoping just to get the stupid door back on. But the new mount lifts it back up where it should have been all along, and it opens and closes better than it has in years.

I was careful to put the hinge right back where it was originally, and like I said, it does work well. If I was to do it again, though, I'd move the hinge forward (toward the front of the jeep) about a quarter inch. That way I could shim the door-side mount to exactly where I wanted it, and even adjust it over time if it started to sag again.

All told, it took me about an hour and a half (not counting the time to pull off the fender), and since I picked the plate out of the scrap at work, I was only out seven 3/8" bolts. (Even buying a foot of the flatstock would only be $4 at OnlineMetals.)

Hope it helps somebody!

Robert