Hidden Hinges - Door Side

The first thing I had to do was get the door to fit the best that I could. From the beltline down this was no problem but up top it wasn't going so good. The upper front corner was hitting the cab and would not let the door go forward and up enough to get the fit I wanted. From my limited expereince this seems to be a common problem as I had this problem on my '47 and in helping a friend with his old Mercury. This was also a problem area with the stock hinges as there is a rub mark on both the cab and door where his area has made contact over the years.

I knew I would be chopping the top later down the road so I had a couple of options. First would be to go ahead and cut the top section of the door off and fix it all later when chopping the top. I decided to go a differernt route, I cut out just the inner section of the door for clearance in this area. This allows me to fit the door intact to get the best fit at both the top and bottom before cutting it all a part.

With the door fitted as best as it can be I clamped it in place. The hinge arms must be removed at this time or the door will never fit! From inside the cab I marked the location of the upper and lower hinges onto the door. With the door removed from the cab these areas are cut out to make room for the new hinge pocket. I cut out some scrape sheetmetal and bent a recessed pocket to fill these areas. I made the pockets a little longer and deeper than needed so that I had room to play in my next step.

The main thing I needed to keep in mind all along was the "U" channel inside the door for the front edge of the window. The hinge arm, pocket and a tapped mounting plate needed to fit here without moving the channel. I then mounted my hinge arms back in the hinges, slide my new door pocket in place and refitting the door. I then marked the bolt holes from the arms onto the pockets and removed the door again. The holes were then drilled out oversize to allow for some adjustment in the door.The pockets are again fitting in the door and the door realigned and clamped in place. I then slid my threaded mounting plate behind the pockets and ran the mounting bolts through the arm, pocket and into the mounting plate. I then tightened the bolts up to make sure the pocket was sandwiched between the arms and mounting plates. Once everything was fitted to my satisfaction the pockets were then spot welded into place and the door removed for final welding.

With everything welded in place the door was once again bolted in place. The door opens great, works smooth and opens close to 90 degrees to the cab. The hinge arms fit almost flush with inner door structure so they should be real easy to cover with an interior door panel. I have also decided to fill the opening above the lower hinge arm on the door as I'm getting a small amount of flex in this area. I also need to make a stop to keep the door from opening to far. These doors have had on originally but I have deleted them as they would not work with my hinges.