Re: 1950 Packard door hinge

Posted by HH56 On 2020/11/6 13:38:52

According to the parts book Group 30.310, all 22-23 series used the same front hinges but there was a production change. After the 22nd series was introduced they found the doors on convertibles (and maybe the two door clubs) were so heavy the doors tended to slip or drop. The reason for the slipping was determined to be the hinge bolts were somewhat small so they made new hinges that went from 5/16 bolts to 3/8. Those earlier cars had a field mod to install hinges with larger screws and even tack weld the hinges to the door metal.https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/SC/SC-VOL22NO7.pdf

Along with that change other suggested mods in the door to reinforce the hinge mount area was made and in later cars stronger plates for the larger screws were made available. No idea exactly when that happened and is only mentioned to suggest you might want to concentrate your search for replacement hinges on the later production cars. As long as the locator bolt or dowel pin was installed inside the door loose bolts are not likely the issue but if the locator pin broke or fell out you might also investigate the possibility of the internal hinge bolts being loose rather than the problem be due to worn hinges.

If it is worn hinges replacement pins were available so perhaps the hinge leaves themselves are not too worn and only a pin replacement is something that could be investigated.