Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

A 1946 Packard 4dr sedan. I'm wondering if I drilled a 3/16" hole in each hinge on the doors, whether this would help me to get them realigned later? They have good alignment now, but I need to remove them for clean up and some rust repair on two of them on the bottom. I'd like to get them back in the same place when done.
John

Won't hurt and is a procedure Packard used on some models. Service Counselor 22-7 has a procedure for eliminating door sag on early 22nd series convertibles. Mechanics drilled a hole in the door or leaf side of the hinge and thru the door inner panel after alignment was done to install another bolt. That bolt was used as a dowel or locating reference. Some later models had a roll pin which served the same purpose. When you remove the doors be sure to keep close track of the location and thickness of any shims that might be behind the hinge leaf.

Don't know if you are planning to remove the hinges from the jamb side during any work but don't forget there is a hidden Phillips head screw inside the hinges that can be seen and accessed when the hinge is fully open. Generally removing the door by unscrewing the hinge from that side gives less trouble in realignment since less motion is possible but those screws can be well and truly rusted and give lots of grief in removal so working at the door side is much easier.

I used the same "drill a hole" trick on my car for both the doors hinges and the trunk lid and hinges. The holes were drilled after they were aligned, then removed, painted and re-installed. Worked great!

Thanks everyone. I don't know yet whether I'll remove the hinges from the door jamb or not. Probably not unless a hinge pin is worn and needs replacing.
John

Wow I would have never had thought to drill a hole to keep the alignment. Great tip!

I am running pretty much as a one man show, so always looking for ways to get the job done easiest.

When I worked in body shops years ago we would scribe around the hinge to mark its position, this made it easy to put back. Usually it was not necessary to mark them since the hinge already left a mark in the paint.