- Location
- West Haven, UT
I didn't get much done over the weekend. I worked for only a couple of hours in the shop on Saturday morning and then the wife and I hopped in the truck and took a nice relaxing drive.
I was able to get half of my doors done on the Jeep however. I have noticed that the passenger's side rear door has been slowly stiffening in the hinge over the past several months and I wanted to address it before it got any worse. I have seen these bind so severely that they have fatigue cracked inside the door jambs or even bound to where the door jambs get bent trying to open a door. I didn't want that mess on my hands so my plan was to remove the doors, polish the hinge pins and bushings and then reassemble after adding some anti-seize to the hinge pins.
I know many people have replaced the steel pin bushings with Delrin but I feel the doors are heavy enough that they cause accelerated wear to the Delrin and then it's into the hinge assembly so rather than replace with Delrin, I just wanted to clean, lube and reassemble as is. After getting the hardest door off first, I ran some emery paper over the hinge pins on the door to polish off the small amount of corrosion and then took some emery paper on a small mandrel and ran it through the bushing on the hinge to remove the corrosion. They cleaned up beautifully.
This next step wasn't planned but when I saw the door lying on the fabrication table and could see a few scratches from last year's wheeling trips I opted to take a few minutes and run some polishing compound over them to remove a few of the scratches at least. I realize it's a Jeep and not a show car but I also want to stay on top of the scratches so I hit them first with some 3M Finesse-It and a yellow polishing pad as I didn't think it needed the heavy duty compound nor while wool pad.
After a few passes with the yellow pad and Finesse-It the door was already looking much better.
Next I ran over it with the Machine Glaze and black foam pad for a swirl free appearance.
Rear door pins anti-seized and reinstalled before removing the front passenger's side door for the same treatment.
An initial cleaning with some Final Inspection and then it's ready for some mild polishing.
First pass complete and using my small 3" Milwaukee polisher around the hinges and mirror.
Looking much better.
Ready for installation after adding some lube to the hinge pins.
Passenger side completed.
I hadn't planned on the polishing part of the process but it sure made it easier and quicker being off the Jeep and lying on the table. Half way done and now just the driver's side to go.
I think I'll put this on my preventive maintenance checklist and do this every few years to avoid binding. All in all she looks pretty good for a 11 year old Jeep with 148k miles on the odometer and one that sees regular daily driving plus flat towing and off-road duties.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
I was able to get half of my doors done on the Jeep however. I have noticed that the passenger's side rear door has been slowly stiffening in the hinge over the past several months and I wanted to address it before it got any worse. I have seen these bind so severely that they have fatigue cracked inside the door jambs or even bound to where the door jambs get bent trying to open a door. I didn't want that mess on my hands so my plan was to remove the doors, polish the hinge pins and bushings and then reassemble after adding some anti-seize to the hinge pins.
I know many people have replaced the steel pin bushings with Delrin but I feel the doors are heavy enough that they cause accelerated wear to the Delrin and then it's into the hinge assembly so rather than replace with Delrin, I just wanted to clean, lube and reassemble as is. After getting the hardest door off first, I ran some emery paper over the hinge pins on the door to polish off the small amount of corrosion and then took some emery paper on a small mandrel and ran it through the bushing on the hinge to remove the corrosion. They cleaned up beautifully.
This next step wasn't planned but when I saw the door lying on the fabrication table and could see a few scratches from last year's wheeling trips I opted to take a few minutes and run some polishing compound over them to remove a few of the scratches at least. I realize it's a Jeep and not a show car but I also want to stay on top of the scratches so I hit them first with some 3M Finesse-It and a yellow polishing pad as I didn't think it needed the heavy duty compound nor while wool pad.
After a few passes with the yellow pad and Finesse-It the door was already looking much better.
Next I ran over it with the Machine Glaze and black foam pad for a swirl free appearance.
Rear door pins anti-seized and reinstalled before removing the front passenger's side door for the same treatment.
An initial cleaning with some Final Inspection and then it's ready for some mild polishing.
First pass complete and using my small 3" Milwaukee polisher around the hinges and mirror.
Looking much better.
Ready for installation after adding some lube to the hinge pins.
Passenger side completed.
I hadn't planned on the polishing part of the process but it sure made it easier and quicker being off the Jeep and lying on the table. Half way done and now just the driver's side to go.
I think I'll put this on my preventive maintenance checklist and do this every few years to avoid binding. All in all she looks pretty good for a 11 year old Jeep with 148k miles on the odometer and one that sees regular daily driving plus flat towing and off-road duties.
Thanks for looking.
Mike
