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Author Message   Glenn Middleton Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 05:38 pm:    At the bottom of the door the wire hinge pin is held in a groove by a metal plate. At the top the pin goes through a hole in the front edge of the body casting, at the top plate/body joint line. To loosen the bottom retaining plate requires a major strip down. However it is possible to remove the pin with a good pair of engineers pliers. I have done this on many A1 bodies and I always remove the top plate so that I can see the movement of the pin. I have not done this on AE-1 or AE-1P so do not know if it is advisable to remove top plate on these. You are looking for adequate clearance between end of pin and any circuit board that might stop the pin rising far enough. Open the door and mark the position of bottom of door on pin, using the pliers grasp the hinge pin in center and wiggle it upwards. You should be able to get it clear of the 'door frame' at the bottom. Gently bend the pin outwards so that you can slide the door off the pin. Do not loose the door spring. To aid the repositioning of the pin I remove it and grind a little 30 deg point on the bottom end, this allows the pin to slide behind the retaining plate. Replace pin in top hole, slide new door and spring on and gently bend back and push into bottom groove. When end has entered bottom of frame keep the pin in contact with rear face of front of body ie keep it in the groove until the mark on pin meets the bottom of door. I suggest that you remove the good door first, so you get the feel of the job. When you have removed the door just try pushing the pin back into the groove. It is important that the pin is held by the retainer. Also note that I do not bother to replace the door spring any more. It can be a fiddle and I manage without the little blighter.