Midway through the process of installing a load of patch panels courtesy of Brothers Trucks on the Project ’56, we came to the realization that we really needed to hang the doors in order to continue. See, once we cut the rockers away, the A-pillar started getting a bit squirrely. When that happened, we thought we’d better quit while we were ahead lest we weld up the new rocker panels and have the door opening shrink without our knowing. That would be bad. And so, it was decided that we could hang and gap the doors as close as possible at this early juncture before pressing on with the patch panel install.
The driver’s door was shot, so it took some time to find a decent replacement, but as luck would have it, Jason turned up with one after a few weeks’ search. We followed up by contacting John Lawrence at Brothers Trucks and had him send us some replacement hinges, striker plates, latch assemblies, and door hardware to replace the 50-plus year old junk that was on the truck (in some cases, permanently!). With new parts in hand and decent OEM steel to now work with, we disassembled, cleaned up, repaired, and installed both doors and their respective hardware in an afternoon, putting us in good shape to press on with the patch panel repairs next month. CCT
Here’s the hardware we’ll...
Here’s the hardware we’ll need in order to properly install each door. A pair of hinges, striker plate and latch assembly, outside door handle, and inner door relay make up the gist of what we need to properly hang the door.
Since we had already removed...
Since we had already removed the doors prior to starting the patch panel work, Jason proceeded to remove the remaining pieces, namely, the original striker plates.
These guys have been in place...
These guys have been in place since 1956 and did not want to come loose. That only left us with one option, brute force. A groove was cut into the head of each fastener using a cut off disc on an angle grinder…
… so that a screwdriver could...
… so that a screwdriver could be used to remove the bolt.
Since the Chevy uses caged...
Since the Chevy uses caged nuts that are part of the structure of the cab and, therefore, cannot be removed easily, it’s a good idea to chase all the threads of each fastener before trying to install any of the new hardware. Here, a 3⁄8-inch tap, die, and thread repair kit is shown.
Every caged nut gets chased...
Every caged nut gets chased before moving forward to ensure that the threads are in good condition.
Now the door hinges can be...
Now the door hinges can be installed to the cab. Note that the portion surrounding the lower hinge has already been replaced with a new patch panel. This was necessary as the stock sheetmetal was completely rotted away.
The design of the ’56’s hinges...
The design of the ’56’s hinges are actually pretty good as they bolt to both the A-pillar as well as to the firewall, making for a strong foundation.
When Jason removed the doors...
When Jason removed the doors from the cab originally, he carefully traced the location of the hinge so that when we came back to rehang the doors, we at least had a baseline location to start with.