sagging/loose door cure

["Shahrol Halmi" <alfalist@domain.elided>]

The driver side door on my '92 33 was replaced recently after I have been
grazed by a driver making an errant U-turn.  The door is brand new, but the
body shop chose to re-use the old hinges.  Recently the door started making
slight clanking noises during acceleration and braking.

Checking the door itself reveals some travel is allowed in the vertical axis
(grab the latch end of the door and push up and down) - the loosenes of the
hinge is what was causing the noise.  It's very irritating, believe me :)

Took it to my trusted mechanic who concurred with the diagnostic.  Cure was:

1.  Took door of its hinges (unscrew the door stop mechanism, unbolt the 4
bolts that hold the hinge to the door) - disconnect all electrical
connections first!
2.  remove hinge from body - 3 bolts each
3.  grind the top and bottom parts of the pin holding the hinge together
4.  use a punch to knock em out.  They're solid pins, slightly worn in the
middle (which is what was causing the clank)
5.  replace with new pins.  We used hollow pins since the solid ones weren't
available (would there be any side effects?)
6.  cut any protuberances that might interfere with putting the bolts back
in.
7.  assembly is the reverse of removal.

Door now is as tight as it was when new.  We needed to move the latch up a
bit to compensate for the non-sagging door.

I think this procedure would work with most cars, hopefully it will help
someone.

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