Looking to install a set of the hinge pin mounted side mirrors I see a lot of F- 1 owners using. I put on some PB Blaster and whacked the crap out of the the bottom of pin to drive it upward but .... nothing. I was going to grind the pin head off the top an wack down but thought I better ask you guy for some help first....Help
Thanks John

 

If you do a Search on hinge pins, you'll see there has been much written about the various methods tried. No one method always works. Bottom Line: the pins aren't going to come out easily.

 

Duh.... Thanks Ross. I dont know why but I always overlook this forums search and do the search at the top of the page, I guess its for all of FTE.

 

I did the following:
1. Try to knock them out from bottom.
2. soak with penetrating oil and try to knowck out from bottom
3. ground off head, soaked with penetrating oil, beat the ever loving snot out of them with the biggest hammer that I could safely handle.
They finally came out. It's not easy. Just stick to it and don't let it get you down.

 

I've found grinding the heads off, drilling the center and whacking with a BFH is the best and fastest way to do it.

 

I had to drill the majority of the center out of mine. Then beat the rest out.

One thing is certain. You don't want to bend or break the hinge!

J!

 

i soaked with pb blaster for a day or too gave them a little heat with the oxy acyeteline torch and banged them up from the bottom i got them all but one i jjust decided to deal with the other one at a later date

 

I soaked them for weeks with penetrating oil; heated the hinges and started driving with 1/4 punch from bottom. I bought "cheap" removal tool and this worked on two of them before warping and bending out of shape. The final one, I think I removed from cab with door and drove out with heat applied. I may have cried that day out of joy, it is blocked from my memory.

Tom

 

OK guys . . . I'm in hinge pin hell! I have read through everything that I can find on FTE. Lots of good ideas and experience. . . . went out and bought a few tools that I didn't have. I did manage to move the left pin up about another 1/4" but it won't budge after that. The WD40 and the air hammer seems to work best. I don't want to remove the hinges unless I have to as the doors fit and close well and the upper hinges have are tack welded to the A pillar . Has anyone tried a hydraulic C clamp?

 

Not at that price - I would/will go thru the door alignment before that

 

Yes, very $$$ but maybe someone has one to rent in this area?

 

So you have the top of the pin up 1/4" from the top of the hinge? And the bottom of the pin is no longer visible at the bottom of the hinge? If so, you're somewhat close to home free. Soak it with PB Blaster and give it some REALLY hard licks with a BFH and a punch that is skinny enough not to hit the inside walls of the hinge and bottom out. I really had to pound on mine with a 5 lb hammer.

Edit: The amazing thing about those pins is that they will NOT loosen up at all until the very last millimeter of the splines below the top of the pin clears the hinge itself. I drove the master link pin out of a bulldozer once. It was comparable in difficulty.

 

Thanks Doc. I finally gave in and pulled the driver's door (the one where the pin moved up 1/4"). I turned it upside down so I could get at the pin easier and tried everything suggested (but heat) but it still would not budge anymore. Even the calibrated Ford tool (alias BFH) doesn't work. So my next move is to take the hinges off the door and then try some heat.

Today I did find some hinge bolts (I broke a couple getting the door off) at Metro Bolt & Fastener (313-358-4800) not far from me. Sid was able to find them (including new, galvanized, concave star lock washers) along with some trim clips that have been hard to find. These bolts have allen heads instead of phillips heads but that's OK for me. I hadn't been able to find those bolts listed at any of my normal parts sources.

Cross your fingers that this works.

 

I had to drill mine from the top and the bottom. It was easier to grind the top off first and then drill a small hole, then bigger. A smaller hole at the bottom of the pin so the punch wouldn't go into it, and then beat on them. I tried an air hammer and that helped, but the 2 pound sledge finally did it. Nice find on the hinge screws.

 

Thanks for everyones help. I used a little bit of everything except heat and drilling the pin out out. I was saving those as my big guns. But it was much easier after I removed the hinge from the door and got it on top of my vise. I cut the head off just to get the old mirror mounting hardware out of the way. That helped to get it on a solid footing on the vise. I also changed from using a longer flat tipped punch to a short pointed one that I have had for over 40 years. Now I just have to do the right hinge. At least I know the process and the best tools now. Thanks again to all of you that chimed in on this one.