Well as you might have deduced, my door removal experience was less than stellar.
The wiring disconnect was a bit of a hassle, not bad, but it could have been done so much better, but it's livable.
So I lift the driver's door off the hinges and start for the storage area, and wow, this thing is getting heavy! I guess if you're a young whipper-snapper you might see it differently, but if you ask me, it's not necessarily a one-person operation as might be suggested.
Well, I got the door off and was so glad to set it down! But, next, I was in for the really hard part - getting it back on!
The reinstall issue is three part: me (or lack of me) to hold the door in position, the few places to hold the door, and a less than optimal design on the door pins and hinges.
Starting with the latter, the door pins and hinges, the problem is that two pins have to be inserted into two holes at exactly the same time. It sounds easy when you say it fast like that. But, I thought in this century we were more into the MMI (man-machine-interface). So how could this be better? Simple. Just make the top pin and hinge a bit longer, say 3/8" - 1/2" longer than the lower pin. That would let you get one pin started at a time. You can focus on getting the top pin aligned and started, let the door down just a little to engage the pin and you would have a lot more stability to align the bottom pin - like one thing at a time.
To this end, since I can't modify the door hinge, I'm going to make a poly extension for the top and bottom door pins. The bottom extension will be just enough to cover the pin threads to protect both them and the paint on the hinge. The top extension will be about 1/2" longer which will again, protect the threads and paint and allow the top pin to be started first and then the bottom pin can be aligned and inserted.
Once the door is in place the poly extensions can be removed and the cap screws can be installed. I think that will help a lot.
As for the lacking of hand-holds to hold and align the door, not sure what I'll do about that, and for the lacking of me, I guess I'll start going to the gym and lift weights.
The wiring disconnect was a bit of a hassle, not bad, but it could have been done so much better, but it's livable.
So I lift the driver's door off the hinges and start for the storage area, and wow, this thing is getting heavy! I guess if you're a young whipper-snapper you might see it differently, but if you ask me, it's not necessarily a one-person operation as might be suggested.
Well, I got the door off and was so glad to set it down! But, next, I was in for the really hard part - getting it back on!
The reinstall issue is three part: me (or lack of me) to hold the door in position, the few places to hold the door, and a less than optimal design on the door pins and hinges.
Starting with the latter, the door pins and hinges, the problem is that two pins have to be inserted into two holes at exactly the same time. It sounds easy when you say it fast like that. But, I thought in this century we were more into the MMI (man-machine-interface). So how could this be better? Simple. Just make the top pin and hinge a bit longer, say 3/8" - 1/2" longer than the lower pin. That would let you get one pin started at a time. You can focus on getting the top pin aligned and started, let the door down just a little to engage the pin and you would have a lot more stability to align the bottom pin - like one thing at a time.
To this end, since I can't modify the door hinge, I'm going to make a poly extension for the top and bottom door pins. The bottom extension will be just enough to cover the pin threads to protect both them and the paint on the hinge. The top extension will be about 1/2" longer which will again, protect the threads and paint and allow the top pin to be started first and then the bottom pin can be aligned and inserted.
Once the door is in place the poly extensions can be removed and the cap screws can be installed. I think that will help a lot.
As for the lacking of hand-holds to hold and align the door, not sure what I'll do about that, and for the lacking of me, I guess I'll start going to the gym and lift weights.