Service Procedure
IMPORTANT:
THIS PROCEDURE DIFFERS FROM PRIOR HINGE REPLACEMENT METHODS BECAUSE:
a. Door remains on the vehicle.
b. Access to both door hinges is made through the front wheel house area.
C. Hinges come pre-primed and are NOT to be painted.
IMPORTANT:
IN ORDER TO MINIMIZE DOOR REALIGNMENT, DO NOT REMOVE BOTH DOOR HINGES AT
THE SAME TIME. DO EACH HINGE SEPARATELY AND, IF BROKEN HINGES ARE NOTED DURING VEHICLE WRITE-UP, REPLACE BROKEN HINGES FIRST.
1. Obtain hinges for both doors.
2. Place vehicle on a hoist, and using the proper lift points, raise the vehicle to half up position (until wheel/tire chest high). See Section 0A of Cutlass Supreme service manual for hoisting instructions and cautions.
3. Using two pieces of masking tape, place one piece to bridge the gap between door and rocker panel and the second piece to bridge the gap between the door and the quarter panel to act as reference points for door alignment (see illustration ).
4. Cut tape at the gap area using a utility knife or other suitable tool.
5. Remove the front tire and wheel assemblies.
6. Starting at the top center of the front wheel house liner, remove all the attaching screws located rearward of the top center of the liner.
7. Loosen the liner from the fender and position the liner forward of the front suspension assembly.
8. Remove the insulator cover attachments and the insulator cover (located between the fender and the hinge pillar.
9. Clean the hinge mounting surfaces on the door and body with a rag and mark the hinge locations on the body surfaces with grease pencil or other suitable marker.
IMPORTANT:
BROKEN HINGES SHOULD BE REPLACED BEFORE OTHER HINGES ARE REPLACED.
10. Remove the hinge attaching fasteners and the hinge from vehicle.
11. Install new hinge within previously marked locations using new fasteners and lightly tighten the fasteners.
12. Repeat steps 10 and 11 for the remaining hinge.
13. Repeat steps 3 through 12 for the remaining door.
14. Install both tire/wheel assemblies to vehicle and lower vehicle to ground level.
IMPORTANT:
DO NOT SHORT-CUT THIS STEP. IF THE VEHICLE IS NOT RESTING ON THE TIRES WHILE PERFORMING STEP 15, MISALIGNMENT OF THE DOORS WILL RESULT.
15. Inspect edges of the tape on the doors and with the aid of a helper, align doors as necessary.
16. Raise vehicle to previous position and remove the front tire/wheel assemblies.
17. Tighten and torque hinge attachments to 24 N-m (18 lb.ft.).
18. Reinstall the insulator covers between the fenders and hinge pillars. Reposition and install wheel house liners using original screws.
19. Reinstall the tire and wheel assemblies.
20. Carefully remove the reference tape from the doors, rockers, and quarters. Lower hoist and remove vehicle.