[Jack P.]

Does anyone rebuild lower door hinges. I would like to keep the roller looking as original. The rebuild kits all seem to come with a new roller that has to be drilled and tapped. Are the repo hinges exact copies. Trying to keep the original look.

[Rich-Tripower]

I have repaired all my hinges with the drill-and-tap replacement rollers and they work great and restore the hinge to proper function. If you really want to be anal about it, fill the hex driver hole in the top of the bolt that holds the roller in place before everything is painted and I seriously doubt anyone would be able to tell they are not original without serious scrutiny. You would really have to look closely to tell regardless. My Chevelle has scored as high as 996 points and no one ever looked at or mentioned anything about the hinges. In all the shows I've been in with the Chevelles and the GTO, no one has ever mentioned the hinges other than to note that it is great that the detents work as they should.

I can't speak to the reproduction hinges as I've never used any of them, but given the general quality of reproduction parts across the board, I am more than happy to rebuild my originals (cheaper too).