[73transamman]

I took the hinges off my doors this past week and will have them sand blasted and then I will rebuild them with a kit that I bought from PY. First I would like to say that the holes are NOT egg shaped and the new bushing fit tight. Ok, now my question is how does a guy stake the pins? Is there a way to do it like the factory? Or do you put them in so that gravity keeps them in?

It's all about the money

[73transamman]

I took the hinges off my doors this past week and will have them sand blasted and then I will rebuild them with a kit that I bought from PY. First I would like to say that the holes are NOT egg shaped and the new bushing fit tight. Ok, now my question is how does a guy stake the pins? Is there a way to do it like the factory? Or do you put them in so that gravity keeps them in?

It's all about the money

[dragula81]

You do need to stake them in. I made the mistake of not staking the pins on my El Camino and the drivers side upper pin would work it's way up every so often and I would have to take a hammer and tap it back down on occasion.

If you were going to install the pins while the hinges were still off, I would guess that you could just lay it on something heavy and hit it with a hammer or maybe for a better look, you could just use a press and flatten the end slightly with that. It won't take much.

Good luck!

Drag

http://webpages.charter.net/dragula7

[73transamman]

Thanks for the reply Dragula, When you say to flatten the end are you talking to hit it so that the pin is not round but kind of oval shape or are you saying to mushroom the end?

It's all about the money

[dragula81]

My thought is to just flatten the end in the shape of a slight oval just enough so that it can't come back out on it's own. I'm not sure how much excess pin will be sticking out of the bottom on your car but most I've seen have 3/8-1/2" usually. That should be enough to flatten it with a hammer or if you have access to a press, that would probably make it look better and more uniform if that's important to you.
You probably wouldn't be able to "mushroom" the end of it if you tried anyway. I would think that the pin would probably bend first.

Good luck!!

http://webpages.charter.net/dragula7

[Aeolian-X]

I've done many of these and never had to stake any of the pins. The splined area at the top of the pins should be enough to hold the pin in place. The biggest problem I see is that the pins are rarely ever kept lubricated. This causes the pin to start turning on wearing the bushings and then slipping up.

But if you must secure the pins in place, you can drill a small hole in the pin, then insert a cotter pin or something through it. This will keep it from slipping out for sure. You'll probably never be able to crimp the pin. It's just too hard.

- AX
77 Trans Am Restoration Journal

[Dens71TA]

Put two round dabs of weld on the sides of the pin. Thats what I did and it looks somewhat like the factory staking.

1971 Trans Am 455 HO - Cameo white
1973 Trans Am 455 - Buccaneer red
1984 Trans Am 305 - Royal blue

[heather00]

I also used "tack" welds with no problems.Just make sure to protect any finished surfaces and the interior from any hot splatter.