Door hinges

[Pete J.]

I made the mistake of opening the doors on my 2CV and now have to come up with hinges.  The real car is interesting in that the doors are attached with a cheap piano hinge(well it was build as inexpensively as possible)  so the hidden hinge in not really possible.  I decided to do an "external" hinge that is of the era.  I started by removing the plastic B pillar and added a brass one.  These are the fixed part of the hinge after being soldered in place.  The wires are there to keep them aligned while soldering.  Now I just need to make 4 more parts to attach to the door. 

 

[porschercr]

Looks good Pete.

[SfanGoch]

Aber makes two sets of workable PE hinges,  35 A025

This set requires a 0.3mm wire to make the hinges workable.

 

and 35 A039. 

Both sets are 1/35; however, they work fine with 1/24-1/25 cars and trucks. 35 A039 is easier to assemble because the female hinge sections have, for lack of a better term, the connecting wire etched as an integral part. Just slip the tabs from one set of hinges under and through the openings and fold the tab over the wire. I've used these hinges on a variety of car models with no problems. They can be installed as exterior, joining the two edges, or hidden with just the knuckles exposed between the door and fender.

 

Edited March 22, 2022 by SfanGoch

[4mula1fan]

I've used dollhouse hinges from HL for projects like this before. There are different sizes. 

[Pete J.]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

Aber makes two sets of workable PE hinges,  35 A025

This set requires a 0.3mm wire to make the hinges workable.

 

and 35 A039. 

Both sets are 1/35; however, they work fine with 1/24-1/25 cars and trucks. 35 A039 is easier to assemble because the female hinge sections have, for lack of a better term, the connecting wire etched as an integral part. Just slip the tabs from one set of hinges under and through the openings and fold the tab over the wire. I've used these hinges on a variety of car models with no problems. They can be installed as exterior, joining the two edges, or hidden with just the knuckles exposed between the door and fender.

 

Hmmm, interesting.  I may order a set just to see how they work.  I think I am stuck with this design for now, but thanks for the information.  

[SfanGoch]

If the hinge is too long, you can trim its length.

[NOBLNG]

Good solution Pete. It should work fine. I am waiting on some k&s 1/32” brass tube that I intend to make hinges with.

[4mula1fan]

[Chariots of Fire]

I've done the hidden door hinge thing on several projects.  Here is one solution.

I used three different sections of brass on these hinges.  Flat strip stock, and tubing of two sizes.  I cut the large tubing in half making two half circles as shown in the photo.  I soldered one end onto the flat stock.  On the other end I soldered a piece of small tubing like the piece above the top hinge in the photo.  Into the body of the truck (in this case) I inserted two pieces of small tubing like the small ones on the end of the half circles.  You can see the end of one just below the windshield of the truck.  On the bottom of the fender there is a similar piece of tubing embedded.  At right in the photo is the door with the flat strip stock embedded between the outside of the door and inside the door panel.  When put in place a piece of stiff wire the size of the interior diameter of the small tubing is inserted.  This allows the door to swing with no exterior exposure of the hinge.  Just before painting, I plugged the top hole in the body so it would not show later.

A look at the bottom section of tubing in the fender.  This could be done on a car model as well.  It just needs a positive location both top and bottom.

The door is closed and the pin has been inserted into the tubing.  Still work to do on closing up the door opening and the pin will need to be cut.

The door in the open position.  No hinges show except on the inside of the door opening, as they would on a real vehicle.  The hinges are curve with the half circles because the hinge needs to clear the edge of the door opening without binding.  Without it the door would not open.  In the photo above, the four gray dots in the door are where the door was drilled open to secure the flat portions of each hinge.  And at this stage the pin can be pulled out of the tubing from the bottom for additional work on the door.

Here is the door jam showing the two openings in the cowl where the hinges are inserted.  The doors are tapered only to serve the purpose of closing up each one.  The difference is not noticeable once the doors are in place.

Edited March 28, 2022 by Chariots of Fire

[Pete J.]

3 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

I've done the hidden door hinge thing on several projects.  Here is one solution.

I used three different sections of brass on these hinges.  Flat strip stock, and tubing of two sizes.  I cut the large tubing in half making two half circles as shown in the photo.  I soldered one end onto the flat stock.  On the other end I soldered a piece of small tubing like the piece above the top hinge in the photo.  Into the body of the truck (in this case) I inserted two pieces of small tubing like the small ones on the end of the half circles.  You can see the end of one just below the windshield of the truck.  On the bottom of the fender there is a similar piece of tubing embedded.  At right in the photo is the door with the flat strip stock embedded between the outside of the door and inside the door panel.  When put in place a piece of stiff wire the size of the interior diameter of the small tubing is inserted.  This allows the door to swing with no exterior exposure of the hinge.  Just before painting, I plugged the top hole in the body so it would not show later.

A look at the bottom section of tubing in the fender.  This could be done on a car model as well.  It just needs a positive location both top and bottom.

The door is closed and the pin has been inserted into the tubing.  Still work to do on closing up the door opening and the pin will need to be cut.

The door in the open position.  No hinges show except on the inside of the door opening, as they would on a real vehicle.  The hinges are curve with the half circles because the hinge needs to clear the edge of the door opening without binding.  Without it the door would not open.  In the photo above, the four gray dots in the door are where the door was drilled open to secure the flat portions of each hinge.  And at this stage the pin can be pulled out of the tubing from the bottom for additional work on the door.

Here is the door jam showing the two openings in the cowl where the hinges are inserted.  The doors are tapered only to serve the purpose of closing up each one.  The difference is not noticeable once the doors are in place.

Appreciate the suggestion.  I to have done this and will probably use it for rear hood.  The issue with the doors is that they are not an offset hinge like this. They are a piano hinge that runs the lower part of the door and are not really hidden, just flush with edge.  Since the car was in production from 1948 to 1990 there are a plethora of door opening.  I suspect a lot of the hinging process is a function of  what hinge was available.  Some have suicide doors on the front or rear and all other combinations.  I chose having them both hinged on the B pillar as this was the combination at appealed to me.  It also worked out from a builders perspective because the B pillar is very thin and it plastic not very stable.  I could replace it with brass and improve the structural integrity of the model.  When done, the doors will open and close without having to worry about snapping the pillar. 

[Chariots of Fire]

Looks like you have done some serious brass work as it is!  Nicely done!

[Pete J.]

3 hours ago, Chariots of Fire said:

Looks like you have done some serious brass work as it is!  Nicely done!

Thank you.  More brass work to come.