How To Repair Broken Door Hinge Pins on Great Dane Trailer

[FLAWLESSVW]

Hi Guys,

I started and completed an Ertl 40' Great Dane Dry Van a while back.

Then I had brain surgery and put it down for a while.

I'm now working on the Ertl International TranStar 4300 Eagle. Will keep you guys posted on progress.

Meantime, the door hinge pins on a couple of the trailer doors have broke You know, those microscopic little plastic nubs that stick out of the top and bottom of each door on the trailer...

I've got a couple ideas on repair techniques (thinking of using some type of thin but rigid wire and glue in place) but wanted to grab some ideas from the pros as I'm very new to model building in general.

Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance guys.

[Edsel-Dan]

Yes on the wire. Make it the same diameter as the receiving hole in the roof & floor

Drill into the door at the location deep enough for it to stay

Or do it carefully and on the backside, scribe a shallow groove for it to

run top to bottom, full length.

Epoxy/super glue it in place then fill the rest of the groove with strip styrene or putty

Edited October 10, 2013 by Edsel-Dan

[FLAWLESSVW]

10-4 on that Dan. I'll have to scrounge around a bit to find the proper gauge and rigid style wire (maybe piano wire would be good) but I'll probably find something that works. I'm thinking the full length groove option sounds good.

Thanks for the reply! Excited to get it all together (including tractor, where I'm only on the engine so far) so I can post pics of my first project... And already itching to start the next one! Guessing that means I have the "bug"!

[tbill]

^{warning, that bug bites hard and deep ask me how I know.........}

[doogie7046]

I have had those plastic pins break too and I used the dress maker pins found in new dress shirt collars to hold them in place with the cardboard liner. These pins are strong enough and small enough to do the job, easy to cut to length..

[FLAWLESSVW]

tbill: I don't have to ask you about the bug... Trust me, I've seen your posts, and your work!

doogie:now that's an excellent idea! I've been bumming around the house looking for appropriate size vs strength wire. The pin idea is brilliant.

I'm going to buy a whole new shirt so I can get a few of those! (True story! Fortunately I like dress shirts and won't mind picking a new one up to kill 2 birds w/one stone haha!) Seriously... Very clever idea.

So guys... Back to the "bug" topic; Summer (my wife) and I are currently in Niagara Falls, Canada for our anniversary. About a 2hr drive we make regularly from Cleveland. Anyways, she typically prefers to drive. So as we're leaving I'm looking at my model and tools, etc. wondering if I can pack a few things to work on while on the road... Cut parts from the tree, sand things down, glue what I can...

Then I realized that's probably a little obsessive and I'd do well to leave it all @ the house and wrench on it when I get back.

Diagnosis? Have I got the bug a bit? Haha.