CONFUSED AS HECK with door hinge spring installation instructions!

74-Roadster · 06-25-2002, 02:14 AM

If one of your doors has one, look at the position of the spring. I used the tool you're supposed to get and a small mirror and a flash light. Put the spring in like the directions say and use the tool and mirror from below and it will snap into place. I was confused but figured out while trying to get it installed. It all seems so simple now.

tunedport78 · 06-25-2002, 05:06 AM

try these instructions, there alot clearer http://www.corvetteforum.com/guides/c3/c3doorspring.htm

I did mine. It was confusing at first but once I figured it out it was real easy. Theres just no easy way to explain it.

Vic

Paul 75 L82 · 06-25-2002, 09:59 AM

You have to have that special tool to do the job. I felt the same way, but after i got going it only took about 30 min.

BlueL36 · 06-25-2002, 10:26 AM

Couple of things-

Put a towel or other cloth object between the door and the body below the hinge to "catch" the spring when it falls. It may fall a couple of times as you're fiddling with it and this will protect the paint.

Second, you can make a tool by sacrificing an old screwdriver. It has to be stout enough to hold the bend you'll need to put into it to use as a lever. Also, by using a longer, big-handled screwdriver as a mallet (handle end as hammer) you can tap the bottom of the spring up into place as you use the bent screwdriver to hold the spring over toward the body. Smaller than a hammer and the wood/plastic handle is a bit safer around the paint.

Took all of two minutes to install the spring once I figured this out.

71roadster · 06-25-2002, 03:51 PM

I made a tool by sacrificing a small open end wrench. I notched the handle of the wrench just enough so I could get it in position around the spring, torqued the sprind and tapped it up into place with a hammer. I like the wrench better than the screwdriver method because is is much less likely to slip and gouge out paint or an eye ;)

Chris

fontking1a · 06-26-2002, 01:02 PM

I did my drivers door about seven or eight years ago. I ordered two springs (one spare) and the tool. After scratching my head for a few minutes and thinking about it....and reading how to do it......I did it. It seemed way worse than it actually was but when I was doing it...it only took a couple of minutes. That's all I can remember. You do need a tool...that's for sure. Wish I could remember more but it just seems to me that if you start the job...you'll figure it out as you go.