[moneyvango]

I don't know how to heck to explain this,but I'll try--Sunday drove about 100 miles to pick up a hood for my hot rod. I push the rear door release button on the dash.This (usually) pops the top door open.This is the window assembly above the dutch doors.The rear hatch opens okay,but the hatch will only open up about 6 inches or so.No problem; I'll just push it up the rest of the way.NOT!! I'm pushing up on this thing like a Russian weightlifter when POP! the hinge on the passengers side snaps, part of my third brake light pops out of place and the top corner on the DRIVERS side is pinched to the point where it cannot be raiser or lowered!After some persuasion with a vice-grip and a hammer,we fix the hatch enough to where it can close.It stayed closed for the trip home. My question unto you is this-is this hinge assembly welded to the body,or is this a bolt-on deal?I havent had a chance to really look at it because of the weather,and too many other things are Mickey Moused on this thing; this looks like something that needs to be done RIGHT. Your thoughts please??Thanx.

 

[chops]

the hinge is welded to the door part but the other side on the roof is bolted underneath the headliner trim in the back i believe they are 10 mm nuts two on each. hope this helps!

 

[Gary]

Indirectly thanks for the heads up on that hinge.I will be spraying the heck out of them soon with LPS III to prevent that from happening on my LT along with the gas door latch which lately has become abit cranky.

 

[moneyvango]

I have come to the conclusion that these dutch doors are a major PITA!!!I would like to change over to barn doors, if and only if, somebody has done this successfully.If that is the case, please send me some pix and/or instructions on how to do this.My van is used for light hauling/junk remaval. At this point, I need a second person to hold the one door AND the rear hatch open when backing up to a dock or dumpster (which would be a good place for those dutch doors).Any imput would be appreciated. Meanwhile I will be doing some photo taking and measuring whenever I get a chance to hit the scrapyard.... :feedback: