Door Hinges

[tcrist]

Would anyone have a set of door hinges that I could borrow or buy. I am trying to figure out a way to change the way the door opens. So the whole door swings away from the body instead of the front turning into it. I really do not want to remove my doors yet.

Terry

[Double Venom]

Terry,
Sorry I can't help. But the idea is a good one! My thought is to have a "U" built into the hinge just to the rear of the front mounting with the "U' facing toward the door. (Room for this under the dash area for the top one.) This would allow or force the door to move outward from the front fender before actually opening to 'wide posistion'. (Did this type of thing on a '34 Ford Cp and a '40 Willy's I built.) Keep us posted fella, this is a good idea!
DV

[1985 CCX]

Terry

Call Nick as he makes them OEM Cobra style.

http://www.actoncustom.com

[tcrist]

Jeff,
Thanks for the link. I believe that the Classic Roadster door hinges are different from most. Will be worth checking into though.

Thanks again,
Terry

[Double Venom]

Terry,
I have never seen a 'like' door hing to CR's massive hinge, but doesn't mean they can't be made!
DV

[sdfletch]

tcrist,

How much more room do you figure a different arrangement might give the opening? What is your purpose for the change? Just curious.

[tcrist]

DV,
I can make them if I can get it designed correctly. I would like to look at what Emerson Motorsports did to theirs. This is the way theirs works from what I understand.

sdfletch,
The purpose is for the whole door to open away from the body. Probably will not give you much more room to put your legs the door opening in the body. But it would swing the door further out away from the body. More like a standard car door opens.

Terry

[sdfletch]

tcrist,

Sorry, still confused. If the door works now without a mod, what is the purpose? What am I missing. DV says it is a good idea. Must be part of a larger plan, imo.

[tcrist]

If your door is out of alignment by very little then the extended part of the door hits the body when you open it. Been there, done that. On the top of the extended area.
Edit: This could move the door about 6 inches further away from you when the door opens. The door opening in the body is the same size but it will feel like you have a lot more room. I think.

Terry

[sdfletch]

Thanks. I guess I am into this conversation a bit late.

[tcrist]

Not really, I just brought it up today.

Emerson has done the same thing (their doors are shaped similar to the CR's but longer I think). They say that it does give you more leg room. If their doors are longer then it would.

It is just a thought that I had and wanted to look into it further. I think it would give you more knee room when you are getting in and out.

If it does not work then I am only out a little time and money. I work at a precision sheet metal shop and we have lasers, machining centers, welders, ect. So it would not be that hard to do.

I am a CAD designer so I have the latest software to play with.

Terry

[Double Venom]

Terry,
I'd love to draw you a picture of what I THINK would work but, one thing I can not get "Paint" to do what and two... I would be too embarssed to draw a picture for you!

If done correctly the door would open at least two to four inches away from the body instead of millimeters!

Tons of more troom for ingress/egress!
DV

[tcrist]

DV,
If I am thinking correctly, The hinge pin needs to be by the body and forward of the door extension. You would come from there back towards the interior bent in a "U" shape to where the bracket mounts to the door. The edge of the fender would actually fit into the "U" when the door is opened. That way when the door is opened the extended part of the door would be outside the fender with a gap. 1 to 2 inches should do it.

Hope I have not confused you.

Terry

[63mercury]

I will try to post a pic of the FFR hinge I took at London a couple years ago, maybe it will help. Carl

[tcrist]

Thanks Carl,
The design is kind of what I thought it needs to be like to get the correct swing.
Now I just need to have someone let me borrow their Classic Roadster ones so I can make 3D cad drawings of it and then modify the drawings.

Thanks again, Terry

[Ron61]

Terry,

Emerson redesigned the door hinges and he got an extra 6" of leg room by cutting away the part of the sidewall that the hinge used to be behind and moving the cowl bar a little. His design works great and that extra leg room makes it much easier to avoid the hot pipes when getting out. I had talked to Bill about upgrading my doors before I sold my Cobra. He has done a lot of improvements on the cars he now builds.

Ron

[Ron61]

Terry,

What Bill did was redesign the door hinges and then he took out of the sidewall about 6" where the front part of the door covers and moved the cowl bar a little. That gave 6" more leg room to get in and out. It really works well and helps with avoiding the hot side pipes too. I was going to have him modify my doors but sold the Cobra first.

Ron

[jagrolet]

Terry

I have seen the part you are talking about drilled in every position but correct,causing lots of agony,pete had sent me a set of undrilled brackets,so i drilled mine on my lathe,bolting the bracket to the carrige,spotting the holes correctly.Bolt the bracket to a small .500 plate you can adapt to tool holder t-slot,tack a support across each uprite of bracket(so holes stay aligned)and that should do,just go slow.
I would weld up the holes on the ones you have,again,i think this was just innacurrate drilling on CRs part,i am sorry,i should of told you about this,i think it was a major problem with door alignment problems,also,in the space under the top of the front fender,some of this can be ground away without detection for added clearance.


Wally

[chesterakl]

Boy, I would be interested in a set of those if someone manages to get something to work!!

The "extension" part of my door fits so closely that it does rub at the top with the body, so any improvement in that plus "leg room" would be very helpful.

[Double Venom]

Relatively easy to do, but one needs a hinge to play with.
DV