Show me your door hinges

[fasterpatrick]

Hey everyone how about showing me some pics of your door hinges. And maybe some dimentions of the curve and such. I realy am haveing problems grasping the whole curve part of these It doesn't seem dificult but I don't want to waste lots of time experimenting with different stuff. Patrick

[Paul F]

Patrick,

I have a couple of pictures under my name. You won't learn too much from them. I made a set hoping to make them less obtrusive (that curve gets in the way of your leg), but ended up making them with the same curve as the original.

Start with a paper cutout of the door and jamb to full scale looking from the top. You can then experiment with the pivot point and see how the door edge interacts with the body. Ignore the shape of the curve at first. just connect the door to the hinge point as a straight line (yes, it will hit the body wall, but ignore this at first) and watch it as the door opens. You will see how to get the door to clear the body. Move the hinge point forward and back to see how that affects how far the door moves away from the body. Once you are happy with the hinge point, the curve will solve itself. With the door open, draw a curve from the hinge point to the open door, clearing the jamb, and you have the shape of the hinge.

Once you have it worked out with paper cutouts, you can try it on the car. Cut the hinge shape out with cardboard or stiff wire and make a cardboard door (just the part near the hinge). By hand, you can pivot the cardboard hinge and door and see if it all works and clears the door. If it all works, you now have a model for the real door.

[Tom Howland]