39 replies to this topic

[mab01uk]

You can approach that way with fibreglass doors, as they weigh about 3 kgs instead of the 19kgs of a standard door with winder, glass and so on.
Fitting a standard door with mk1 hinges without reinforcing a panels.. i dont think it will last long..

Speaking as a mechanical engineer by trade I would say the method used in the photos shown in dave21478 post will work ok in the long term, as long as you bolt the reinforcing angle brackets back to the strong original internal hinge mounting areas on the door pillars as shown in his pictures. A couple of gussets across these hinge angle brackets (like the original Mk1 inner panel brackets have) would also help stiffen things up. The Mini Magazine article on this conversion a while back was much more involved with welding and A panel replacement but I'm sure a 'bolt on kit' of reinforcing angle brackets requiring minimal bodywork could easily be developed for this hinge mod. I would also be interested to know the difference in weight of MK1/2 doors to Mk3 on..............apart from the winder mechanism where is the extra weight if any? The Mk3 inner door skin is full of holes and the early metal door pockets are gone.

Edited by mab01uk, 31 December 2009 - 11:58 AM.

[davejf]

Hi, As long as your existing A panels are good then it's easy. align and mark the hinges while the car is still together. drill the door and add stiffening to the inside of the door or loose some weight as per the sliding windows. drill the a panels and align and weld in the Mk1 stiffner panels (little wedges). I didn't bother with the inner a panel. I've been using the standard MK3 doors (heavy) until i get round to putting the streetfighter doors on mine and that was 3 1/2 years ago now.... and all is fine (and i never put any strengthening in the doors as it was just a couple of month stop gap at the time....).

Dave

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[1977 Loud_Mini]

Thanks for all the help everyone, its nice to know that some people have done this modification with success. My A panels are good so i may be trying this sometime in the near future. Just out of curiousity, how do you mark the doors ready for fitment as the mk1 hinges have studs already in them to be bolted on? Also how do you know the correct place to put them e.g. height wise? Thanks, Evan.

[1984mini25]

I went with wedging, taping and clamping the door in place, blotting up the hinges to the a panels, drawing found the hinges on the door (studs removed), removing the hinges and a bit of careful measuring to find the centres of were the new holes needed to be drilled.

[davejf]

I went with wedging, taping and clamping the door in place, blotting up the hinges to the a panels, drawing found the hinges on the door (studs removed), removing the hinges and a bit of careful measuring to find the centres of were the new holes needed to be drilled.

Exactly the same way I did mine.
As to where, you can measure a Mk1 mini or just have a look at a photo (only needs to be roughly correct to Mk1 + or - 10mm). The A panel won't let you get the top one too high though. But make sure that they both open level or you'll be constantly trying to rip the door apart or if to bad they won't open at all.

Dave

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Thanks 1984mini25 and davejf I will bear that in mini for when i do my mk1 hinge conversion. So davejf you didn't lighten your newer door at all then and the hinges have been fine?

[JordanRaisbeck]

ive seen some stick of "fake" hinges? might not be what your after but it looks quite convinging, if you dont want to change the whole door.

[1984mini25]

You don't need to change the whole door, although if you are it’s better if you get them to fit with the later hinges first, it’s so much easier. Plus for the price of those fake bits of plastic I’ve managed to convert to the real thing, that’s panels and hinges, although I’m still waiting on one of my hinges.

[davejf]

Thanks 1984mini25 and davejf I will bear that in mini for when i do my mk1 hinge conversion. So davejf you didn't lighten your newer door at all then and the hinges have been fine?

The new doors will be a lot lighter, but the doors on it now, that have been there 3 1/2 years are standard weight doors and so far the hinges are fine.

Dave

[1984mini25]

And if I’m honest the doors on mine are fine as well, once I got them to fit Lol. Ok so I’ve cut most of the inner skins out and replaced the windows with sliding polycarb ones, but most of my problems have been the hinges I’ve bought.

Try and buy the best, new if possible you can. The hinges are also all different, so you need a top and bottom for the driver’s side and the same for the passenger side.

Think it’s no’s 1 and 2 for the drivers side top, 3 and 4 for the passenger side top, 5 and 6 for the drivers bottom, and then 7 and 8 for the passenger side bottom, none of which are interchangeable.

[1977 Loud_Mini]

JordanRaisbeck I have seen those fake hinges aswell but cost around £117 as someone on here posted a link. 1984mini25 you said that if i have the later doors which i do as mine is a 77 mini, then it would be much easier. Do you mean it will be easier because its already lined up with correct door gaps etc.
Davejf did you have any strenghtening plates at all on your mk3/4 doors for the mk1 hinges. I'd imagine its quite hard to get into them as there is limited space with the window mechanism and small cut outs?

[1984mini25]

What i meant was when I was doing mine I was replacing the doors at the same time as the originals were too far gone, but in hindsight I should have tried the fit of the new doors before with the later hinges to get the panels in place rather than the old ones Lol

So basically if you plan on doing it, make sure whatever doors you have or plan to use fit properly (gaps, etc) first then cop the panels about for the new hinges.

Edited by 1984mini25, 31 December 2009 - 11:11 PM.

[davejf]

JordanRaisbeck I have seen those fake hinges aswell but cost around £117 as someone on here posted a link. 1984mini25 you said that if i have the later doors which i do as mine is a 77 mini, then it would be much easier. Do you mean it will be easier because its already lined up with correct door gaps etc.
Davejf did you have any strenghtening plates at all on your mk3/4 doors for the mk1 hinges. I'd imagine its quite hard to get into them as there is limited space with the window mechanism and small cut outs?

I don't have any in the doors, but would suggest if these are the doors you will be putting on permanatly, that you do (my car only gets used occasionally) for an everyday driver i would highly recommend stiffening it. Also, you have to get into them to do the nuts up on the rear studs. You can cut out the inner skin in the area of the hinges, i drilled a hole in mine to make getting to the nut easier.

Dave

[1984mini25]

http://www.flickr.co...57602323378877/

Don’t know if that helps and the next 5 in the slider (right hand side)

[1977 Loud_Mini]

Thanks for the link to your pictures they were very useful. Its much better when you have pictures of whats been done. About your sliding windows that you made yourself, so they actually slide and seal to stop any water from entering the car. I would be very interested in knowing how you did them, you said something about bending the lip over?