73 Charger door hinge replacement

[Ray Howes]

Not meant to be a tutorial, but the end result was not completely what I was going for, so here goes.
A few years ago I bit the bullet at the Farmington Mopar show in Minnesota, and bought a full set of driver and passenger side hinges from Stephens Performance. Authentic reproduction and all. I had them painted and just put them up on a shelf as I was reluctant to start monkeying around with the doors and worrying about lining up the gaps and stripe package.
I have always hated the "Chrysler Clunk" that occurs when I opened my door too wide. That, and the hinge had sagged, which resulted in the latch hitting the striker too low.
So today I tempted fate and decided I would at least try to tackle the drivers side lower hinge.
I removed the sill plate, and inside cover and scribed the location of the backing plate into the metal on the inside.
Cranked the steering wheel far left and removed the splash shield, which in turn exposed the bolts on the closed door.
I placed cut rubber hose in the gap at the bottom of the door and set out to remove the hinge.
I used drill bits to keep the backing plate on the inside of the door from falling down and carefully removed the hinge.
I lined up the new hinge and used two long screwdrivers to guide the hinge into place as I removed the drill bits one at a time. I was able to secure the bolts on the door and then used two hex keys to get the interior side backing plate to line up with the bolt holes. One at a time I tightened those bolts. I had to loosen the door side bolts and push the bottom of the door in a hair to get the door and fender panel flat. Tightened everything up and like magic the door closes beautifully by itself from about 18 inches open. Stripes line up and a complete success you say! Absolutely, except the flat metal guide that holds the spring in position at one end, while at the other swivels and is held in place by a split pin has massive play in it. That causes the guide to move between the slot where it is held by the split pin.
So guess what? The dreaded "Chrysler Clunk" is back.
It appears that the fix will be to remove the split pin and drill the mounting area holes bigger until the guide and holes match and then install a new split pin.
I am reluctant to want to remove the hinge to make the fix because I am pleased that the door no longer sags when it is open.
Thought I would share this in the event someone is planning a similar replacement. Check for play at that location before you install. Passenger side is next, so I will be checking before I install.
I should have warned you all to grab the popcorn before I started this.

 

[MoparLeo]

Good for you. Just an FYI. The "authentic reproduction" hinges are from Taiwan and are not exactly the same.
Replacing a door without the proper door holding fixture tool is a 2 man job. Doing it yourself is more likely to result in damage to your paint/hinge/door or hand/fingers.
Follow the instructions in your Factory Service Manual. If you don't have one yet, get or download one. The best tool you can have is good information. Not that complicated.
The only authentic 1971-1973 Mopar factory hinge is one that Mopar built between 1971-1973. Anything else is "aftermarket"

 

[Ray Howes]

I tried to replace with factory parts wherever I could. These may not be the best choice but they work. I do have a set of factory service manuals. Fortunately I was able to get away just replacing the bottoms on both doors. The passenger side was easier with what I learned on the first. Coincidentally, the passenger side doesn't experience the same quality issue as the drivers door.
End result is that both doors now close smoothly with no further adjustments required.