The Good, The Bad and the Ugly - G Body Door Hinge Replacement

The driver's door on the 1981 Chevrolet Monte Carlo is sagging and the hinges need to be replaced. The Hinges were worn out to the point that oversizing and putting new bushings in were not going to work well in this situation. I'm using a new set of Goodmark upper and lower hinges to replace these worn out hinges.
I Started out on this journey thinking that I could replace the hinges without taking the hood and fender off. I was successful in physically replacing the hinges, however, getting them adjusted wasn’t going to be successful. I did actually try to see if I could get them adjusted and it wasn’t going to work. The longer I fought with the hinges the more I realized that I would need to take the hood and fender off to get this door lined up.
Once I made the decision that the panels needed to come off, it went far better than I would have thought. I was very glad to have the power tools I do, my electric ratchet and Skil Impact, there were many fasteners that were slightly rusty and would have been slow and tiring to take off by hand. The header panel needed to be loosened, I made marks on the core support and in other places to make sure that I could get everything lined back up when I put it back together.
Aligning the hinges was much easier once I had the fender and hood off, both hinges were adjusted to be able to make the body lines match at the front and the back. I did test fit the fender several times to make sure that the gaps and panel alignment were correct. Reassembly was the reverse of removal, once I had the panel shims back in place and their fasteners snugged down, the alignment was checked and the door was checked to make sure it closed and opened correctly. After that last check, I tightened everything down and was good to go.
Here are links to parts and tools used in this video. These links may be affiliate links and I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Lower Door Hinge: amzn.to/3GrjAAR
Upper Door Hinge: amzn.to/3jCgLDO
Kimo Electric Ratchet: amzn.to/3Vw4azw
Skil 12V ⅜” Electric Impact: imp.i284638.net/BXZQ69
Skil 12V ⅜” Electric Ratchet - This one is on my wishlist: imp.i284638.net/jWE64Z
Skil 12V Light: imp.i284638.net/0JL3e3
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#montecarlo #Gbody #doorhinge #goodmark #skil #snowfamilyracing #malibu #elcamino #regal #cutlass #grandprix #caballero

[@chriswithrow3107]

This is a great video.

[@MrZubor]

Good video that shows the linear development of the story

[@SnowFamilyRacing]

Gotta learn somehow!

[@TheOutlawGeneralBacon]

Sub liked....I'm along for the ride . I have an 82 super clean ..just working out gremlins..m

[@SnowFamilyRacing]

Thanks! I'm a G body guy at heart, I've been working on a 1965 Buick Riviera a lot and I've got plans to bring my '82 El Camino back and get some content out on it.

[@tynandill926]

So when adjusting, hinge to body bolts control the up and down movement and the door to hinges control the front and back movement ?

[@SnowFamilyRacing]

Think of the body side as adjusting along the body. As you look at the car from the side, they'll move the door up down left and right. The door side will also go up and down, as well as in and out to be flush with the fender at the front. It took some time looking at it to wrap my head around it.