Guest Simpson36 Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I read some posts a while back about the possibility of having hatch hinges made to replace the stretchy stockers.The topic just seemed to die out. Did anyone ever actually produce stronger hinges? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I drew up a set of cad drawings of one, and we talked for months about it. but nothing was ever done about getting some made.You can adjust yours for now if you want, it's a scary procedure, but it works. I did it to mine and with the old worn out shocks, my hinges haven't re-streched...Pull them off of the glass and wrap each one in a towel, place it in a hand vise and slowly squeeze them back to the correct dimensions... Let me know if you are going to do it, and I will post the correct measurements.Here's a screen shot of the cad I made without all the measurements on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simpson36 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Dawg,This hinge stretching is a pain in the butt! I spent a lot of time . . twice . . . adjusting the rear glass so it popped open pefect and shut with little effort. Now it's sticking again. I bought new struts from Eckler's. For those who may be considering these, beware that they are NOT duplictates of the originals. Much heavier. Some modification is required to get the struts on, but they push up the window briskly.Needless to say, I was not aware of the stretching hinge syndrome at the time. There are ways to easily make a mold for small parts like this.I'm not sure about the strength of the pourable epoxies, but I'll find out. There is also a hobby specifically about casting small parts. These guys love to make gears and so forth so perhaps that would be an avenue to pursue.I was lurking in some of their forums a while back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 If you know of a way to get some made that would be cool.And your more than welcome to stop in at the CE registry to see if anyone else is still working on it...http://www.corvetteaddiction.com/82ce/forum/index.phpPutting on the new stronger shocks was one of the worst things to do, yeah it opens your hatch great, but the pressure against the hinges is just to much, and it is pushing against them even when its closed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simpson36 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I placed a couple of ads on hobby caster forums and inquired via e-mail to a company that manufactures 3D printers.We'll see if anything turns up.Looking at the hinge, I don't see why we couldn't just cut it out of steel plate or bend a steel bar. I had a small machine shop at one time and this would have been a piece of cake . . . if I still had my mill, I'd knock out a few pieces for us.Actually, if anyone has a stout bench vise and a torch, we could make the hinges from bar stock, but we'd still need a mil to face it off and drill and countersink the mounting hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UVETTYA Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 I don't know if this will help you guys, but I'm an equipment engineering tech in the semi-conductor industry and we use a guy who has several CNC machines in his garage to fabricate stuff for us all the time. He lives near 32nd St and Thunderbird. We either take him the original part or a drawing and he reverse engineers it or builds whatever we need. He's a little German guy who speaks broken english and he likes his beer, but he does great work and his prices are very reasonably. He does aluminum, stanless, polypro, steel, whatever. Let me know if this is what you need and I'll hook you up with him.Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simpson36 Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Uvettya: You've got mail!Dawg: Where can we get an old hinge to use as a template? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UVETTYA Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 Uvettya: You've got mail!Dawg: Where can we get an old hinge to use as a template? Got your mail. Back to you...Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Dawg: Where can we get an old hinge to use as a template? Unfortunately everyone is using there hinges, one of the guys on the CE registry might have found a brand new set, He is waiting for the guy to get back to him...If you get ahold of the guy with the machine shop, see if the CAD drawing I made will work, I can add all the dimensions to it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UVETTYA Posted February 10, 2006 Share Posted February 10, 2006 Dawg: Where can we get an old hinge to use as a template?Unfortunately everyone is using there hinges, one of the guys on the CE registry might have found a brand new set, He is waiting for the guy to get back to him...If you get ahold of the guy with the machine shop, see if the CAD drawing I made will work, I can add all the dimensions to it.... If you could hand him a new one and say "make me one of these," that might be best, but I've needed to modify equipment before and taken him a hand drawing of a part I needed him to fabricate, and that worked out just fine too. So your CAD drawing should work. A 3D view (top, side, front) and the dimensions for each view should be good enough.Like I said, I'm just kicking around for the next two months, and I'm willing to help out, so let me know what you need and I'll be your Huckelberry. We can either meet and you can give me the drawing - I'll get a price quote and get back to you, or I'll take you there and introduce you to Chester. Either way is fine with me. Steve 602 538-9865 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Simpson36 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Thanks to UVETTYA, I met with the machinist over the weekend. He looked at a photo of the complete hinge, Dawgs Cad drawing and our CE. He estimates $150 a pair machined from steel. In this case the hinges would not be exact duplicates of originals, but they would fit without modification and not stretch. I am also looking into getting them sand cast in small quantities by casting hobbiests, but I have no feed back on that yet. Die casting is not going to happen because there is not enough volume. For myself, I don't care if the new hinges exactly match the originals (Actually I don't know if we can even do that without getting GM's approval). I just want hinges that won't stretch and allow us to use the hatch and keep the window sealed up. Strong steel hinges will do that. We can all keep our original hinges stored next to our original struts in case we ever want to show the car and not take a hit on points. The next step in this process is going to be getting feedback from CE owners to determine what the demand will be for hinges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Sounds great Steve, you can put me down for a set of $150.00 hinges. Now go post your info on the CE registry and lets see how many others want in. Just remember most of those guys only check the site about once a week or so.After you get it posted I will contact Mark (site admin) about sending out an email to all the members for input...Do you need a better copy of my CAD? measurements ???? Let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 Hey Steve, better go look at the CE registry, you have some replies... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted February 23, 2006 Share Posted February 23, 2006 extra set of Collector Edition Wheels and new tires.make an offer. must selldepaulr@ttnus.comHey Steve Simpson....Theres a set of rims for you.....<<From the CE Regustry>>> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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