How to Remove Doors?

Whats the best way to remove our doors on our vans?

get a buddy - unbolt them =mark position 1st =if needed??

Get help for sure, bet you could take them off by yourself, but you'll need help getting them back on for sure

I can't remember if I used a floor jack or an engine hoist to take the weight......

I myself had no issues pulling and installing my doors on my own and I did it numerous times while doing body work on the van and the doors. No jack or lift of any type used.

A tough guy huh ?? It may have been more of an issue after it was painted and putting them on. Geez I can barely remember what I did yesterday, let alone 4-5 years ago...LOL

Also depends on why...
You can knock out the pins too.

The front doors unbolt from the body or door, the side/rear doors only unbolt from the body (riveted to the doors).

So, hammer out the pins and have a buddy catch the door before it hits the ground?

Is it better to unbolt the hinge or knock out the pins?

I noticed on mine that there is some up and down movement if I lift slightly on the front doors...Does that mean the pins are probably worn? To get them out would you use a center punch and hammer?

I would remove them with the hinges, 50 years old what are the chances all those pins will come out easy

Vanny, yes the pins are worn.

Removing the doors by removing the pins - shut the door. Knock out the pin. Open the door and grab it, then slide the hinges apart. This will keep the alignment so they go back on in the same position.

Removing the doors by unbolting - Unbolt the hinges at the body with the door open. Grab the door and wiggle it up and down while pulling the hinges out of the slots in the body. This will lose the alignment so they must be re-aligned to fit the openings. If you haven't aligned doors before, expect a couple hours, some way to push/pull/pry and a nice reversible ratchet. There are videos.

In both cases, there will be paint/sealer damage unless you are lucky and careful.
The factory used a sealer around the hinges on the doors and body to smooth out and seal the gap between the hinge and body. This will be hard and brittle.
I don't have the hinge pin numbers handy, they have been posted before. Take the old ones in and match them up. The Help! line is the most commonly available. You can have a local machine shop cut new ones too. Either iron, steel or stainless.

Thanks for the advice guys! It's much appreciated. I saw the pins on Mac's site and they also sell oversized pins as well.

I would remove them with the hinges, 50 years old what are the chances all those pins will come out easy
Be careful. I have an 8 door and the only doors that came out easily were the 2 fronts. Every single one of the others had to have the bolts drilled out. I soaked those bolts for days in PB Blaster but the bolts just snapped off. 50 years of rusting together made it all 1 big piece. Once the heads snapped of the bolts, I couldn't just pop the door out. The end of the bolt stuck out the other side of the latch too far to get it through the slot. It was a huge PITA.
Not that pulling pins is any easier.....Just a heads up that there isn't an easy way on these old vans

Thanks for the Disclaimer Warning Travis!

Digz wrote:A tough guy huh ??

Not really, it was just when I got to the point of removing the doors it just seemed that it was the way to remove and install them. The only issue that I had was broken bolts that wouldn't even drill out, actually broke an ez-out trying to get them out, just lucky it was only one hing of only one of the six doors. Scott...

Yep, if you are not worried about the paint, HEAT is your friend!
It's easier to spend a few days working the bolts out rather than spending a few days (+) drilling and tapping broken bolts!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your tips and tricks

travis4prez wrote:
Be careful. I have an 8 door and the only doors that came out easily were the 2 fronts. Every single one of the others had to have the bolts drilled out. I soaked those bolts for days in PB Blaster but the bolts just snapped off. 50 years of rusting together made it all 1 big piece.

I had that same issue with the bottom bolt or my right rear door. It's made me leery of taking the others off.

I'm swapping out my rear doors for some rust free ones and when I was removing the old ones, 3 out of the 8 bolts snapped off in the jamb. What a pain I got ahead of me. Live and learn (or just learn from people's advice on here)