35 Ford Hinge Pin Installation

P

PeterinNH

Senior Member
I bought 8 hinge pins from Roy Nacewicz many years ago and have finally
started to install them. I think these are probably NOS and the diameter
is an excellent fit in my hinges. However, the diameter of the knurling under the head is a bit too tight to allow the pin to be driven all the way in and I've tried
to slightly reduce it. The pins are so hard neither a carbide tool in my lathe nor
a sharp metal file will touch it. I'd like to be able to buy a bit I can use on my
metal lathe to turn them down slightly. I don't feel comfortable using a hammer heavier than a ball pein as I certainly don't want to end up cracking my hinges. What do I need that would be sharp enough to help me with this problem?

Thanks,

Peter
 
32Bee said:
I bought 8 hinge pins from Roy Nacewicz many years ago and have finally
started to install them. I think these are probably NOS and the diameter
is an excellent fit in my hinges. However, the diameter of the knurling under the head is a bit too tight to allow the pin to be driven all the way in and I've tried
to slightly reduce it. The pins are so hard neither a carbide tool in my lathe nor
a sharp metal file will touch it. I'd like to be able to buy a bit I can use on my
metal lathe to turn them down slightly. I don't feel comfortable using a hammer heavier than a ball pein as I certainly don't want to end up cracking my hinges. What do I need that would be sharp enough to help me with this problem?

Thanks,

Peter
Click to expand...

Do you have a small pneumatic die grinder? If so, a small sanding disc works well.
 
I guess I'll try my Dremel as I have some small diameter grinding discs for it. Ideally it would be best to have a tool bit to use with my metal lathe which will provide total control of the diameter but I'm not sure what would be offered other than carbide which isn't capable of doing the work.

Thanks
 
Chuck them in your lathe and use a new hard disc on a 4" grinder, brace it against the carriage and lightly hit the knurls with the square edge , should be able to control the size pretty easily. Dress the edge of the wheel if the square edge wears too much. Cover ways with a shop rag if you are concerned with the grinding dust.
 
yep; and later Ford spiral grooved the shaft for oil flow. Light tap to seat knerl is fine Newc
 
Thanks to all of you for posting your recommendations. The pins I'm replacing have spiral shafts and I had ordered some replacements from Joe's Antique but the diameter of the
shafts wasn't large enough. I did finally notice that the hinges have some small kerfs in them directly in line with the pins so that oil can more easily seep in.

Peter
 
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