HOW to make doors on a 98 XJ removeable

[CaliXJ]

Is this mod. something US 2 door owners shouldn't do? Or only to be done after frame stiffeners?

 

[FlexdXJ]

Is this mod. something US 2 door owners shouldn't do? Or only to be done after frame stiffeners?

Why would you need frame stiffeners to take the doors off, They aren't structural. You can do it with a 2 door just remember the door is a lot heavier. The problem with 2 doors is because of the weight of the door the body side of the hinge starts to sag.

 

[CaliXJ]

2 door like to twist a little more. No B pillar on a 2 door

 

[FlexdXJ]

2 door like to twist a little more. No B pillar on a 2 door

True but the doors still aren't structural. doorless or not stiffeners are a good upgrade anyways.

 

[MasterPull]

These were the stepe I took

1: Leave windows up
2: unhook wiring from inside kick panel
3: remove door helper pin and just jam the door helper into the door
4: cut hinge pins in half with dremmel (heavy duty cutting wheels)
5: pry whats left of the hinge pins out with breaker bar
6: get 3/8 bolts from home depot
7: cut bottom half of hinge clean off
8: weld bolts in but leave the top bolt shorter for easier door removal
9: paint any fresh metal

they pop on or off in seconds...

if its raining- doors on
if its not - doors off

Did you take pics of this? I have seen it done but I want some pics to make sure we don't screw it up.:laugh2:

-Alex

 

[XJLI]

plasma > cutoff wheels as far as cutting the hinges go. takes 30 seconds per door instead of 20 minutes.

 

[sunburned]

Did you take pics of this? I have seen it done but I want some pics to make sure we don't screw it up.:laugh2:

-Alex

I took a few pics of this last time I did it, I'll try to find them and get em online.

To do this, you have to take the door side of the hinge off. Make sure to mark really well where they were on the door so you can put them back on correctly. You cut off the bottom ear of the hinge, then drill out the hole in the top to 3/8" so you can weld the bolt in. After taking out all the bushings on the body side of the hinge, the hole is almost exactly 3/8". Weld the bolt to the door side of the hinge, bolt it back on the door (tightly) and voila.

The only thing that really sucks is the wiring. Running the plugs and all that through the tiny holes in the a-pillar is a PITA and takes 90% of the time.

 

[XJeeper87]

I took the dorrs off my 87. and it was really easy to put them back on. just dont try to do it in the dark lol.

 

[XJLI]

I took the dorrs off my 87. and it was really easy to put them back on. just dont try to do it in the dark lol.

irrelevant post is irrelevant.

 

[coldoath]

plasma > cutoff wheels as far as cutting the hinges go. takes 30 seconds per door instead of 20 minutes.

Bahaha I guess if you are spinning the cutoff wheel on your finger it might take 20 minutes. Plus, plasma $$$ > $$$ cutoff wheel.

 

[FlexdXJ]

Bahaha I guess if you are spinning the cutoff wheel on your finger it might take 20 minutes. Plus, plasma $$$ > $$$ cutoff wheel.

Right tool for the job> the alternative!

 

[sunburned]

LOL I think the plasma would take longer to setup than cutting all the hinges with a grinder. Can't smooth out the cut with a plasma...


Here are the pics of the hinges:

So yeah, cut the stopper rod and bottom ear of the hinge off. Drill the pin hole out to 3/8". Cut a 3/8" bolt and weld into the pin hole (top can be short to just go through the top hole of the body side hinge, bottom longer to go through both holes). Paint it up and bolt em back to the door.

(yes, my welding sucks, shut up)

Oh yeah, and this wasn't the first way I did this. Originally, I just popped out the stock door pins and used 5/16" bolts as door pins. The bushings eventually went to hell and the doors sagged. The result of a sagging door is destroying the door side of the latch. This sucked to fix.