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MG MGA - Door Hinge Questions?

Why are some of the door hinges bent towards the front fender? Was this a way to correct gaps? Was this used at the factory to adjust how the door closed? On my coupe, both hinges on the passenger side were bent while the drivers door hinges were straight? My car was / is such a collection on parts and pieces who knows..I do know the gap between the rear fender and the door was quite large, while it seems the leading edge of that door was somewhat distorted? The car is currently being rebuilt and I would like to get it right this time..thanks.
David Terhune

Others might differ but I believe your right.When I restored my coupe,I did not mark them.Big mistake and I had several others from other cars.Took quite awhile to sort it out.I also had shims in some places also
gary starr

TH, I had this issue when I was doing my coupe. There are at least two types of hinges that work on the MGA but one type with the more curved haunch at the pin did not seem to throw my door sufficiently clear of the wing. I use the hinge with a straighter back that allows the door to swing close but without touching the door. Theres hours of work involved in shimming up each hinge to get the right 3 dimensional fit. Ideally you should have the glass, panels and draught excluder in place. The 'service memorandum' in May '58 advised that main dealers grind away the stops a little on coupe's hinges to give 25'' from door to rear pillar due to complaints about limited opening. On later cars it said that hinges had been modified. All hinges must be the same and I think the best advice is to inspect a working coupe and take photographs etc.
J H Cole

Don't know if this applies to coupes, but on Roadsters there are two different hinge designs. The later design allows the door to swing open wider.
James Johanski

In addition to the original hinges the repro ones are different also. To get the hinge to open the same distance I had to grind the stop.
When fitting a body together I fit the door first then the rockers then the fenders. There is a lot of back and forth fitting all the parts to get proper gaps. The door fit accross the top is the first thing to fit. The rockers are then fit on with vise grips. Top corners of the fenders are then fit. Now every thing can be moved around untill you get a satisfactory fit. Only now do the rockers get welded.
R J Brown

Thanks everyone, JC, are those service memorandums available online?
David Terhune

If the Confidential Service Memorandum are available, I'd like to know. I have on my web site all 45 known CSM's for Twin Cam and Deluxe cars, only a half dozen of which apply to the "standard" models. It would be nice to have the rest all in one place.
Barney Gaylord

Barney, I have the yellow binder with service memorandum sheets starting 3rd Jan '57 No mg/198 (MGA) up to 17th March '64 No mg/443 (midget). These include all models ie MGB, Midget, Magnette, Princess, MGA and Twin cam. I think theres almost 40 MGA memorandum but some of these are directions shared with other MG's. I don't think I have as many as your 45 for the twin cam. When I have a spare moment I can send you the memorandum numbers and you can check the ones you have not got?
J H Cole

Several Confidential Service Memoranda are currently available on UK eBay
R. Fisher

Barney, where are these located on your site?
David Terhune

The Twin Cam CSMs are in the Twin Cam section of my web site here: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/twincam/tc120.htm
This shows all of the memo numbers in sequence.
The ones applicable to the base models are:
MG238, MG349, MG259, MG264, MG267, and MG358.
I believe all others listed there are specific to the Twin Cam and "Deluxe" cars.
Barney Gaylord

This thread was discussed between 18/06/2007 and 20/06/2007

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