My Blazer doen't appear to have spot welds but rather a nice smooth, solid bead all the way around the hinges.[align=left] [/align]

 

Wow! How nice of them! Must have been replaced sometime down the road.

The factory welds were not really spot welds in the traditional sense, but rather, hole welds. The factory hinges came with holes in them that the factory welded shut to fix the hinges to the body/doors.

 

It would've made too much sense to bolt them on in the first place now wouldnt it?

 

In a dollars & cents kind of manner, no it wouldn't have. That is the whole reason why there are bushings on the pins... That is the replaceable wear item...

 

"Upon further review" -- they are not weld beads but rather some sort of very hard, yet pliable material -- however on both fronts there is no obvious sign of a spot or even hole weld - could they be glued on??. Both rear doors have one approx. 1/4" hole in the middle of the body-side mount - apparently the aforementioned hole-weld.

PS - Sorry WTBJ - not meaning to "hi-jack" your thread but maybe my situation may give you insight to yours
[align=left] [/align]

 

Haha its ok filtalr, I figured out they were for sure welded and looked again today and I will have to get the actual hinges replaced [sm=smiley21.gif], so have at it

 

the hinges are welded on by four spot welds (you can see them if you take the interior door panel off), then they are secured by the welds around the square hinge as youshould be able to see. (im in the process of changing the drivers door) that is how the hinges are connected to the door if you guys were still debating

 

I have seen the hinges prior to them being put on, the replacements are no different than the ones used in the factory. They have holes in them where they could be bolted on, but they are welded. From the inside it would look like spot welds as the door shell does not have the holes in it. From the outside though, it is different. If you were to take and section the hinge where the welds are, you would see a distinct difference in the area where the welds were.

Anyway, to the task at hand. You could either weld on replacement hinges or make up a plate that would have threads to accept bolts to bolt the replacement hinges on. GM may even still have hinge replacements available with said plate as the replacement procedure for a hinge is to do exactly that, drill out the welds, then bolt on the replacement hinge.

 

I USED THE"HELP" BRANDGM DOOR HINGE PIN REPLACEMENT KIT FROM AUTOZONE(SHORT MONEY)ON MY BROTHERS 97 BLAZER IT IS A PIN AND A AN OVERSIZED METAL BUSHING THAT FIT RIGHT INTO THE HOLE. BE SURE TO SUPPORT THE DOOR WHEN U REMOVE THE LOWER PIN. I USED A FLOOR JACK WITH A BLOCK OF WOOD TO PROTECT THE PAINT.