Help with door spring

[crause]

I hope that someone out there has the easy answer. The door spring (the thing that holds the door open) was broken on the drivers side of my 75 so I bought a new one from Mid America and thought it would be a simple job. I must have lost my mind for a few minutes because we all know there are few "simple" jobs on vettes. I openned the door all the way and tried to work the spring into the area that the old one came from. The place is so small that I couldn't get my hands in there and was using two screwdrivers to work it in. I see the slot and hole on the top of the hinge but only see the slot on the bottom. there should be a hole on the bottom too. Please tell me this can be done without taking the door off because I really don't want to have to do that. The way my luck goes, that will cause a whole new set of "problems".

Thanks for your help,

Andy:crazy

 

[Bob Chadwick]

Buy the tool, buy the tool,...

You need a screw driver bent on the end to install the spring. Lots of people have bent a screwdriver to do this. I had no luck with the screw driver straightening under load. I eventually bent the S and couldn't get it lined up until I straightened the spring, so...

Buy the tool, buy the tool,...

Here are the instructions.

 

[vettenick]

The tool is about $10. It's worth it. Don't hold the door fully opened, this way you'll get a little extra room to work with. If you can't get your hand in there, try using a long needle nose pliers to get it into position. It's a real simple job. Good luck!

 

[Nut]

Andy.... send me a pm with your address and you can have mine spare one.

............. Bob (Nut)

 

[crause]

Thanks for the offer Nut, I went out yesterday and followed the instructions that bobchad posted and it was easy. I was able to use a brake adjustment tool and it worked like it was made for it. Thanks to everybody for the help, another job made easier by my friends at :BOW

Andy