A common problem on the Golf MK2 is sagging doors (usually the driver side) because of worn hinges. When they're really bad the door can be difficult to close unless you lift it while slamming it shut. You can either bodge it or fix it the proper way. The bodge is to jack under the door or gently close the door with a socket trapped in the hinge to bend the hinges. The proper way is to replace the worn hinge pins and half-hinges. The droop is caused by wear to the half hinge and to the pin it pivots on. It is the bottom hinge that wears. You'll notice this when you take the door off and check for play in both of the hinges. In my case I left the top hinge alone as it didn't have much play at all, and just replaced the lower hinge where play was significant. The pins are no longer available from VW. VW can still supply the half hinge, but it's very expensive from them. I therefore obtained the pins and half hinges from eBay. To drive out the pin, a few threads on here mention hammering it out using a parallel pin punch. I know it has worked for some people, but I don't recommend it personally. The shape of the door makes it impossible to apply the punch squarely with the pin. If you do decide to do it this way, please at least ensure you do it with the door mounted to the car. If you hammer a punch against the pin with the door off the car, the frame of the door around the hinge bends very easily and the hinge part welded to the door bends position, as I found when I attempted on a scrap door. The way I did it was using a vice together with a few sockets and screws, based on Rubjonny's suggestion. I arranged lots of old blankets on the workshop floor so I could safely lay the door down flat. I then positioned my large 90mm Record vice on top of a piece of timber. Lots of fabric and tape was arranged to protect the paintwork from scuffs. I recommend removing the check strap first (10mm socket required) as it'll get in the way otherwise. Start driving the pin out using the vice and a socket as shown. A lot of force is required. Even with this large vice, I needed to use extension bars to wind the vice and drive the pin out. The pin starts to drive out. Once the pin has drive out so far you need to get a little creative and inserts small screws as shown to fully drive out the pin. Yay! Note the orientation of the hinge half. The old hinge half and pin were really knackered. The pin could just be waggled around in the hinge. Now the new hinge half is inserted and pin driven in. Done! Door mounted back onto the car (driver side door on a LHD in my case) with its nice new lower hinge. Door now shuts easily with nice alignment. In my case, a tiny bit of droop remains when the door is opened off the striker pin. I reckon you'll still get this with perfect hinges because the door and vehicle frames on which the hinges are welded distort with age and use. If I wanted to make it really perfect I might slacken the top door bolt and insert a tiny shim (or washer), but as it's only a few mm I'll probably leave it as it is since the door operates and aligns nicely. Anyway, hope this is helpful to someone.
Just a small helpfull trick my panel beeter told me When trying to align or straighten door closers etc use a leather welding glove as a wedge as it grips the panel without any damage this is how we adjusted the hinges on my race car Trevor nice little guide
Nice one Trev, been meaning to write this one up for a while but not had any spare doors lying about to take pictures with Quick tip to add, if push the pin out the OTHER way so the knurled bit is pushed out first rather than last it makes it a bit easier. If you do it that way it only needs to be squashed in the vice till the knurled section is clear, then it just taps out the rest of the way easy with a drift. Plus it saves the old back
Hey! Just bought Madison MKII with saggy drivers doors, and found this excellent DIY. But I can't finda full kit with half hinges and pins on eBay. Do you maybe still have a link? Thanx!
hinge half is part number 321831403, still available at the dealer 16.59+VAT. the pin is part number 321831421 but NLA, though you could probably re-use the old one as they dont tend to wear rather its the brass insert in the hinge half. These numbers should help you on your ebay search anyway
Hi all, just took off my half hinges using a ball joint breaker, was really handy, no hammering needed, thank god for Google, as stated before push up from bottom of hinge, hope this helps
