Driver's door caught in wind gust. Sagging 1/4 inch.

I was opening the diver's side door of my 1995 Golf. A wind gust from behind took the door handle from my hand and snapped the door open pretty hard.

When I close the door, I have to apply upward force. My guess is that the bottom hinge slipped a tad forward on the part that screws to the body. I can see that the middle post hits at about the top of the door's tapered mating slot.

The two body hinge screws appear to be hex or torx, and they are not accessible. I assume the way you access that is to unscrew the two hinges at the door side, remove the door. Loosen the bottom hinge and move the bottom hinge rearward perhaps 1/4 inch. Tighten, restore door, and repeat as needed.

The questions that come to mind are

  1. Is my guess reasonable, or is having something bent more likely?

  1. It is tricky enough that having somebody else fix it is probably a good idea?

  2. If I had somebody fix it for me, a body shop would be the place of choice. Or would a VW-knowledgeable mechanic be the better choice?

  1. How many "hours" do you think it would cost?

Reply to
Tom's VR6
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Reply to
none2u

I see there is a screw with a 6 mm hex head into each hinge. I am guessing that with each screw out, the door can be lifted off of the hinges. Gonna check that out.

Reply to
Tom's VR6

I don't know if this is true of '95s or not, but the newer door-hinge screws are "double-square," not hex or Torx. And yeah, it's a booger getting access to them.

Reply to
Brian Running

Thanks. I pushed a foam earplug into a screw head, and the impression shows six points like torx.

Reply to
Tom's VR6

Well, there you go. Double-square is eight points.

Reply to
Brian Running

A 1/4 inch allan wrench will fit into the hole and not turn completely. In

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they list"Point to Point Dimensions". Are they talking about the inner orouter points?

Reply to
Tom's VR6

I am now thinking outer dimensions, and that my door would seem to use a T45.

There is not a connector for the door cables, is there?

Reply to
Tom's VR6

I set up an adjustable ladder to form an inverted V over the door. I ran some ratchet straps up to the ladder to hold the door. After some other ideas, I hit on jacking the car side up, tighten the straps, lower (and raise) the jack as needed.

I separated the door after some difficulty. Unfortunately the body-side of the hinge required an offset torx to access the screws, and I had bought an inline socket-drive torx.

I had some large washers, and instead I put 2 between the door and the door-side hinge. It is only one screw per hinge on the door. Put it back together. Too much compensation.

Took it back apart, and kept only one washer between the door and the hinge.. the latch matched the post fine then. The margins are not equal around the door, but it is not noticeable if you are not checking for that.

Reply to
Tom's VR6

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