Dear VKR,

Hope you're well. If the factory-installed hinges are in good working order, i.e., if the hinges are not collision-damaged, I'd leave those hinges attached to the car, and remove the hinges, that came with the replacement door.

The hinge pins are not made to be removed. The entire hinge has to be changed.

To ease removal of the replacement door's hinges, apply plenty of PB Blaster, or another penetrating oil (e.g., Kroil). Allow a couple of days for the oil to percolate through micro-channels in the corrosion, and so to weaken any corrosion bond. Being patient makes it more likely that bolts in place for over two decades will not strip on removal.

You'll have to support the replacement door, as you tighten the hinge bolts to the replacement door. The door support comes from a bottle jack (or two): a bottle jack can be moved with precision (sideways and vertically). I took a length of 2" x 4" and cut a longitudal groove (using a table saw) to support the door's edge and to keep the door's edge from being damaged by contact with the jack's top.

Before you remove the damaged door, note the distance (gap) between the door's edges and the opening, on all three sides. You'll want to maintain these gaps. This is not easy. It may take several tries to align the door precisely. If you have two bottle jacks - one for the leading edge (closest to the pillar) and one for the trailing edge (closest to the car's rear), that will make things easier.

When you remove the replacement door's hinges, you may see one or more thin sheet metal "U"s. These are shims ("adjusting washers" in Volvo-speak). Keep them. You may need them to align the door. Need more shims? Volvo supplies them (#1355240 = 0.3mm thick; #1355239 = 0.5mm thick; each shim costs about $2 at a U.S.-based Volvo dealer).

If - when the replacement door is properly aligned and closes smoothly - there's still a gap between the top of the door and the sealing gasket, you'll need to bend the top of the door towards the body.

Do this with the window in the "down" position. This operation - to ensure a tight fit of the top of the door against the car's body - is, of necessity, a matter of trial and error. How much force to exert depends on the size of the gap. It is better to "under press" than to "over press". Do this with your hands. Do NOT use a hammer or other tool to move the top of the door. You hands and body weight should suffice. If not, go to a body shop. They'll do this adjustment for small money. It will take only a few minutes.

Keep the hinges from the replacement door. The bottom hinge has a hold-open spring. Over time, this hold-open spring will break. To extend hinge service life, apply grease to the hinge pins, the hold-open spring and the rollers.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook