The International Cessna^® 170 Association

Hi ,
I need a L/H upper door hinge , the forward one that attaches to the fuselage. pn 0511106-14.

I know Cessna sells these but I can not do the + $600.00 they want.
ANY help or leads would be greatly appreciated.
Please call me @ 905 655 0625 or email me .


John Atkins
CF-HER
1952 C 170B
20292

John

These can be repaired. There are several methods. My latest was to take a fuselage side and cut it so it fits around the stamped rib then cut off the door hinge to make it match up and have it welded. If this doesn't make sense I can take a photo for you. You have to be careful to end up with the same overall length or you'll be reaming out the fuselage to get the door adjusted.

Another method is to drill out an AN3(?) bolt and then weld it in place to make up the hinge but I think that might be harder.

Note that the hinge is a heat treated part and shouldn't really be welded on but it has been done many many times and so far I've not heard of any problems.

WHOOPS now I see you're looking for the fuselage side. I'll check my stock but I think that's the one I used to fix my passenger side door hinge described above.. These generally are not a problem.

***

Assuming you have the old hinge to work with. Get a short section of aircraft steel tubing, either 1/4" or 3/16" od ( don't remember, the id will match the pin size ) and weld it to the hinge strap, then cut or grind out the gaps to match the original. A little paint and better than new.

Part#0511106-14

http://www.cessnaparts.com/search.cfm

$192 each List $240 Stock available

Thanks so much for the info !
$192.00 is better , but still hurts ,
it will change my plans , as I was saving up my allowance
to try to get an alternator.

Has the welding repair to the hinge been sucessful,
I am a little shy of it as I can see the the metal has been flexing
in and out as it seems like the door side of the hinge is not correct ,
in that the forward end is pulled away from the fuslage , and that has caused the the fuslage hinge to bend and then to fail /

John

You need to look very closely at what is going on to be able to figure out how to fix it so it won't ruin the new hinge. It could be the door weatherstrip or numerous other causes. There should be little or no load on the hinge pin with the door closed. A little is necessary because of the weatherstrip but that will be as the door is just about closed. I've seen repairs where the rivet for the door post under the hinge was not a flush rivet and over sized so that the hinge would hit it for example. It is possible to have the hinges misaligned so that the door side hits on the fuselage hinge side instead of setting inside it. There are probably other ways to have a problem also.

A properly done weld repair will work fine but for the fuselage hinge that is still available I'd recommend just buying it for peace of mind.

I do not believe the door side hinges are available other than from the wreckers which is why I'm pretty sensitive to the problem.

I have repaired both sides of the hinge with no problem.

Oh yeah, has anyone heard of a door falling off in flight? And what the resulting damage if any was? Scary.

I had mine fall off on the ground when I opened it to get out. The door side hinge was totally broken. I now look closely at the hinges on my preflight.

I seem to recall reading a NTSB report of a 172 that crashed when the tail was damaged inflight by the departing door. The horiz was crushed back against the elevator counterweight which jammed the elevator.
The C150 AeroBat was certified to expell it's door inflight, but that was in order to bail out, not for purposes of continued flight.

there was a 206 jump plane locally that had the door come off a few years ago, punched a hole in the wing and fuel gushed out. it was a modified door that hinged up, though

the idiot flying it was quite the hero after he landed safely, even though he was the one who didn't latch the door

Yes George I kinda figured the door would hit the horizontal. It would ruin your day for sure. Door hinges are not an item to be taken lightly. My passenger side I caught this Summer because I noticed a very fine crack in the smaller of the two hinge parts on the door half. On closer inspection that part of the hinge was parted completely. And it didn't really show much. Please everyone keep an eye on these.

Yes, and it's a very common oversight item with regard to lubrication. You'd be surprised how much leverage you have when opening the door Versus how much stress is imparted to the hinge and hinge-pin thru lack of lubrication. Place a drop of 3-in-One oil or LPS 2 on it every month. (Do all the other items mentioned on the lubrication chart while you're at it. Evey time you wash the plane, if you use soap, you are removing needed lubrication.)
You'd be amazed at it if you look closely. Go out to your plane and slowly open/close the doors while observing that hinge closely. Then lubricate it and observe it again. HUGE difference, Heh?