AS PROMISED...

Tonight I'm beginning with a conclusion. It may sound poorly arranged but I wanted to post a picture of the hinge pins and bushings on my G-body El Camino. They're very common so yours are likely very similar, if not the exact same.

If your device allows you to enlarge the photo you'll be able to see the bushings on the left with the serrations around the perimeter. They fit snugly into a "healthy" hinge pin hole. If your hinge holes are enlarged from excessive wear then you'll need to either weld them and file to shape (see the June 27th post "Post script to the perfect door"), or buy oversized bushings. In either case this bushing is an interference fit and will need to be driven into place. The other two smooth perimeter bushings are used in specific applications and you'll need to compare your old bushing to the replacement to make sure it's correct. The best (and most expensive) pins are hardened steel and can be found at the dealership, or ordered specifically from a reputable parts store. 

Another topic: I was checking on the source of an oil leak on my wife's '54 Chevy pickup today. Oil was pooling on the driver's side of the intake manifold so after cleaning it with carb cleaner in a pressurized aerosol can, I started the engine and waited until it again began to start seeping. I found the cause to be a valve cover with a chip broken out of the gasket mating surface. 

The best solution for me was to replace the valve covers so I dug around in the "west wing" for a pair that matched the bolt pattern on the heads. Unfortunately, the pair I found had been sitting in someone's yard or barn for too long and the insides were really rusty and caked with cooked on oil. To salvage them I soaked them in parts cleaner, washed them with Dawn detergent then bead blasted them followed by another Dawn cleaning. 

I still didn't like it because I suspected some of the blast media had become lodged in the breathers in each valve cover. The next step was to knock out the baffles in each cover and put all the pieces in the bead blaster and sink one more time. Now, all that remains is to tack weld the two baffles back into the valve covers and paint them up nice for Tammy's engine. I'll display the image of the completed project in a day or so. Thanks for visiting!