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Oil Change Door - Permanent Solution

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by Den49, Mar 6, 2011.

  1. our1vue

    our1vue Member

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    Den49,
    I'd be getting the same hinge you got from Northeast Hinge. I guess since you get a 72" piece, even if it wears/rust
    out, you have more hinge to replace it with.
     
  2. Den49

    Den49 Member

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    I don't think you have to worry about wear or rust with the Northeast Hinge hinge. Mine would have done so by now and it hasn't.
     
    Mike500 likes this.
  3. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Den49,

    After a year of thought and having this issue on my mind and studying all of variations of yours and others on PriusChat.com, I have decided on a final design and assembled a kit to install the hinge that you tested and suggested.

    A coup of months, ago, I ran over a plastic bucket at night on the roadway. It surprised me how fragile this panel really is. The large grey rivet is gone. The panel was hanging partially done. That bucket made large and deep striations in the panel.

    It's time to add the hinge before the panel tears off.

    on and off, here. I have only been under the car for a couple of hours to mark and make the hinge. Fortunately, over the years, I have accumulated a large selection of machine and aircraft tools, including rivet punches. So, like you, I'm using an aluminum piano hinge and aluminum rivets. However, to prevent tearing of the plastic panel, I will used special "neoprene" 1/2 inch OD backup washers on the ends of the rivets.


    I have uploaded a photo of the kit, and might offer it to those PriusChat users at a very reasonable price, if they are interested.


    I will post photos of the kit's installation, when the weather clears enough for me to install it.

    Rude person's
     

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    mracko, snead_c and Den49 like this.
  4. Den49

    Den49 Member

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    Your hinge kit looks good. I like the way you cut off one corner of the hinge to make it conform better to the shape of the undercover. Once the hinge is on, you won't have to worry about losing the oil change door. It also makes oil changes a lot easier.
     
    Mike500 likes this.
  5. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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    Thanks,

    That special aircraft hole punch makes the holes exceptionally clean and the rivets a joy to insert without binding.

    I'm developing installation instructions to allow for easy and exact drilling on the panel, using the hinge as a guide.

    All of the holes will be perfectly aligned on the panel without any looseness. That's from my experience for the many years that I worked on aircraft production and repair methods.
     
  6. Mike500

    Mike500 Senior Member

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