Your friends must have made or bought some wimpy hidden hinges. Mine and the ones I have done for others have been solid as a rock for almost 30 years. Ask me what they have been through if you want to know how solid . Everything is only as good as it is made.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...dster-from-60s-tv-show-ghoulardi.85189/page-2 Almost forgot this one.
I guess I was totally mistaken. I thought the OP was going to install hidden hinges in his sedan. I didn't realize he was going to weld his doors closed.
Great to see all of the examples. Thanks for taking time to find and post them. I also appreciate the caution about weak hidden hinges potentially causing issues in the future. I didn’t expect this post to make me laugh, but alchemy’s comments made me chuckle. For sure not welding the doors shut on my sedan but will consider what hinges may be solid enough to hold up over time. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Title says history of shaved door hinges. Missing = shaved. But I guess he meant hid. Anyway, gonna toss in some more. Are these hid? Or camouflaged?
Look at the hinges on the link I posted. The 2nd page has a good look at a sturdy hinge. I have only been involved with the mod twice. There are some good hinges available to pull this off if it’s a mod ya want to do.
Early 50s build The Kustomrama mentioned 53 Studebaker hinges being used for this on another car. We used some late 40s early 50s mopar rear door hinges. Here is a door hinge pic.
I'm going to have to think that doing hidden hinges was just too far beyond what most guys were capable of at the time that few got done. Having Harry Westergard do them on your custom probably would cost several months pay for a lot of guys in the early 50's. I'm thinking a lot of his customers were Hollywood elite or other high rollers at the time. Throw in that for most guys customizing their car at home in that time frame it was their only car and had to be up to going to work the next day or on Monday after a weekend thrash. Shaving the door handles was one thing as you could leave the window down to get in the car to drive it to work but having the door off, cutting the door post apart and welding in another door post to get the hinges an then modifying the door was beyond what they could do at home and not have the car tied up for an extended time. Guys probably saw the cars with hidden hinges in the little books and then figured that it was way too much work and that was the end of it for 99.999% of guys looking in the magazines for ideas at the time. Throw in that few had their own torch set or a stick welder in that time frame.
Like most mods, lower roof lines, fade away fenders, removing running boards, lowered headlights, smooth and filled......... they were more than likely inspired by more expensive cars. These precwar cars use hidden hinges. A source of inspiration? A common mod? Doesn’t look like it percentage wise. But it is a traditional mod. All you need is one. To discount the hard work of a builder just because all his buddies didn’t do it is a strange concept. For a hobby that prides itself on personalization to deem a mod unworthy because very few guys did it is hypocritical. The only folks that would call hidden hinges untraditional would either be ignorant of history or jaded by some anti-street rod bias. Lots of glass cars are molded with chops so I guess that mod is tainted as well.
I am jaded, I'll admit to that. There are lots of things I'd never do to an old car, even if they are steeped in history. I'd never fill another cowl vent. I'd never cut out a perfectly good firewall to install a smooth one. I'd never use a ribbed roof (even if it came from a 50's station wagon) to fill an insert. There are things I'd do that are frowned on though. I'm currently working on a car that will have cowl steering. It will also have a T5. So I am not without sin. But I wouldn't remove some perfectly good hinges from a 33 tudor.
It's been an education for me, in my mind's eye hidden hinges were a lot more prevalent than they really were. It seems as if time sort of "smoothed over" a lot of the little bumps- (that and declining vision...)
This is totally what I wanted to say earlier. Henry got rid of them as soon as he thought about it and his family has never gone back. I understand wanting to keep the cars as they were. What I don't understand is the crowd that doesn't want others updating them.
Because everyone is supposed to build to suit my tastes mentality I guess If the OP wants the hinges gone, why not show examples. Sometimes folks decide against things when they see it or learn the ins and outs of it. Or, examples can help develop a better understanding leading to a successful endeavor. It’s not like he asked about a s10 chassis swap. That wouldn’t fit forum guidelines. And yep, chassis swaps are as traditional as pointy bras.
He wasn't asking if they were cool or not, or if they were practical, or if they were used in the 1980s on billet rods...the question was "How far back do examples of this go?"
Here is a good comparison. The car on top was built in 62. The bottom is a tribute built in 2012. The tribute has hidden hinges. Both look incredible. A better shot of the tribute. There are some cowl, chop and WS differences as well. It’s not a clone. Nothing about this car says billet rod.
I know you meant hidden hinges but for any readers looking for easy to find and cheap hinges. maybe the cheapest way out would be [2] sets of '31 [3 hole] open car hinges...[4 hinges per set]. you would need to rework the mounting bolt holes, but easier with new raw material... memory says about $60 for 4... they are not as rugged as closed cars but with [3] of them I feel they would work... they are stamped not cast, but so are the Murray style hinges on many A closed car bodies... snyd's sells new oversize hinge pins that go with a 1/4" reamer so you can easily ream and pin if they ever wear out... $0.02 .
The NieKamp roadster. Hidden hinges became widely used when they were mass produced and sold by anybody and everybody. That`s how trends start.
Here is some more on that one https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/bringing-the-wetzel-roadster-back-to-1952.1188832/ One “no no” that sticks out is the gas door. Another mod associated with “street/billet” rods.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...d-at-bonneville-alongside-ab-jenkins.1055247/ built from a Huppmobile model H sedan, a car with typical era exposed hinges. 1931-2 ish Bonneville racer
The Jalopy Journal
