Door & Hood Hinges

[G72Zed]

Hi Guys, 77 Camaro. Looking at Door Hinges. What are thoughts on using Ring Bros. door hinges? To me they look great but at a cost so want to make sure I'm getting quality as well as function. As well for hood hinges, Ring Bros. or Eddie Motorsports? Haven't yet decided on whether to stay stock, cowl induction steel or cowl induction fiberglass. Thanks in Advance.

Unless you have the $$$ to blow and like the "bling", good condition stock OEM or rebuilt OEM hinges has worked for me on many 2nd gens over the last 2-3 decades and for 100K of others.

With the Canadian peso exchange rate and shipping....those are real expensive for something you don't see when the hood/doors are closed, or feel going down the road. JMO

 

[75Maro]

I have purchased and installed Ring Bros. Door hinges on my 81. They seem to be very good quality but, unless I did something wrong they make a "ping" sound when they reach the mid open position and fully opened position. Don't know if that's normal but for what they cost (I think 650.00) I wasn't expecting the noise. They don't have springs, that I know of, and have ball bearings that fall into a divit that holds the door halfway or fully open. Hate to give them a bad review especially if it's due to make ignorance.

Not just you, mine do the same

 

[Twisted_Metal]

I have purchased and installed Ring Bros. Door hinges on my 81. They seem to be very good quality but, unless I did something wrong they make a "ping" sound when they reach the mid open position and fully opened position. Don't know if that's normal but for what they cost (I think 650.00) I wasn't expecting the noise. They don't have springs, that I know of, and have ball bearings that fall into a divit that holds the door halfway or fully open. Hate to give them a bad review especially if it's due to make ignorance.

Whatever preases those ball bearings into the divot (spring?) is probably responsible for the “ping” sound.

 

[Jugalo]

I have recent experience with both.

I installed the Ring Bros door hinges. Great solid design, but poor execution. Insane price. In black, by the time you get them adjusted it really chews up the soft aluminum. So they look bad after installed. Which you can touch up obviously. The big flaw, and its a really big one, is the hold open detents. They simply do not hold the doors. They even admitted a problem with them and had me shim the springs with tiny number 6 or 4 washers(cant remember which) as a fix. It didnt work, and then they said I could machine the dimples deeper to hold the ball bearing! But I have to give them credit, after trying to like them I couldnt accept them and they gave me a full refund. Their customer service was very accommodating.

I have never had long term luck rebuilding the oem ones. They wear out too quick. But it seems the newer reproductions from AMES and others are much better than the knock offs from back in the day. So thats what I went with.

I have the Eddie hood hinges and have no complaints other than I would not recommend black as they chew up when adjusting. They are pretty tedious to adjust as compared with OEM. But once in place they are pretty nice. Way overpriced though.

As a footnote. As far as trunk goes, the eddie motorsports system is so far superior to oem. I highly recommend it and would never go back to those terrible torsion bars. One of the best things I have done. Obviously not for a matching numbers museum piece.

Good luck

 

[procharged81]

I have recent experience with both.

I installed the Ring Bros door hinges. Great solid design, but poor execution. Insane price. In black, by the time you get them adjusted it really chews up the soft aluminum. So they look bad after installed. Which you can touch up obviously. The big flaw, and its a really big one, is the hold open detents. They simply do not hold the doors. They even admitted a problem with them and had me shim the springs with tiny number 6 or 4 washers(cant remember which) as a fix. It didnt work, and then they said I could machine the dimples deeper to hold the ball bearing! But I have to give them credit, after trying to like them I couldnt accept them and they gave me a full refund. Their customer service was very accommodating.

I have never had long term luck rebuilding the oem ones. They wear out too quick. But it seems the newer reproductions from AMES and others are much better than the knock offs from back in the day. So thats what I went with.

I have the Eddie hood hinges and have no complaints other than I would not recommend black as they chew up when adjusting. They are pretty tedious to adjust as compared with OEM. But once in place they are pretty nice. Way overpriced though.

As a footnote. As far as trunk goes, the eddie motorsports system is so far superior to oem. I highly recommend it and would never go back to those terrible torsion bars. One of the best things I have done. Obviously not for a matching numbers museum piece.

Good luck

I’m using Eddie as well for the trunk. Slick design, simple to install, and works great.

 

[Double Nickel]

My cars might not fit into this sight but I enjoy reading everyones situations. My wife has an ‘84 Z28 which we bought new in ‘84. It is in excellent condition. Always garage kept. It has original hood hinges which work very well, had to replace the cylinders a couple of times. I have a 57 Chevy 2 dr post. I had a heck of a time trying to utilize the oem style hood hinges. The pass side would lock up in the up position. Bought Eddie Motor Sports, after a lot of thought to spend that amount of money. Bought them, machine, natural finish and they are the absolute best. So smooth and look great. Just wanted to add my two cents worth.