Talk to me about door hinge screws for my 1922 runabout

[Reno Speedster]

I have been going through my 22 runabout pickup and fixing a lot of things, some large and some small. One of the small things I am doing is getting rid of any Phillips head screws on the car. In doing so I noted that some of the screws holding the door hinge on are Phillips head wood screws and others are slotted machine screws. I have not pulled the cards off so I don’t know what is going on under the skin. Do the screws go into wood? Metal? Can someone tell me what kind of screws should be used to hold the door hinge on and what they are screwing into on my 22? Also, should it have a door strap to keep the door from flopping open?

[Nathan Pederson]

Hi Reno Speedster,
On a '22 there is a wood frame and the hinge is held on by flat head machine screws (bolts) that are 12-24 thread by about 2" in length.
As I remember, there originally were two or three of these bolts on each half of the hinge and the remaining holes have #12 flat head
screws about 1" or longer in length. You may be able to get by with just using #12 screws and not the bolts if the wood is solid.
A good hardware store will have what you need, or possibly the T parts suppliers. McMaster Carr will have them.
Yes, the door should have a strap.

[John kuehn]

Sine your car probably has the original wood you probably need to remove the cardboard covers from the door and the inside piece to see what’s going on.
I have a 21 Touring and a 1919 Roadster and there is at least one screw that has machine threads and a nut that helps hold the hinge in place. Of course they are slot headed screws like the slot headed wood screws so they match.

Over time wood screws worked loose or got loose from the wood getting wet or etc.
The machine screws with nuts really keep the hinges secure.

[Reno Speedster]

Thanks guys. That makes sense.