[MP&C]

While you're hiding things, may as well get rid of any wires going to the doors. This mod is done to a 55 wagon, but should adapt to the truck hinges of that era as I believe they are similar. I started with some 16 ga steel bent into small angles. The cut into the hinge was 5/8 deep. Hinge cleaned up, scribed, and then cut using .045 cutoff wheel in 4-1/2 grinder:









"Angle" pieces trimmed to fit opening, tacked in place, and heat applied to follow bends of the hinge:







Mig was used to tack weld and join the two halves, the tig was used to final weld the angles to the hinge. Then some grinding to smooth things out:












using the first wire as a pull wire, tied a knot into it and taped some sleeving tight on the other side of the knot to pull it through:







Then the same pull wire was stripped in the middle to pull the other wires through.



Installed, showing the hinge both open and closed with no chaffing issues: