The decision was made to replace the hinge assembly entirely, given the corrosion. With the complexity of the project and the absolute criticality of the positioning of the replacement part, there were two challenges right out of the gate: 1) the aircraft was more than 30 miles away from the Repair Station, and 2) as the aircraft was being repainted, including the door itself, they would have to coordinate efforts with another team at another company.
To accomplish a near-perfect position of the door hinge (the hinge pin itself, which essentially floats apart from the fuselage in a position relative to the mounting points), a mock-up of the door itself was fabricated by one of the company’s sheet metal wizards at the Repair Station in San Luis Obispo. Positioning of this pin relative to the door and the fuselage would determine where the several hundred pound door would seat on the pressure vessel. The positioning was critical.